TC-Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT

[Zea Duart]

I'm not a singer, i'm a guitarrist. My Friends are saying i'm good but i dont like my Voice and sometimes i'm out of Tune i think. They encourage me to perform in some small town bars (20 people if so). Ive read about TC-Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT that enhances your voice and has harmonies and pitch corrections or autotune.
I've been watching videos on YouTube but those people in videos are actually very good singers so I don't know how this pedal really affect their voice.

Do you have some experience with the TC-Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT and somehow, just like me, you are not that realy good singer but with this pedal you have the guts to go out and perform to a small crowd.

Is the TC-Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT the Holy Grail for me?!

[mitcher16]

Hi Zea,
I had the same feelings you had. For me there was a confidence issue I had to overcome but I also wanted to spice up my vocals and music a little with harmonies as I am a solo performer.
I picked up a 'TC Helicon Harmony Singer 2', and that pedal has 3 features. A tone, that simply makes you sounds great, a nice reverb to add to your voice and then 8 different harmonies. All very simple to use. I absolutely love that pedal and I feel more confident because what I hear actually sounds good!
I am not familiar with the TC Helicon GTX but if you are looking for a simple solution try looking at the Harmony Singer. I love it.
I play through my new Bose L1 compact and the harmonies, for example during Knocking on Heavens Door or I'm on Fire, sound superb!
Good luck!
Cheers.

[GmanJeff]

Zea, the Harmony G-XT works well, and can give you confidence when singing in public because you know it's helping you sound better than you would with unprocessed vocals. Other products can do much the same thing, including the Mic Mechanic. Just use the search function on vendor websites, using the search term "vocal processor" to see what's available. Some will provide pitch correction and/or harmonies, others do not.

You may find that some people will urge you just to take singing lessons, and that's not a bad idea at all, but there's also nothing wrong with having a confidence boost from some judicious vocal processing and pitch correction if it encourages you to work on your singing and to get out and perform more.

[Laughingboy68]

I’ve used a G-XT for about 7-8 years. The Tone button works very well to simply give a nice EQ, some de-essing and mild compression. I leave mine on all the time. It is just a button so there are no adjustments to be made - luckily, it sounds really good.

The harmonies are why I bought the pedal. Over time, I came to realize that a little goes a long way. It’s tempting to turn up the level of the pedal’s harmonies and use lots of layers, doubling, etc. It can sound pretty cheesy when you do that. I like to use one harmony - usually a 3rd above or below (really a 6th), and use the switch to use it for fairly brief periods. It will catch an audience’s attention, but by the time they turn to see if there are two people on stage, it’s gone. Set the level fairly low (about 9 o’clock for me), so that it sweetens, rather than dominates.

One other caveat: what you play on guitar while the harmony is on, must contain a 3rd interval or the pedal can’t accurately judge if the harmony should be major or minor. This means you have to think about your arrangement a little.

As far as the pitch correction, it does work. I, personally don’t like the sound of pitch corrected vocals, so I always leave it off on my G-XT. You don’t want harmonies of off pitch vocals - that just sounds like two or three bad singers.

I love mine, but learn how to use it well.

[The Bard Rocks]

I have one, but use it rarely and only when I am solo. It's a lot of fun to play with and the harmonies sound pretty darn good. I have not used the pitch correction, not because I don't need it, but because I suspect it does not do its best when harmonies are added.

Yes, a little goes a long way and it's very easy to tempt yourself to over do it on the cheese. There's also a learning curve on hitting the pedal correctly and with perfect timing.

There is also another setting - I forget what they call it - that really does enhance the voice, surprisingly well.

My biggest gripe extends to most all harmony units. To alter the harmony from one song to the next, you have to reach down and change it, which is very distracting to an audience. And it also dispels any notion they might have had about you singing all those notes yourself. It tells them you "cheated".

[Methos1979]

We used one for several years for the effects and harmonies. We never used the pitch correction since my wife has great pitch. I did turn it on once and it sounded weird. But the harmonies were the best I've tried. Just don't overdo it. A little goes a long way. We loved that system even more because they sell a companion mic that has a button on the mic for activating the harmonies. My wife (who only sings) loved that feature. Much easier than stomping on the pedal to turn the harmonies on/off. Of course that won't work for a person singing that is playing the guitar. We sold it off when we started using the Boss VE-8 which didn't have nearly as good harmonies as the TC. Now we don't use any harmonizer, I'm just sucking it up and learning to harmonize myself. Like you, I'm not a big fan of my voice!

