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  #16  
Old 08-20-2019, 01:28 PM
Akousticplyr Akousticplyr is offline
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Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post

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".
Actually this is solved by the GXT. You can now have 10 presets with a firmware update and select them by foot. I use it live all the time between songs. Press and hold-toggle to preset you need-press and hold. Done. Works great! From the user manual:

“If you only need to access your two favorite sounds in performance, tapping the A/B footswitch will toggle between them quickly. If you would like to access more presets with this footswitch, hold it to enter Preset Select mode. Now, pressing the A/B button cycles forward through the five “A” preset settings or “B” preset settings, depending on whether an A or B was loaded when you held the footswitch.”
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  #17  
Old 09-16-2019, 10:12 AM
JackB1 JackB1 is offline
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Does the Harmony GXT pedal do anything to the guitar sound or is it all just for vocals?
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  #18  
Old 09-16-2019, 06:07 PM
MarkF_48 MarkF_48 is offline
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Originally Posted by JackB1 View Post
Does the Harmony GXT pedal do anything to the guitar sound or is it all just for vocals?
Been a while since I've played with mine, but if remember correctly, the guitar can have reverb and detune if the guitar and vocal are mixed to the XLR output jacks. If the 1/4" thru is used to go to a separate effects/amp the guitar sound is dry (no reverb or detune).
I had been using a Fishman LoudBox Mini with this and as it has its own reverb and chorus, the 1/4" dry output worked fine. If you're sending vocals and guitar to a powered speaker via the XLR you can mix in reverb and detune for the guitar. I kinda recall getting the detune required some extra button pushes which I never could remember.
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  #19  
Old 01-04-2020, 02:04 PM
JackB1 JackB1 is offline
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Why would you want to have "detune" effect on your guitar all the time?

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Originally Posted by MarkF_48 View Post
Been a while since I've played with mine, but if remember correctly, the guitar can have reverb and detune if the guitar and vocal are mixed to the XLR output jacks. If the 1/4" thru is used to go to a separate effects/amp the guitar sound is dry (no reverb or detune).
I had been using a Fishman LoudBox Mini with this and as it has its own reverb and chorus, the 1/4" dry output worked fine. If you're sending vocals and guitar to a powered speaker via the XLR you can mix in reverb and detune for the guitar. I kinda recall getting the detune required some extra button pushes which I never could remember.
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  #20  
Old 01-04-2020, 02:43 PM
MarkF_48 MarkF_48 is offline
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Originally Posted by JackB1 View Post
Why would you want to have "detune" effect on your guitar all the time?
Detune is a form of chorus without modulation.

Last edited by MarkF_48; 01-04-2020 at 04:28 PM.
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  #21  
Old 02-15-2021, 08:31 PM
Lost Sheep Lost Sheep is offline
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Default Banks and numbered presets

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akousticplyr View Post
Actually this is solved by the GXT. You can now have 10 presets with a firmware update and select them by foot. I use it live all the time between songs. Press and hold-toggle to preset you need-press and hold. Done. Works great! From the user manual:

“If you only need to access your two favorite sounds in performance, tapping the A/B footswitch will toggle between them quickly. If you would like to access more presets with this footswitch, hold it to enter Preset Select mode. Now, pressing the A/B button cycles forward through the five “A” preset settings or “B” preset settings, depending on whether an A or B was loaded when you held the footswitch.”
Of the 10 presets, only five are available at any one time. they go
1A and 1B
2A and 2B
3A and 3B
4A and 4B
5A and 5B

You can cycle through the "A"s easily enough and Cycle through the "B"s easily enough, but if you wanted to go from 3A to 4B, you have to change the numbered preset and the lettered (They call it "bank") with separate presses of your foot. Distracting when on stage.

You can increase (or decrease, to allow cycling through the presets faster) from the factory default of 5. You can set the number of presets from between 3 and 10. (If you wanted only two presets in a bank, what would be the point? You can do that by the bank switching easily enough). (Page 19 of the full user's manual)

Once you are set up with all the presets selected for your songs, (and put that information on the lead sheets if you use them), you are all set for your performing.

Last edited by Lost Sheep; 02-15-2021 at 08:42 PM.
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  #22  
Old 02-15-2021, 08:36 PM
Lost Sheep Lost Sheep is offline
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Default Volume control with the Harmony GxT

I noticed a couple of things that trouble me.

When I switch the harmony voices on, the volume to the PA goes up quite a bit. Is there any way to keep the volume of my single voice and my voice with harmonies level between the two settings?

