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Nightcall Vocoder Carrier

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Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (MS-20)

Korg MS-20 Mini

Patch sheet ↗Device reference ↗Research 0/100Mapping medium · not numerically scored

The MS-20 Mini has no vocoder: its External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter bank. This is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Noise cannot be mixed alongside both oscillators, so sibilance relies on the vocoder's own noise path.

21 saved controls · — means no saved value

Demo this preset

Play a short exercise to hear the attack, movement and release. These are original audition patterns, not transcriptions of the reference song.

Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary · Single notes · 4/4

Hold each bar, then leave a short gap to hear the release, chorus and reverb.

Nightcall Vocoder Carrier · Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minor. Original audition exercise; not a song transcription. Horizontal position is time; vertical position is pitch.Original audition exerciseNightcall Vocoder Carrier · Korg MS-20 Mini · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minorC#3C3B2Bar 1234Bar 2234C3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92C3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92IT'S DIGITAL · C4 = MIDI 60 · Import MIDI to audition

How to play it

Import the MIDI into your DAW, route its track to the synth showing this preset, and loop the selected bars. Tempo and key are exercise settings. C4 means MIDI note 60; some DAWs label octaves differently. The MIDI sends notes on channel 1 and contains no patch change. It does not load the preset or trigger hardware from this page.

Why this preset? Sources, design & revisions

Follow the decisions from reference to recipe. Excerpts below link to the full write-up. A recording link confirms identity, not the original gear or settings.

  1. 01

    The reference

    Design inference · unsourced

    This saved write-up has no retrieved source record. Read the original notes below; its claims remain unverified.

  2. 02

    The sound → the decisions

    Design inference · unsourced

    The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

  3. 03

    On this synth & chain

    inferred · rendition design

    The MS-20 Mini has no vocoder: its External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter bank. This is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Noise cannot be mixed alongside both oscillators, so sibilance relies on the vocoder's own noise path.

  4. 04

    Listen → improve → revise

    Awaiting listening review

    These settings have not been marked auditioned. Use Demo this preset, compare the attack, low end and movement, then use Improve to record what you hear. A saved revision is not proof of a listening test.

Research & revision history · 3 saved events

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg MS-20 Mini

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

Full saved write-up

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Vocoder Carrier

The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

  • Class: mono — one note at a time
  • Category: Vocal
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-vocoder-carrier
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Vocoder carrier"

Identity

What it is. The verses of Nightcall are a male voice through a vocoder. A vocoder imposes the voice's moving spectrum on a synth tone, so the 'robot' is really a synth part: a steady, harmonically rich carrier held at a low pitch while the words articulate it. This sound is that carrier. It is not a vocoder, and neither target synth contains one.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): low register; near-monotone delivery with small melodic steps; buzzy, saw-like timbre; no vibrato; words remain intelligible.

Inferred (labelled): the carrier's waveform mix, octave layering, noise amount, glide and envelope values in The Sound, which follow general vocoder practice. Class: mono, one pitch at a time.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction from general vocoder practice; every value here is inferred.

  • Oscillators - a vocoder needs a dense, steady spectrum: sawtooth at 16' plus a pulse (about 40 % width) or square one octave up at 8', detuned 5-8 cents for thickness.
  • Noise - 5-10 % white noise mixed in helps consonants and sibilance read through the vocoder.
  • Filter - wide open (85-100 % cutoff), no resonance, no envelope or LFO movement: the vocoder's filter bank does the shaping.
  • Amplifier envelope - gate-like: attack 0-5 ms, sustain 100 %, release 50-100 ms.
  • Pitch - recalled: low and near-monotone. Inferred: around A2-A3, glide 20-40 ms legato for robotic slides, no vibrato.
  • Hardware note - the Korg MS-20's External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter-bank vocoder; both renditions are carriers for an external vocoder.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence). The vocoded verse voice is recalled as Kavinsky's own, with Lovefoxxx answering in the chorus; the vocoder unit itself is not known to this research.

