Two common vocal processing techniques in pop- and rock music are the use of artificial reverberation or delay. The differences between these effects have been thoroughly studied in the studio environment (Case, 2007; Henriques & Rietveld, 2018; Ronen, 2015), but research is lacking in the live realm. The purpose of this study was to answer the research question: “Understanding the perceived differences in artificial reverberation and delay (echo) on vocals in a live environment. What differences do listeners hear? What do they prefer?”. This was done through a listening test with two groups of participants, the results of which were then compared to opinions and experiences of live sound engineers working professionally within the field. The results of the study showed that listeners preferred stimuli that had been processed with delay and reverb over stimuli that had only been processed with one of the effects. In one of the listener groups, it could be determined that delay was preferred over reverb, but in the other the results were inconclusive. Overall, listeners seemed to prefer hall reverb above plate reverb, and an eighth-note delay over a quarter-note delay.

Voices reveal information about the speaker, such as their age, what they are feeling and how they look. Vocal modulation is sometimes used by role-players, mostly game masters, in a tabletop role-playing context, to portray non-playable characters. This study investigated whether signal processing software could be used to enhance the vocal qualities of the speaker so that they represent different creatures with certain attributes. A listening test was conducted in which 24 participants evaluated different processings for physical attributes related to Dungeons & Dragons depiction of the creatures orc and elf with the purpose of finding design approaches for a vocal modulation software. The results showed that none of the processings were perceived to be very much like the suggested creature, but it was found that some processings were more effective than others to create desirable attributes. It was also shown that the same processings does not work equally well for different voice inputs.