Anyone use vocal processing ?

[kydave]

Okay so anyone that uses a 'tool' that you may not approve is a bad musician, even if most of 'us' don't need them.

While they might not be my cup of tea, good musicians/singer do in fact use gadgets. I randomly listened to one gent in this thread who is very good, but uses some devices I would not choose to. I wouldn't dream of denigrating his talent, though.

What I object to is someone who passes themselves off as a singer who can't do it without a pitch corrector. Same on guitar.

If you can put you and your guitar in front of a pair of mics with no effects and sing/play a song decently BUT you choose to use gadgets, fine.

Simple.

[Laughingboy68]

Originally Posted by kydave

If you can put you and your guitar in front of a pair of mics with no effects and sing/play a song decently BUT you choose to use gadgets, fine.

Can't disagree with that.

M

[kydave]

Originally Posted by Laughingboy68

Can't disagree with that.

M

Thank you for actually (and accurately) reading what I wrote.

[SpiderTrap]

I use a Boss VE5 I believe but not so much for pitch correction , as the many other features that adds lushness to the vocals, tone , depth , EQ , minor preamping , and about 6 other things that can give an average singer a slightly more professional sound , reverb .. on and on ..all in one tiny box with 4 AAs . Its a great addition other than DRY . and Harmony ...used very sparingly ..

[slewis]

Originally Posted by kmcmichael

I have a ve-20 and use the harmony part, usually full on 3 and 5. I like it. It has allowed me to do songs that I would not have considered before...

You can still sing songs without a machine doing harmonies for you, you know. People do it every day!

[kydave]

Originally Posted by slewis

You can still sing songs without a machine doing harmonies for you, you know. People do it every day!

Thank goodness!



If you're playing solo - play solo. If you want a duet or trio, play in a duet or trio.

[Psalad]

OMG. People. Worry about your own stuff. Sheesh. Just wow, it's a judgement fest.

Be nice.

[Laughingboy68]

Yes, it is absurd to criticize what another person uses to get their point across. You will always find a person who draws the line at a more conservative point than you do. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with that when it comes to personal choices.

The problem comes when you take your position as the only one that has integrity and call people who are more conservative in their gear absurd if they think your looper is cheating and yet call anyone who uses something you wouldn't, talentless.

People use varying degrees of technology to express their art. Decide whether you like it or not and listen or turn it off. I'd just suggest staying away from judging someone just because you don't share their vision.

There is an awful lot of music out there that is without a doubt performed by someone who has honed their craft - it's not always gonna resonate with me. That doesn't mean the person doesn't have talent. Take the example of Phil Collins in the 80's. He produced a bunch of songs with drum machines. I'm pretty sure that didn't make him a talentless drummer. You can decide if you want to listen to "In the Air Tonight" or not - but Phil is still a great drummer.

Just because I use a harmonizer occasionally, doesn't mean I can't sing without it. You can decide whether or not you want to listen - you can even decide whether or not my singing is worth listening to - but the use of the harmonizer isn't the deciding factor on whether or not I have talent. I play many, many songs without harmonizers, loopers, capos, pickups, amplifiers, reverb, microphones and picks. I will choose from this list of tools depending on the situation, not out of necessity, but in an effort to express the song in a way that will move an audience.

Have a listen to "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heep, you might like it or not. Lotsa harmonizer there and a fair bit of talent on display as well.

I would never choose for anyone else how they express their music or judge their choices. To each his/her own. I'm not always going to appreciate someone else's vision, but their ability to express it is what makes the world a wonderful and varied place.

Peace folks,

Mike

[slewis]

I'm told that "if you can't learn to play your guitar well enough to carry the performance without using loops, go home and practice." Sorry, I'll stand by what I said -- and I'm guessing Phil Keaggy and many many others will agree -- that's just an absurd statement. But I'm the bad guy...

[zhunter]

Use what you want to make good music. Unlike some, I won't judge you.

hunter

[zhunter]

Originally Posted by Laughingboy68

The problem comes when you take your position as the only one that has integrity and call people who are more conservative in their gear absurd if they think your looper is cheating and yet call anyone who uses something you wouldn't, talentless.
Peace folks,

Mike

Maybe it would have been easier to grasp if I had just said this. My bad. Thanks.

hunter

[Methos1979]

We use the TC G-XT Harmony pedal. I can't sing well and I definitely can't harmonize at ALL, so we use this pedal for the wife to add some harmonies to the covers where it's expected. It's a great little pedal that allows more than enough different types of harmonies to be created and used. We also use it if a little reverb on her vocals. I use the SA220's reverb for my guitar. We do not use pitch correction (she doesn't need it) or any of the other processing.

If I could sing harmonies, I would. But this pedal allows us to use high, higher, low, lower, octave, and dual modes, with two voices each. I've programmed maybe 10 different settings. We love it. Not cheating at all, in my opinion. I've never had anyone complain to say it sounded bad.

[Laughingboy68]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

We use the TC G-XT Harmony pedal. I can't sing well and I definitely can't harmonize at ALL, so we use this pedal for the wife to add some harmonies to the covers where it's expected. It's a great little pedal that allows more than enough different types of harmonies to be created and used. We also use it if a little reverb on her vocals. I use the SA220's reverb for my guitar. We do not use pitch correction (she doesn't need it) or any of the other processing.

If I could sing harmonies, I would. But this pedal allows us to use high, higher, low, lower, octave, and dual modes, with two voices each. I've programmed maybe 10 different settings. We love it. Not cheating at all, in my opinion. I've never had anyone complain to say it sounded bad.

When you say you don't use any of the other processing, I hope you don't mean the "tone" button. It adds a bit of nice eq, a touch of compression and some de-essing. I've yet to hear anyone whose tone wasn't improved.

Mike

[Captain Jim]

Early on in this thread (post #16), I wrote about using a vocal harmonizer. It doesn't correct my singing - if I sing off key, so do the harmonies.

I haven't recorded myself... until yesterday. My wife asked me to record some of what I play, for her. Here's what a vocal harmonizer does...

https://soundcloud.com/captainjimb/im-your-captain

I've been playing for a lot of years; if someone here feels this is an "abomination," I'll be OK. I'm a big boy... managed to get by playing out for about 47 years before I found my way onto this forum.

I played this song once in a while before getting the harmonizer - I like it better with the harmony.

Captain Jim

[Davis Webb]

vocal processors are for reverb and eq and other effects, pitch correction is just one element...