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): every verse (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles: the first voice heard in the film's title sequence (recalled).
  • Lineage of the technique: Kraftwerk - The Robots (1978); Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (2001), relevant because Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo co-produced Nightcall.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
keys hold one low note, or follow the simple verse contour, while the voice articulates pitch of the robot voice
voice (modulator) speak or sing with exaggerated consonants intelligibility
glide 20-40 ms, legato robotic slides between pitches (inferred)
vibrato / modwheel none the flat, mechanical delivery (recalled)
octave add the upper octave if words blur brighter, clearer carrier (inferred)

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Keep the carrier itself dry and steady going into the vocoder: no chorus, phaser or delay before it.
  • A little tube saturation and a high-shelf lift add harmonics the vocoder can use.
  • After the vocoder (outside this chain): light chorus, a short plate, compression and de-essing.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (MS-20)" — confidence medium — 21 control(s) — The MS-20 Mini has no vocoder: its External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter bank. This is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Noise cannot be mixed alongside both oscillators, so sibilance relies on the vocoder's own noise path.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (Prologue)" — confidence medium — 30 control(s) — The Prologue has no vocoder: this is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Onboard effects are off so the carrier stays steady.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

VCO 1

WAVE FORM
OSC1.wave_form: sawtooth (indicative position)2/4
sawtooth
PW
OSC1.pw: —
—
SCALE
OSC1.scale: 16' (indicative position)2/4
16'

VCO 2

WAVE FORM
OSC2.wave_form: pulse (indicative position)3/4
pulse
PITCH
OSC2.pitch: +6 cents (indicative position)
+6 cents
SCALE
OSC2.scale: 8' (indicative position)2/4
8'

VCO MIXER

VCO 1 LEVEL
VCO_MIXER.vco1_level: 90% (indicative position)
90%
VCO 2 LEVEL
VCO_MIXER.vco2_level: 70% (indicative position)
70%

VC HPF

CUTOFF FREQUENCY
HPF.cutoff_frequency: 10% (indicative position)
10%
PEAK
HPF.peak: 0% (indicative position)
0%

VC LPF

CUTOFF FREQUENCY
VCF.cutoff_frequency: 95% (indicative position)
95%
PEAK
VCF.peak: 0% (indicative position)
0%

MODULATION GENERATOR

WAVE FORM
MG.wave_form: —
—
FREQUENCY
MG.frequency: —
—

ENVELOPE GENERATOR 1

DELAY TIME
EG1.delay_time: —
—
ATTACK TIME
EG1.attack_time: —
—
RELEASE TIME
EG1.release_time: —
—

ENVELOPE GENERATOR 2

HOLD TIME
EG2.hold_time: 0 ms (indicative position)
0 ms
ATTACK TIME
EG2.attack_time: 2 ms (indicative position)
2 ms
DECAY TIME
EG2.decay_time: 100 ms (indicative position)
100 ms
SUSTAIN LEVEL
EG2.sustain_level: 100% (indicative position)
100%
RELEASE TIME
EG2.release_time: 80 ms (indicative position)
80 ms

FREQUENCY MODULATION

MG/T.EXT
VCO_FREQ_MOD.mg_t_ext: 0% (indicative position)
0%
EG1/EXT
VCO_FREQ_MOD.eg1_ext: 0% (indicative position)
0%

HPF CUTOFF MOD

MG/T.EXT
HPF_CUTOFF_MOD.mg_t_ext: —
—
EG2/EXT
HPF_CUTOFF_MOD.eg2_ext: —
—

LPF CUTOFF MOD

MG/T.EXT
LPF_CUTOFF_MOD.mg_t_ext: 0% (indicative position)
0%
EG2/EXT
LPF_CUTOFF_MOD.eg2_ext: 0% (indicative position)
0%

EXTERNAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR

SIGNAL LEVEL
ESP.signal_level: —
—
LOW CUT FREQ
ESP.low_cut_freq: —
—
HIGH CUT FREQ
ESP.high_cut_freq: —
—
CV ADJUST
ESP.cv_adjust: —
—

MASTER

PORTAMENTO TIME
MASTER.portamento_time: 30 ms (indicative position)
30 ms
MASTER TUNE
MASTER.master_tune: —
—

PATCH BAY

Patch bay
PATCHBAY.patch_bay: —
—

FX & outboard

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings

Repatch required.

