How to Sound Like Optimus Prime

This is the kind of question I get plenty from other audio producers. How can I make my voice sound like (insert heroic and fictional movie character here). At this present time I’m seeing a peak in requests for Optimus Prime audio effects and vocal filters and who can blame us with Transformers: Age of Extinction being the current hot movie?

How to Sound Like Optimus Prime in Adobe Audition

I added four simple vocal effects using Adobe Audition to get the final result that you hear. This is how I did it.

1. Lower Pitch Using Stretch and Pitch

First I headed to Effects > Time and Pitch > Stretch and Pitch and opted for the Lower Pitch preset. I went for the superior iZotope Radius algorithm and tweaked the stretch to 100% (to slow my speaking down slightly) and moved the pitch shift from the default -4 semitones up to -1.5 as -4 was far too deep and demonic.

2. Add Chorus

Now I want to pop both channels when you listen in stereo. That’s where Effects > Modulation > Chorus comes in handy. I simply went for the Tiny Pebble preset and reduced the spread to zero so that it wasn’t too stereo and echoey.

3. A Little Studio Reverb

I did want some reverb as that’s the way Optimus Prime’s voice is processed in the real Transformers movie. I opted for Effects > Reverb > Studio Reverb with the Mastering Reverb preset. I then increased the room size from 30 to 60 to give the desired amount of reverb for my Transformers hero.

4. Distort It!

Finally, I was feeling like a little bit of gruffness was missing. That’s when I had the idea to add in a little distortion and make the voice slightly more robotic. Effects > Special > Distortion with the GreenRoom-Angus preset was perfect for my needs.

That’s how I did it. There must be 100 other ways to achieve an awesome Optimus Prime voice effect. How would you go about this? Let me know in the comments.