That is what I was wondering about when I was a kid. I asked myself how all those little people fit in the radio receiver to deliver the various programs...
I've used one for a couple of years now. You've got to be careful of those knobs twisting out of place - best to take a last look at them before starting a song. A VERY special little-known effect happens when you sing a HARMONY PART and have it harmonize to that part: it comes up with a really-sweet-but-odd harmony. I often use this feature when singing my harmony part in a duo with another person singing 'lead'.
I use a harmonizor with a keyboard and I used to have the same issue of it singing a major harmony when I was playing a minor chord. What I figured out was if I played less notes on the keyboard when I played a minor key, it would sing perfect minor harmony every time! (example) If I played a Dm - d, f, and a - with my right hand it would sing an f# harmony note trying to force the chord to D major. But if I only played d and f notes with my right hand, it would sing a perfect D minor harmony! 100% of the time! The same can be done on the guitar by muting notes. Takes a little practice, but it works!
Fantastic review! Auto gain in these pedals is actually 2 mic pre-amps each going into their own Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). One of these pres is high gain, the other is low gain. The DSP in the product selects between the two digital streams depending on which is optimal. The first product that I know of to first use this input scheme is a $9000 Neumann Digital microphone. It results in about 126dB input SNR.
At last, a nice sensible non hysterical review of a product, clearly & calmly explained, at a normal pace. I`ve had my eye on one of these for a while now, but I really needed to see a review like this one first, and now that I have, I`ll probably buy one now. Thanks Hew. 😎🎸
I use mine to make my three piece band sound big. I am the only singer but with this I can have backup at the push of a button. Use mostly with 3rd above. I am on my second unit. Wore the switch out on my first one.
It should be noted that this pedal also works without having to plug a guitar into it. Just a microphone in and out. The tone button brightens it up a bit.
@@aphrodence02 I don’t have this pedal but I have a Digitech Vocalist Live 4 that works the same way. From the mic, use an XLR into the pedal, then an XLR out to a mixer and speakers. Then, from a guitar, use a 1/4” instrument cable into the 1/4” input of the pedal, then a 1/4” instrument cable out of the pedal to an amp or mixer and speakers. The pedal uses the notes you play on the guitar to know what harmonies to add to the vocal notes. For example, if you play a A major chord and sing an A note, the pedal will add a C# if it’s set to a third up. Then play a A minor and sing the same note, the pedal will add a C note automatically. Without the guitar plugged in to the pedal, there’s no way for the pedal to know which harmony to add. Was this what you were asking?
I'm going to buy one of these but I can see the temptation to over use it. The last thing I want to do is sound like the Gatlin brothers in every song I play. I'll be using the ON/OFF button a lot.
It should actually be fairly easy to add a circuit to remove the guitar bleed since the guitar signal is fed into the pedal. You could just create a ‘noise print’ from that signal and remove it from the mix. Similar to the way noise canceling headphones work.
What a great review and video. I've watched a few vids on this pedal looking for specific info and finally, you knocked it out of the park. The eloquence of speech delivered with the British accent was spot on mate. (Haha) Last but not least, the song performances were quite good. If those are your tunes, I'm thoroughly impressed. Hell I'm impressed regardless. Later dude.
The mark one version does have an input control and that works well. I don't know why they deleted it. I have mine on a pedal board and the guitar input comes off a doubled reverb pedal output, the other socket hooked into the next guitar pedal. This means you can do anything on the guitar regarding tone and the HC still gets a clean input.
Is it possible to use it for studio recording? Like so: I plug a pre recorded instrument instead of the guitar (so it can "read" the chords and create harmonies) and record vocal harmonies in my DAW?