Default route & patching

Committed wiring: Korg MS-20 → Pedal Chain 1 → AR22 inputs 3

Saved synth profile: Chain D: MS-20 Mini — Raw & Aggressive

Recipe chain: Pedal Chain 3 · The saved passive DI is a ProD2. Black Lion Audio Auteur is a separate mic preamp.

  • Pedal Chain 1: existing path; effective level unresolved at this connection.
Review the route on Patchbay ↗
✓ use · × bypass · ? unresolved · + optional
Saved settings outside this route
  • dbx1066: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (Prologue)

Korg Prologue 8

Patch sheet ↗Device reference ↗Research 0/100Mapping medium · not numerically scored

The Prologue has no vocoder: this is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Onboard effects are off so the carrier stays steady.

30 saved controls · — means no saved value

Demo this preset

Play a short exercise to hear the attack, movement and release. These are original audition patterns, not transcriptions of the reference song.

Korg Prologue 8 · Primary · Single notes · 4/4

Hold each bar, then leave a short gap to hear the release, chorus and reverb.

Nightcall Vocoder Carrier · Korg Prologue 8 · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minor. Original audition exercise; not a song transcription. Horizontal position is time; vertical position is pitch.Original audition exerciseNightcall Vocoder Carrier · Korg Prologue 8 · Primary2 bars · 4/4 · 110 BPM · C minorC#3C3B2Bar 1234Bar 2234C3 · beat 1.00 · velocity 92C3 · beat 5.00 · velocity 92IT'S DIGITAL · C4 = MIDI 60 · Import MIDI to audition

How to play it

Import the MIDI into your DAW, route its track to the synth showing this preset, and loop the selected bars. Tempo and key are exercise settings. C4 means MIDI note 60; some DAWs label octaves differently. The MIDI sends notes on channel 1 and contains no patch change. It does not load the preset or trigger hardware from this page.

Why this preset? Sources, design & revisions

Follow the decisions from reference to recipe. Excerpts below link to the full write-up. A recording link confirms identity, not the original gear or settings.

  1. 01

    The reference

    Design inference · unsourced

    This saved write-up has no retrieved source record. Read the original notes below; its claims remain unverified.

  2. 02

    The sound → the decisions

    Design inference · unsourced

    The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

  3. 03

    On this synth & chain

    inferred · rendition design

    The Prologue has no vocoder: this is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Onboard effects are off so the carrier stays steady.

  4. 04

    Listen → improve → revise

    Awaiting listening review

    These settings have not been marked auditioned. Use Demo this preset, compare the attack, low end and movement, then use Improve to record what you hear. A saved revision is not proof of a listening test.

Research & revision history · 3 saved events

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg Prologue 8

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

Full saved write-up

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Vocoder Carrier

The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

  • Class: mono — one note at a time
  • Category: Vocal
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-vocoder-carrier
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Vocoder carrier"

Identity

What it is. The verses of Nightcall are a male voice through a vocoder. A vocoder imposes the voice's moving spectrum on a synth tone, so the 'robot' is really a synth part: a steady, harmonically rich carrier held at a low pitch while the words articulate it. This sound is that carrier. It is not a vocoder, and neither target synth contains one.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): low register; near-monotone delivery with small melodic steps; buzzy, saw-like timbre; no vibrato; words remain intelligible.

Inferred (labelled): the carrier's waveform mix, octave layering, noise amount, glide and envelope values in The Sound, which follow general vocoder practice. Class: mono, one pitch at a time.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction from general vocoder practice; every value here is inferred.

  • Oscillators - a vocoder needs a dense, steady spectrum: sawtooth at 16' plus a pulse (about 40 % width) or square one octave up at 8', detuned 5-8 cents for thickness.
  • Noise - 5-10 % white noise mixed in helps consonants and sibilance read through the vocoder.
  • Filter - wide open (85-100 % cutoff), no resonance, no envelope or LFO movement: the vocoder's filter bank does the shaping.
  • Amplifier envelope - gate-like: attack 0-5 ms, sustain 100 %, release 50-100 ms.
  • Pitch - recalled: low and near-monotone. Inferred: around A2-A3, glide 20-40 ms legato for robotic slides, no vibrato.
  • Hardware note - the Korg MS-20's External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter-bank vocoder; both renditions are carriers for an external vocoder.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence). The vocoded verse voice is recalled as Kavinsky's own, with Lovefoxxx answering in the chorus; the vocoder unit itself is not known to this research.