[guitargabor]

I recently purchased the Harmony Singer 1.Very basic but you can dial in a 'auto" mode whereby you don't need to change to different keys.

I'm still learning how to use it.One thing-these pedals really force one to concentrate on your singing technique.They sound better with extended singing notes, slower songs and simple melodies.

My vocals have improved already, just using the device for about 5 weeks.Even though my vocals are the strongest part of my musicianship...

The Harmony GXT seems to be favored by several female professional musicians that I follow.

Also, using a monitor will give you a better sense of the sound the harmonizer makes.

Gabe

[Zea Duart]

Thanks for your opinions. I discovered also the TC-Helicon VoiceLive Play GTX with some good patches, and I'm researching some info to. Waths your thoughts? Any one of you tried the TC-Helicon VoiceLive Play GTX?! Do you like it.

[Revy]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

There is also another setting - I forget what they call it - that really does enhance the voice, surprisingly well.

It's called the "double" button. Creates a second voice on the same pitch as the original. I leave my double on all the time. Cool effect when you play harmonica into also.

Less is more with harmonies. If your voice is off, all the harmonies are also. Not a happy sound! Auto correct will help but not fix!

I don't run my guitar through it. I just run a line from the bypass of my tuner to the G-XT to pitch to the guitar to my voice and run the guitar out volume completely off. No guitar cable running back out.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by Revy

It's called the "double" button. Creates a second voice on the same pitch as the original. I leave my double on all the time. Cool effect when you play harmonica into also.

No, that one I know. While neat, it's not what I meant. I am going to have to dig mine out to remember the name.

[Dave L]

Its a cool vocal effect pedal but it won't make you a better singer. I might make things worse. I found when using the harmony features you really have to be on your game. Any mistake is amplified.

The auto pitch correct is interesting but really you should practice more if you can't sing in key.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

No, that one I know. While neat, it's not what I meant. I am going to have to dig mine out to remember the name.

“Tone” button?

[GHS]

Originally Posted by Dave L

Its a cool vocal effect pedal but it won't make you a better singer. I might make things worse. I found when using the harmony features you really have to be on your game. Any mistake is amplified.

The auto pitch correct is interesting but really you should practice more if you can't sing in key.

This is true. You must stay on pitch or else it gets bad very fast. This helps you sing better IMHO. I use the Harmony Singer at about half intensity, to fill in/add harmony at either a few words in the song or on sections that may need that little bit extra to make it standout...Less is more with this pedal..used too much becomes boring.

[Zea Duart]

Thanks for all of your opinions. I've switched some of my interest to another Helicon product , the Play Acoustic...

[MarkF_48]

Originally Posted by Zea Duart

Thanks for your opinions. I discovered also the TC-Helicon VoiceLive Play GTX with some good patches, and I'm researching some info to. Waths your thoughts? Any one of you tried the TC-Helicon VoiceLive Play GTX?! Do you like it.

I've had the Play GTX for several years. It is now out of production (I believe), so it would likely be used if you find one.
The Play GTX does not have 'Body Rez' like the Play Acoustic, but does have some guitar effects which are OK for electric and acoustic guitar. I usually don't use the GTX guitar effects opting to run my acoustic in and thru to a Fishman Aura Spectrum presently, then to a Fishman Loudbox Mini. I've used the Play GTX reverb and a bit of chorus on an acoustic and it's usable if you went that route. The vocals out of the Play GTX go to a powered PA.
Over the years I've 'collected' a few vocal harmony effects boxes and it seems I always go back to the Play GTX. My first harmony box was the VoiceTone Harmony-G (not the XT) and it was fun and easy to use. For a while I was tempted to step up the the XT as it had a few more feature than its original, but never did as the Play GTX was plenty adequate for me (had to draw the line on gear collecting at some point )

While TC Helicon has software to manage the vocal patches and such on the Play GTX, a third party software developer created a program not only to manage patches, but a full editor as well. If you want to edit the patches it can be done via the menu screen on the GTX, but the software makes life easier. Unfortunately the developer didn't do the other Play series boxes.
https://www.voiceliveeditor.com/voic...mparison-table