Vocal Harmonizers

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I didn't get any feedback when activating my Harmony G's harmony button when playing through my Fishman SoloAmp or my Mackie SRM450 speakers. I don't get any feedback either with my new TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 or my older VoiceLive. The same with my DigiTech VL-4. With everything setup with proper gain levels, when you activate the harmony button on the Harmony G pedal, you should hear the harmony come in without any increase in volume. I always set my harmony volume to be a bit less and certianly no more than the melody vocal volume.
SpruceTop

I noticed the above quote in another active thread and thought rather than hijack it or go PM, I'd start a new thread.
I saw 4 different vocal harmonizers in one breath.
I would like to know some of the differences between these units as in pros and cons. The price range is quite significant but I believe you get what you pay for. (It could also end my search for a duo partner)

[kramster]

I have the Digitech VL2 and TC VoiceLive 2.... TC VL way better in most areas.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

I noticed the above quote in another active thread and thought rather than hijack it or go PM, I'd start a new thread.
I saw 4 different vocal harmonizers in one breath.
I would like to know some of the differences between these units as in pros and cons. The price range is quite significant but I believe you get what you pay for. (It could also end my search for a duo partner)

Hi BoB/335,

Thanks for highlighting these marvelous and effective devices in a new thread!

My "harmonizer" experience goes back to about 1980, when, here in Rochester, New York, MXR developed, manufactured and released their MXR Pitch Transposer. This could be used alone but really required the optional digital display to set it up and use it effectively. These were both rack-mount units, 2U for the Pitch Transposer, and 1U for the display:



A user had to setup each of the four presets to intervals that corresponded to a harmony interval in relation to a vocal note being sung. Each of these intervals had to be activated by a vocalist while singing a melody note by "tap dancing" on one of four footswitches that would activate one of the particular interval presets to create a harmony to the vocal note(s) being sung. This was all a realtime adventure and a vocalist really had to work out at home, and remember, the proper footswitch button to step on to activate the preset with the intended interval to create a proper harmony. Groovy or What!? It was almost like playing another instrument while singing! The resultant harmonies sounded decent but the farther away an interval was set from a zero or root note value, the "funnier" it sounded in that the higher the interval, the more Chipmunky the generated tone would sound. The lower the interval setting, the deeper and more drunken and slow-motion-like the generated harmony note. To make the harmonies sound decent, and they most certainly could, it was best to set their volume a little lower than the vocalist's voice and stick with intervals of +3 and +5 above, and -3 and -5 below. Being a baritone, I always used the two upper intervals for my harmonies as they sounded the most realistic with my vocal range.

Whenever I used the MXR Pitch Transposer in live-performance, it was a hit with the crowd! Frankly, I don't think I ever worked out more than the chorus harmonies for more than ten or twelve songs in my 200-song repertoire. It was a lot of work to remember all the "tap dancing" routines. At one time, for a year or so, my solo act was comprised of playing guitar and singing, playing a rack-mounted harmonica when needed, using the MXR Pitch Transposer, and also a Korg drum machine. Talk about getting a workout on stage!

As with many things, progress improved upon the realtime harmony-generation concept--Thank Goodness! The newest harmonizers can sense the musical background of a song's accompaniment and with the simultaneous vocal note being sung, automatically produce a proper harmony note to the vocalist's melody. The proper harmony can be generated 100% of the time or 90% of the time depending on the singer's accuracy in hitting a clean melody note on pitch and their guitar-accompaniment style (i.e., fingerpicking, full-chordal strumming, flatpicking with alternating bass and bass-runs with melodic licks) for a particular song. These new harmonizers like full chords, or at least the root and third of a chord, the best in order to generate automatic harmonies but the more expensive ones can also be manually programmed, note-by-note, to produce the proper harmony notes to a particular song and store them too, and then they can be used with or without any musical accompaniment in a live performance. Also, additionally, the more expensive harmonizers have factory-presets that have the harmonies all set-up and stored for well-known songs by artists. For example, the older TC Helicon VoiceLive had several songs by The Eagles all programmed into presets. If you want to sound like The Eagles singing "Seven Bridges Road," just hit the preset and manually set your key or use the optional TC Helicon Harmony Control Guitar Pedal to have the guitar set the key in which you'd sing it for the song. The latest renditions of TC Helicon & DigiTech harmonizers have built-in chord-recognition capabilities and don't need any outboard, optional gear to set the keys for a song. Just begin playing the song in any key that you want and the harmonizer will track your guitar and voice and produce a harmony to your melody.

More to come on the newer harmonizers in a bit.