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): every verse (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles: the first voice heard in the film's title sequence (recalled).
  • Lineage of the technique: Kraftwerk - The Robots (1978); Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (2001), relevant because Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo co-produced Nightcall.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
keys hold one low note, or follow the simple verse contour, while the voice articulates pitch of the robot voice
voice (modulator) speak or sing with exaggerated consonants intelligibility
glide 20-40 ms, legato robotic slides between pitches (inferred)
vibrato / modwheel none the flat, mechanical delivery (recalled)
octave add the upper octave if words blur brighter, clearer carrier (inferred)

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Keep the carrier itself dry and steady going into the vocoder: no chorus, phaser or delay before it.
  • A little tube saturation and a high-shelf lift add harmonics the vocoder can use.
  • After the vocoder (outside this chain): light chorus, a short plate, compression and de-essing.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (MS-20)" — confidence medium — 21 control(s) — The MS-20 Mini has no vocoder: its External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter bank. This is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Noise cannot be mixed alongside both oscillators, so sibilance relies on the vocoder's own noise path.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (Prologue)" — confidence medium — 30 control(s) — The Prologue has no vocoder: this is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Onboard effects are off so the carrier stays steady.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

MASTER

MASTER
MASTER.master: —
—

TIMBRE

MAIN/SUB BALANCE
TIMBRE.main_sub_balance: —
—
TYPE
TIMBRE.type: ——
—
PANEL
TIMBRE.panel: ——
—

CONTROL

PORTAMENTO
CONTROL.portamento: 10% (indicative position)
10%
VOICE SPREAD
CONTROL.voice_spread: —
—
VOICE MODE DEPTH
CONTROL.voice_mode_depth: 25% (indicative position)
25%

OCTAVE

OCTAVE −
OCTAVE_MASTER.oct_down: —
—
OCTAVE +
OCTAVE_MASTER.oct_up: —
—

SUB / PGM FETCH

SUB ON / PGM FETCH
SUB_ON.sub_on_pgm_fetch: —
—

VOICE MODE

POLY
VOICE_MODE.poly: —
—
MONO
VOICE_MODE.mono: —
—
UNISON
VOICE_MODE.unison: ON (indicative position)
ON
CHORD
VOICE_MODE.chord: —
—
SELECT
VOICE_MODE.select: —
—

ARPEGGIATOR

ON / LATCH
ARPEGGIATOR.on_latch: —
—
TEMPO
ARPEGGIATOR.tempo: —
—
RANGE
ARPEGGIATOR.range: —
—
TYPE
ARPEGGIATOR.type: —
—

VCO 1

WAVE
OSC1.wave: sawtooth (indicative position)3/3
sawtooth
OCTAVE
OSC1.octave: 16' (indicative position)1/4
16'
PITCH
OSC1.pitch: 0 cents (indicative position)
0 cents
SHAPE
OSC1.shape: 0% (indicative position)
0%
PITCH EG
OSC1.pitch_eg: ——
—
INT
OSC1.pitch_eg_int: —
—

VCO 2

WAVE
OSC2.wave: square (indicative position)1/3
square
OCTAVE
OSC2.octave: 8' (indicative position)2/4
8'
PITCH
OSC2.pitch: +6 cents (indicative position)
+6 cents
SHAPE
OSC2.shape: 20% (indicative position)
20%
SYNC / RING
OSC2.sync_ring: OFF (indicative position)2/3
OFF
CROSS MOD DEPTH
OSC2.cross_mod_depth: 0% (indicative position)
0%

MULTI ENGINE

TYPE SELECT
OSC3.select: NOISE (indicative position)1/3
NOISE
OCTAVE
OSC3.octave: ——
—
TYPE
OSC3.type: —
—
SHAPE
OSC3.shape: —
—

MIXER

VCO 1
MIXER.vco1: 90% (indicative position)
90%
VCO 2
MIXER.vco2: 70% (indicative position)
70%
MULTI
MIXER.multi: 8% (indicative position)
8%

