BOWNCE User Guide

Talk Box / Vocoder · by GDP Audio · macOS & Windows

Download the PDF · BOWNCE product page · Release notes

Overview · Controls · Factory Presets · Support

Overview

BOWNCE makes any audio source speak. Insert it on a guitar, synth, bass, drum loop, or any other track, route a vocal into its sidechain, and the track takes on the words, mouth shapes, and consonants of the voice while keeping its own pitch, harmony, and rhythm. There's no MIDI and no built-in oscillator: the track you put BOWNCE on supplies every note, so it works the same on recorded audio and live input.

System Requirements

Installation

macOS

Run the BOWNCE macOS installer (the .pkg file you downloaded) and follow the on-screen steps. The installer places files at:

Windows

Run the BOWNCE Windows installer (the .exe file you downloaded) and follow the on-screen steps. The installer places files at:

Most DAWs find BOWNCE automatically on their next plugin scan. If it doesn't appear, rescan plugins from your DAW's plugin manager.

Licensing

BOWNCE runs in demo mode until a license is activated. In demo mode a brief noise burst plays approximately every 45 seconds — all controls remain fully functional.

To purchase a license visit gdpaudio.com.

To activate:

1. Click the UNLICENSED - CLICK TO ACTIVATE pill in the plugin footer.
2. Paste the full contents of your license file into the text box.
3. Click Activate. The pill will change to LICENSED TO followed by the name on your license.

Your license file carries the name it was issued to, and the pill shows it (shortened if it is long). A license that carries no personal name simply shows LICENSED. Either way it unlocks the plugin in full.

Your license is stored at:

Using another computer — activate BOWNCE there with the same license file. No internet connection is required.

Uninstalling

macOS — open BOWNCE Uninstaller.app from your Applications folder and follow the prompts.

Windows — go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find BOWNCE by GDP Audio, and choose Uninstall.

Both remove the plugin files and your user presets. Your license file is kept, so reinstalling BOWNCE later doesn't require re-activation.

Controls

INPUT / BLEND / NOISE — Source mode. INPUT uses the track's own audio. BLEND adds internal noise that follows the track's level, for crisper consonants. NOISE uses internal noise only, for whispered and robotic speech.

SOURCE LEVEL — Level of the source feeding the vocoder. Range: −24 dB to +12 dB. The dry signal is not affected.

COLOR — Dark-to-bright tilt of the source. 50 = flat. Range: 0–100.

ANALYSIS BANDS — Number of bands the voice is split into: 8 (coarse, vintage), 16 (balanced), or 24 (clearest speech).

DETECT — Sensitivity to the voice sidechain. Raise it until quiet syllables come through. Range: 0–100.

RESPONSE — How quickly the sound follows the voice. Low = fast and articulate, high = slow and smooth. Range: 0–100.

FORMANT — Throat and mouth size, without changing pitch. Negative = darker and larger, positive = brighter and smaller. Range: −12 to +12 semitones.

VOCODER / TALK BOX — Processing mode. See Vocoder vs Talk Box below.

AIR ENHANCE — Adds consonant detail (S, T, F, K) from the voice. Active only during consonants, so it never adds constant hiss.

MIX — Dry/wet balance. Range: 0–100%.

OUTPUT — Output level. Range: −12 dB to +12 dB.

STEREO / MONO — Monitor mode. MONO sums the output to mono. Useful for checking mono compatibility.

BYPASS — Bypass with a short crossfade. Follows the host's bypass.

IN / OUT METERS — Input and output peak levels, left and right.

VOICE PRINT — Live spectrum of the voice sidechain, with a routing status. ACTIVE means everything is connected. Otherwise the panel shows a two-step setup checklist (1: BOWNCE is on the sound you want to shape, 2: a sidechain source is routed in), each ticked when its audio arrives, plus a one-line fix; see Troubleshooting the Sidechain below.

DSP Signal Chain

Source (Input / Blend / Noise) → Color → Source Level → Band Split → × Voice Envelopes (Detect, Response, Formant) → Band Sum + Air Enhance → Mix → Output → Monitor

The voice sidechain is split into 8, 16, or 24 bands spaced evenly in pitch. BOWNCE follows the level of each voice band and applies it to the matching band of the source, then sums the bands, so the source takes on the voice's vowels, mouth shapes, and articulation while keeping its own pitch. FORMANT offsets which voice band drives which source band. BOWNCE adds no latency.

Voice Sidechain

BOWNCE uses two signals: the source, which is the track BOWNCE is inserted on, and the voice, a vocal track or live microphone routed to BOWNCE's sidechain input using your host's sidechain routing. Insert BOWNCE on the instrument, not on the vocal or an empty track. Until both are arriving, VOICE PRINT shows a setup checklist that ticks off each step.

With no voice on the sidechain, the wet signal is silent and the dry track passes according to MIX.

Troubleshooting the Sidechain

The VOICE PRINT status checks the routing for you and shows the fix in the panel. Once the track and the sidechain have played together, rests and pauses only show RESTING, which needs no action:

NOT CONNECTED — the host isn't providing a sidechain. Choose a sidechain source for BOWNCE in your host.

NO SIGNAL — the sidechain is connected but silent. Check that its source is playing, that it isn't muted (in some hosts a muted track also stops feeding sidechains), and that it's routed to the sidechain rather than BOWNCE's main input. If the IN meters move with it, it's on the main input.

NO SOURCE — the sidechain is arriving but the track BOWNCE is on is silent. Insert BOWNCE on the track you want to shape, after its sound, not on an empty track. (NOISE mode doesn't need a source.)

SAME AUDIO — the sidechain carries the same audio as the track, for example the track itself, or a bus or group that contains it. Choose a different sidechain source.

Little audible change — set MIX to 100% and lower the sidechain source's own level, so its dry sound doesn't mask the effect.

Vocoder vs Talk Box

VOCODER covers roughly 120 Hz to 12 kHz with evenly overlapping bands: the clean, classic multi-band sound. TALK BOX narrows the range to about 200 Hz to 6 kHz, makes the bands resonant, lifts the midrange, slows the movement slightly, and drives the source through a soft, tube-style saturation first, like an instrument shaped by a mouth.

Making It Speak

BOWNCE can only shape sound that is playing: short or plucky notes give the voice little to work with. Sustained, harmonically rich sources speak most clearly: held synth chords, distorted guitar, saw-heavy bass. Use 24 bands and a low RESPONSE for maximum intelligibility, and NOISE mode for whispers. The voice only shapes the sound, so it doesn't need to be in tune; clear consonants matter more than pitch.

Factory Presets

24 factory presets are included. Click the preset name in the plugin header to open a list of every preset and pick one directly, or step through them with the < and > arrow buttons. Presets you save yourself appear at the bottom of the same list.

User presets are saved to ~/Library/Application Support/BOWNCE/ (macOS) or %APPDATA%\BOWNCE\ (Windows). Use SAVE to store settings, RENAME / DELETE to manage them.

Support

Support: support@gdpaudio.com · Release notes: gdpaudio.com/bownce-release-notes

GDP Audio and the names of our products are trademarks of GDP Audio LLC. All other product and company names mentioned in this guide are trademarks of their respective owners. They are used only to describe the character of a sound or for compatibility, and do not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those companies.