Regards,

SpuceTop

[kramster]

Also the TC can be "triggered" with a guitar line in and midi... so I can have my guitar and keyboard and not have to reach down/around to switch cords ( a bonus for me anyway).

[Aaron Smith]

I have the TC Harmony G, and I think it is a brilliant piece of gear. It is very simple to use, but lacks flexibility- particularly if you plan to use it to add effects to the guitar signal. It does fewer things than the VoiceLive- but does them very, very well. I've had mine for almost a year, and I've had no temptation to upgrade.
The VoiceLive stuff is pretty amazing too, but it is not nearly as straightforward to use. If you want lots of options, lots of ability to fine-tune, and lots of features, that would probably be the way to go.

[BoB/335]

The "reduced price" Harmony G seems like a good way to go right now. I'll watch this thread a little further before pulling the trigger.

I ran across this sight and showed my wife. She thought I should get it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV14kaJJnz4

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

The "reduced price" Harmony G seems like a good way to go right now. I'll watch this thread a little further before pulling the trigger.

I ran across this sight and showed my wife. She thought I should get it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV14kaJJnz4

Hi BoB/335,

Hammer Time! The newest rendition of the Harmony G, the Harmony G XT, is now available, having started shipping in the last few days. The Harmony G XT looks identical to the Harmony G but it incorporates several features from the new, more expensive TC Helicon VoiceLive 2, such as more natural-sounding harmonies and reverbs. This pedal is currently selling for $249 as opposed to the Harmony G's reduced-price of $199.

I just got the new TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 last week, and although it's the best harmonizer I've had yet, it's overkill for what I'd use it for, and being that the new Harmony G XT has two of the harmony voices and the Hall reverb of the VoiceLive 2, and it's a lot smaller and lighter, I may return the big unit and get the Harmony G XT and use the savings to buy something else.

How about you, a Harmony G or Harmony G XT?

Regards,

SpruceTop

[BoB/335]

And where does the DigiTech VL-4 fit in all this?

[BoB/335]

Differences between the Harmony G and the "New" Harmony G XT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zkyvpzaOnI

[valleyguy]

The major benefit to the VoiceLive over the Harmony G is the auto tune, is it not?

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

And where does the DigiTech VL-4 fit in all this?

It's very good! I got one but always liked the more natural-sounding TC Helicon harmonies better. The DigiTech Vocalist Live 4 currently sells for $499 but I have one for sale that's less than a year old, in new condition, only used at home, and always kept covered when not in use. You can see it here:

http://rochester.craigslist.org/msg/1489793178.html

Regards,

SpruceTop

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by valleyguy

The major benefit to the VoiceLive over the Harmony G is the auto tune, is it not?

Hi Valleyguy,

Pitch Correction is one of the advantages of the VoiceLive 2 over the Harmony G and the new Harmony G XT. This is actually a nice feature and can act very gently and unobtrusively to squeeze a note onto pitch. It's not really necessary but nice to have. Also, the VoiceLive 2 has more harmonies and effects and more control over them all. Frankly, as a solo act, if you're using more than two harmonies for your voice, you're probably sounding too over-the-top to your audience. I like using only a first harmony above for my baritone voice and using it sparingly on a song's chorus or wherever else it can add to a performance.

Regards,

SpruceTop

[BoB/335]

And a Voice Live 2 demo

http://www.tc-helicon.com/voicelive2.asp#

Pretty impressive. I'm wondering how many of those you can get with the Harmony G2 (XT).

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by BoB/335

Differences between the Harmony G and the "New" Harmony G XT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zkyvpzaOnI

Thanks BoB! I hadn't seen this video until you posted your link!

Regards,

SpruceTop

[BoB/335]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Hi Valleyguy,

Pitch Correction is one of the advantages of the VoiceLive 2 over the Harmony G and the new Harmony G XT. This is actually a nice feature and can act very gently and unobtrusively to squeeze a note onto pitch. It's not really necessary but nice to have. Also, the VoiceLive 2 has more harmonies and effects and more control over them all. Frankly, as a solo act, if you're using more than two harmonies for your voice, you're probably sounding too over-the-top to your audience. I like using only a first harmony above for my baritone voice and using it sparingly on a song's chorus or wherever else it can add to a performance.

Regards,

SpruceTop

My pitch isn't bad for the songs I CHOOSE to sing. (One thing I learned well from American Idol is SONG SELECTION IS EVERYTHING!) So I would rather not have a more complicated unit. I can't even imagine wanting more than 2 harmonies. Seems like it's worth the extra 50 bucks for the XT over the older model.

Thanks for all the imput and best of luck selling your DT.