VCF

CUTOFF
VCF.cutoff: 95% (indicative position)
95%
RESONANCE
VCF.resonance: 0% (indicative position)
0%
EG INT
VCF.eg_int: 0% (indicative position)
0%
DRIVE
VCF.drive: 0% (indicative position)1/3
0%
LOW CUT
VCF.low_cut: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
KEYTRACK
VCF.keytrack: 0% (indicative position)1/3
0%

AMP EG

ATTACK
AMP_EG.attack: 2 ms (indicative position)
2 ms
DECAY
AMP_EG.decay: 100 ms (indicative position)
100 ms
SUSTAIN
AMP_EG.sustain: 100% (indicative position)
100%
RELEASE
AMP_EG.release: 80 ms (indicative position)
80 ms

EG

ATTACK
EG.attack: —
—
DECAY
EG.decay: —
—
SUSTAIN
EG.sustain: —
—
RELEASE
EG.release: —
—

LFO

WAVE
LFO.wave: ——
—
MODE
LFO.mode: ——
—
RATE
LFO.rate: —
—
INT
LFO.int: 0% (indicative position)
0%
TARGET
LFO.target: ——
—

MOD EFFECT

SELECT
MOD_EFFECT.select: —
—
ON / OFF
MOD_EFFECT.on_off: OFF (indicative position)
OFF
SPEED
MOD_EFFECT.speed: —
—
DEPTH
MOD_EFFECT.depth: —
—

DELAY / REVERB

MODE
DELAY_REVERB.mode: OFF (indicative position)3/3
OFF
TIME
DELAY_REVERB.time: —
—
DEPTH
DELAY_REVERB.depth: —
—

L.F. COMP

GAIN
LF_COMP.gain: —
—
ON / OFF
LF_COMP.on_off: —
—

PERFORMANCE

PITCH
WHEELS.pitch: —
—
MOD
WHEELS.mod: —
—

FX & outboard

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings

Repatch required.

Default route & patching

Committed wiring: Prologue 8 → Mindprint T-Comp → AR22 inputs 13,14

Saved synth profile: Chain B: Korg Prologue 8 — Clean Textures & Atmosphere

Recipe chain: Pedal Chain 3 · The saved passive DI is a ProD2. Black Lion Audio Auteur is a separate mic preamp.

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Saved settings outside this route
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  • tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
  • behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.
Notes

Kavinsky / Nightcall · Vocal

The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

Panel view: Simple shows the sound core, Used every section used in this sound, Full the whole panel.

Primary · Primary

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Chain A: DeepMind 12 — Lush Pads & Strings: for Korg MS-20 Mini · Korg Prologue 8. Saved devices outside the active scope: dbx1066: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. tl-audio-c1: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. mindprint-tcomp: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it. behringer1273: saved values exist, but this unit is not confirmed in this chain. Repatch before using it.

Research & sound notesRead the write-up +

Research confidence: 0/100 · unsourced (recall). This legacy write-up has not been re-researched.

Nightcall Vocoder Carrier

The low, buzzy, near-monotone synth tone that a vocoder shapes into Nightcall's robotic verse voice: a bright, harmonically dense sustained carrier with instant attack, no filter movement and no vibrato.

  • Class: mono — one note at a time
  • Category: Vocal
  • Sound id: signature-kavinsky-nightcall-vocoder-carrier
  • Requested as: "Kavinsky — Nightcall: Vocoder carrier"

Identity

What it is. The verses of Nightcall are a male voice through a vocoder. A vocoder imposes the voice's moving spectrum on a synth tone, so the 'robot' is really a synth part: a steady, harmonically rich carrier held at a low pitch while the words articulate it. This sound is that carrier. It is not a vocoder, and neither target synth contains one.

Recalled traits (from the recording, not transcribed): low register; near-monotone delivery with small melodic steps; buzzy, saw-like timbre; no vibrato; words remain intelligible.

Inferred (labelled): the carrier's waveform mix, octave layering, noise amount, glide and envelope values in The Sound, which follow general vocoder practice. Class: mono, one pitch at a time.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

The Sound

Reconstruction from general vocoder practice; every value here is inferred.

