Most useful non-harmonizer vocal effects unit?

[Spook]

As for a pedantic luddite view, reverb is machine generated. So is EQ. So is the pickup in your guitar and the amplification gear it goes to. If a piece of gear helps make music that sounds good and/or moves along the creative process then why be afraid of it? That includes harmonizers, loopers with backward robotic octave droppers, or flashing lights. It's not the tool.. it's the individual applying it. Doesn't suit you? Fine. Just don't forget that harmonizers and loopers are great writing and practicing tools. And even tune correction helps challenged singers improve. Application often suffers when these effects find their way to stage, but not always. And as creative musicians work with them and find better ways to use them, we'll see some good performances from them.

[Laughingboy68]

Sean,

I find the TC Helicon devices sound pretty good when use appropriately.

The Mic Mechanic seems to have the other parts of my pedal (a Harmony G-XT), with the harmony function left out.

I find the formula of TC's "Tone" circuit pretty impressive. It adds a touch of EQ, compression and de-essing. I've yet to find a pitch correction that can make a singer who can sing (I count you among that category), sound better.
So, if i were you I'd leave it off.

Worth a try...

Mike

[slewis]

Trying it out tonight -- in about an hour! -- for the first time; looking forward to it. And yes, pitch
correction at zero..

[Laughingboy68]

Good luck Sean,

Keep that "Tone" control engaged.

Mike

[slewis]

Well, as advertised, I'm really happy with the Mic Mechanic just for the tone button alone. Really crisps-up the vocals nicely and made my Heil PR35 even more responsive and "playable," and responsive to precise positioning. Didn't get a lot of chance yet to play around with the different reverb/delay settings, but I will. Had a very slight problem with a very high frequency feedback but it didn't happen a lot and I don't imagine it will be hard to fix. The Heil is a very hot mic so I have to have the mic gain set pretty low -- about 25% or so. Not sure if I have to dial the mic gain down a little more or adjust the mic-frequency on my SA220, but it should be a quick fix I'd think. A pretty sweet little unit!

[El Conquistador]

I have a question about the Mic Mechanic.

It comes a wall wart power supply, yet, it says on the box that phantom power is always on. So, I am confused. If I were to plug the MM into my SA220 WHICH SUPPLIES PHANTOM POWER, does that mean I would NOT have to use the wall wart?

Steve

[logicioner]

If you put a reverb effect on your vocals using, for example, the Mic Mechanic, does it then sound weird if you have a guitar signal with a different reverb, or even completely dry?

[Paully]

I use the Mic Mechanic.
The auto correct can be turned completely off.
Leaving you with compression, reverb and delay.
Works great for me.

[sam.spoons]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

I have a question about the Mic Mechanic.

It comes a wall wart power supply, yet, it says on the box that phantom power is always on. So, I am confused. If I were to plug the MM into my SA220 WHICH SUPPLIES PHANTOM POWER, does that mean I would NOT have to use the wall wart?

Steve

The Mic Mechanic supplies phantom power to a mic plugged into it. It can't be powered from incoming phantom power, you still need the wall wart.

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by sam.spoons

The Mic Mechanic supplies phantom power to a mic plugged into it. It can't be powered from incoming phantom power, you still need the wall wart.

Bummer, but, thanks for the response. I did try it out last night and I am thinking it is going to be a good addition to my performance kit.

Steve

[Philip DeLuce]

As with most of the equipment on the market today manufacturers tend to pile on the optional effects and each effect have varying positives and negatives. Combining them, how they interact on each other is like walking a high wire. You may get a great sound with reverb and delay but adding mod or hard tune(pitch correction may throw everything off. Add harmony and it just sounds horrible. I've tried TC Helicon Voice Live 2 and felt I needed an advanced degree to use all but the basics. I'm using the Acoustic Live now which has less features and only using what I have full control and knowledge of before even trying to add additional features. Like Stanislavsky said, "Less is more." (Unless you want to sound like Cher.) the looping features I have seen used brilliantly. It's about being familiar with the technology and knowing it like you do a G chord. We see electric guitarists stack effects all the time and think nothing of it. At my age the tech side of the learning curve is very slow. When you are up there by yourself mistakes show glaringly. I'm going to continue the process but keep it in the house until I master it and only then will I use it in a performance.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by slewis

Thanks for the VoiceTone recommendation; I'll take a look at that. But for the computer-harmonies -- of course they "work" -- they're replacing another human voice -- with a machine! Not anything I'll ever do. You also might as well play along with a synthesized string section 20-30% of the time, and use a synthesized drum track 20-30% of the time....

Bwahahahahahaha: https://www.facebook.com/SeanLewisMusic

Synthesized drum track? Pre-recorded tracks? Beat buddy and live looping? No different.

[slewis]

Originally Posted by DavidE

Bwahahahahahaha: https://www.facebook.com/SeanLewisMusic

Synthesized drum track? Pre-recorded tracks? Beat buddy and live looping? No different.

What exactly is your point, there, Davey? Nothing my audience hears is prerecorded; everything they hear is played live, by me, in front of them. What, did you think you "got me" on something? Looping guitar or vocals or singing my own harmony, with no pitch correction, to my own live-looped vocals is the same to you as playing with pre-recorded drum or synth tracks or letting a computer chip harmonize with me?....

Thanks for the free publicity though!

[otavio]

Tc Eletronics M One XL ?!