I also noticed that the harmonies are absent (though my voice is not) if I am 3 inches away from my microphone, but they get a lot louder (though my voice does not get noticeably louder) when I move to within 2 inches. I am pretty sure it isn't my imagination. Do the harmonies get louder as you move closer to the mic (even as your voice stays the same in the PA)?
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  #23  
Old 02-16-2021, 08:59 AM
JackB1 JackB1 is offline
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Not sure there is an automatic way to do that? I haven't noticed that happening but if it does, I would just back off the mic a bit when you switch harmony's on. Or....you could possibly hook up a compressor between the GXT and the PA to normalize the volume.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Sheep View Post
I noticed a couple of things that trouble me.

When I switch the harmony voices on, the volume to the PA goes up quite a bit. Is there any way to keep the volume of my single voice and my voice with harmonies level between the two settings?

I also noticed that the harmonies are absent (though my voice is not) if I am 3 inches away from my microphone, but they get a lot louder (though my voice does not get noticeably louder) when I move to within 2 inches. I am pretty sure it isn't my imagination. Do the harmonies get louder as you move closer to the mic (even as your voice stays the same in the PA)?
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  #24  
Old 02-16-2021, 09:14 AM
guitarxan guitarxan is offline
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I use it’ss big brother, the Voice Live Play Acoustic for the additional guitar effects. Nice reverb and the EQ system called “Body Res” is nice and works well-for me.

As with any piece of gear, you have to spend time working with it and the tuning it.

The harmonies are like hot sauce. A little goes a long way. Start with a single harmony and dial back the default levels that come already programmed. Pitch correct is awesome-but in small doses. Mine is never above the 30 percent level, or else I sound like a bad Adam Levine impersonation. Also practice practice practice engaging and disengaging the harmonies and always remember to disengage at the end of the song or else the results can be embarrassing -ask me how I know.

Good luck and have fun with it!
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  #25  
Old 02-16-2021, 09:19 AM
guitarxan guitarxan is offline
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Default TC-Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Sheep View Post
I noticed a couple of things that trouble me.

When I switch the harmony voices on, the volume to the PA goes up quite a bit. Is there any way to keep the volume of my single voice and my voice with harmonies level between the two settings?

I also noticed that the harmonies are absent (though my voice is not) if I am 3 inches away from my microphone, but they get a lot louder (though my voice does not get noticeably louder) when I move to within 2 inches. I am pretty sure it isn't my imagination. Do the harmonies get louder as you move closer to the mic (even as your voice stays the same in the PA)?

The TC Helicons are sensitive to to mike input. I find if I move away from the mike it does not recognize as well. Play with the input level on the mike and find the distance and your voice level that produces the best result. No magic formula, it’s different for everyone

Also I have found that I have to simplify my vocal arrangements to make the harmonies work the most effectively. The processor is fast to react but not perfect. It also can’t learn the arrangement unlike a live singer.
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  #26  
Old 02-18-2021, 01:48 PM
Lost Sheep Lost Sheep is offline
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Default Volume Control on Harmonies vs Original Voice

Quote:
Originally Posted by guitarxan View Post
The TC Helicons are sensitive to to mike input. I find if I move away from the mike it does not recognize as well. Play with the input level on the mike and find the distance and your voice level that produces the best result. No magic formula, it’s different for everyone

Also I have found that I have to simplify my vocal arrangements to make the harmonies work the most effectively. The processor is fast to react but not perfect. It also can’t learn the arrangement unlike a live singer.
Thanks for the answers, guitarxan. They don't help solve my underlying problem. I want to use a head-mounted mic (or, rather, a hat-mounted mic, as one of my trademarks on stage is are hats and a mic that hangs on my ears interferes with my glasses and a neck-mount makes rustling noises if I move). Very hard to regulate distance from mouth to mic that way and regulating my volume is still something I am working on.

I was hoping there was a technological reason that could be addressed with settings or something.

And, yes, with algorithm-generated assists (harmonies and auto-corrections, etc) "less is more" and overdoing it in quantity or emphasis is distracting to an audience. Like spices in a dish, they can overwhelm the main flavor. If you can taste the bay leaf more than the beef, your stew is unbalanced.

A side question is that I also have a TC-Helicon H1 (similar to the Harmony Singer) that had developed a howl. I am still investigating the cause. The H1 is so much simpler to operate and uses the standard 9 volt power so is attractive to me on stage (open mics, no money, but lots of fun and not taxing on my repertoire).
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