  • Oscillators - a vocoder needs a dense, steady spectrum: sawtooth at 16' plus a pulse (about 40 % width) or square one octave up at 8', detuned 5-8 cents for thickness.
  • Noise - 5-10 % white noise mixed in helps consonants and sibilance read through the vocoder.
  • Filter - wide open (85-100 % cutoff), no resonance, no envelope or LFO movement: the vocoder's filter bank does the shaping.
  • Amplifier envelope - gate-like: attack 0-5 ms, sustain 100 %, release 50-100 ms.
  • Pitch - recalled: low and near-monotone. Inferred: around A2-A3, glide 20-40 ms legato for robotic slides, no vibrato.
  • Hardware note - the Korg MS-20's External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter-bank vocoder; both renditions are carriers for an external vocoder.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

History & Provenance

Nightcall was released in 2010 on Record Makers. It was produced by Kavinsky (Vincent Belorgey) with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and mixed by SebastiAn; the chorus is sung by Lovefoxxx of CSS and the verses are a vocoded male voice. It opened the film Drive (2011), was included on the album OutRun (2013), and returned to wide attention when Kavinsky performed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic closing ceremony (recalled, medium confidence). The vocoded verse voice is recalled as Kavinsky's own, with Lovefoxxx answering in the chorus; the vocoder unit itself is not known to this research.

Gear note (unverified): this research knows of no published instrument or patch list for the session. Every setting in The Sound is an inferred reconstruction from the recalled recording, and this pack does not claim the original patch.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Heard In · Adapted By

  • Kavinsky - Nightcall (2010): every verse (recalled).
  • Drive (2011) opening titles: the first voice heard in the film's title sequence (recalled).
  • Lineage of the technique: Kraftwerk - The Robots (1978); Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (2001), relevant because Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo co-produced Nightcall.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Performance & Technique

control gesture effect
keys hold one low note, or follow the simple verse contour, while the voice articulates pitch of the robot voice
voice (modulator) speak or sing with exaggerated consonants intelligibility
glide 20-40 ms, legato robotic slides between pitches (inferred)
vibrato / modwheel none the flat, mechanical delivery (recalled)
octave add the upper octave if words blur brighter, clearer carrier (inferred)

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

FX & Chain

  • Keep the carrier itself dry and steady going into the vocoder: no chorus, phaser or delay before it.
  • A little tube saturation and a high-shelf lift add harmonics the vocoder can use.
  • After the vocoder (outside this chain): light chorus, a short plate, compression and de-essing.

research: 0/100 · unsourced (recall)

Renditions

Auto-generated from the create-preset fan-out mapping outcomes; regenerated each run.

  • Korg MS-20 Mini — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (MS-20)" — confidence medium — 21 control(s) — The MS-20 Mini has no vocoder: its External Signal Processor is a pitch and envelope follower, not a filter bank. This is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Noise cannot be mixed alongside both oscillators, so sibilance relies on the vocoder's own noise path.
  • Korg Prologue 8 — "Nightcall Vocoder Carrier (Prologue)" — confidence medium — 30 control(s) — The Prologue has no vocoder: this is the carrier only, to feed an external hardware or plug-in vocoder. Onboard effects are off so the carrier stays steady.

Lore

<!-- append-only: ask-about-sound appends dated entries below this line; never edit or reorder existing entries -->

Updates

The saved research and rendition history.

  1. Re-researched

    No write-up sections changed.

    Research: unsourced (recall) → unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  2. Rendition added · Korg Prologue 8

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  3. Rendition added · Korg MS-20 Mini

    Revision 1 · source version: primary

    Request this revision

    Copy into your connected Codex or Claude conversation. Review the differences and give a restore reason before saving.

    First saved rendition. Write-up unchanged.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.

  4. Researched

    First research write-up · sound-research@v1.

    Research: unsourced (recall)

    Stated reason: Research the Vocoder carrier part in Kavinsky's track Nightcall. Low, near-monotone synth tone carrying the robotic vocoded verse voice; the synth supplies the carrier only (recalled from the recording). Declared class: mono. Use this track as the research direction and this part name as the role. Distinguish documented traits from inferred settings. Use the original recording as direction; clearly label recalled musical traits and inferred patch settings.