"Thanks for that review.. I have the Harmony Singer 1.. & was looking @ upgrading to HS 2..because of the battery component ..but after your review..I'll stay with the 1..& when I do upgrade..I will buy the "Voicelive 3".. As you suggested.. There are a few more tricks on the "Voicelive 3".. I use the HS 1 exclusively for busking..& use the TC Helicon "Voicetone Harmony GX-T".. On stage for my solo act..& find this harmony pedal suits my needs..I found it very hard to use to begin with..as there are so many settings on the GX-T.. & of course.. Performing solo in busy pub bars & full on clubs.. It was difficult to arrange a rep with harmonies..but after time spent on winking on the GX-T.. Finally came to grips with it..& I did learn the hard way with harmonisers.. The trick is.."Less..is better than more"..& I was ok after this.. I mainly use this in cafe..Beach club gigs & smaller quiter functions where. Can use it during my "Eagles set"..& ELVIS.. Jimmy Buffett etc..& do not use it much when I'm hammering out ACDC & Guns n Roses rock..as my pub crowd is singing the lyrics with me.. Many thanks for your demo.. That was great.."Keep On Rockin".. Doc J Feelgood.. Surfers Paradise..Gold Coast.. Australia..😊🎸🎙🎩😎
doktorjfeelgood Since you have experience using this with rock music, how does it handle a distorted guitar? Does it throw the pedal off if you're playing hard rock and singing forcefully?
@@jasongray2431 you can preset all songs and store them ready on a usb card thingy voicelive 3 so you dont need to press a sausage but its a ball ache to carry around sold my bread bin ...got me a simple peddle as i could not be bothered with everythiing on it. only used my fav setting
Do you think I could use this pedal with backing tracks, to harmonize my violin? I don’t sing, but I am looking to harmonize the melody on my violin as I play over backing tracks.
Im a bass player in a rock band doing backing vox. This looks ideal. Basic thirds is all i need, but do i have to have an instrument plugged in? And if so, can i send a di signal from my bass amp, or plug the bass into it? Or would i have to nick a signal from the guitarist to make this work? Thanks. Ian.
A bass guitar is no good, because you need to send in chords to harmonise. The guitarist's dry (no effect) chords may be suitable. If the Harmony Singer has to harmonize to a minor chord, the guitarist must play the third (chords without a third are interpreted as major).
Your Singing is Great! I have several of the TC Helicon vocal products and really feel they still can’t duplicate the human voice with their Harmony features... It doesn’t sound “normal” or “natural” Sounds more like Chipmunks 🐿 or Gulps of air from Helium 🎈 - They should at least delay the harmonies so they don’t ride on top of each other... Still waiting for a product that duplicates my singing with backup... 👎🏻🎤 - ✌🏻🌺 ALOHA 😎
The level should never be set to the right of 12 o'clock. Between 10 and 10 and a half tucks those harmonies under your voice and makes them sound less robotic.
How about if you are only using this for vocal harmony effects WITHOUT any instruments. Only with backing tracks. Would it still be useful? I'm debating between the duplicator or harmony singer. Im a vocalist and I don't play any instrument.
Got mine today. Effective if you stick to regular majors and minors, but it gets confused by others. I set the harmony to slight raise (position 3), played a Dsus2, sang a D continuously, but rather than getting a Dsus2 harmony (E), it gives me a major (F#). That is VERY lame.
1. The original Harmony Singer (which has a GAIN pot) needs 12VDC, minimum 400mA. 2. The Harmony Singer 2 (which does not have a GAIN pot) requires 9VDC, minimum 670mA (the bottom of the device incorrectly says "300mA").
The TC Helicon guy (in another video) said you need an instrument plugged in to know what chord the harmonies should belong to. But it doesn't have to be guitar - it can be a bass or a keyboard etc. (Bass may not always tell the difference between major and minor chords though). Probably wouldn't work with Electronic drums plugged in as the instrument😉.
@@GarethBell I dont think this is quite correct - maybe for just a mic if singing without music because it needs to dicscover the key BUT in theory then if you used a backing track and took a line from a mixer eg the monitor out it would recognise the key of the song and work the same way as it would by pluging in a gutar ...should it not?
I cant see why it would not work with a backing track like a guitar if you took a line from a mixer and plugged it in from the line out (monitor or headphones out to the tc helicon the same way as a guitar ...good question . I was wondering the same thing. will try this out myself
I had to hot glue all the knobs in place on the full size harmony. Stupid that the selector switch is so close to the volume.. I also kept stomping on the manual button, bad things happened...
I bought one of these a year ago. After about six months, it became too unpredictable to use--randomly, when engaged, it adds severe clipping distortion to the vocal, with a pulsing effect, as though I've run my harmonies through a fuzz pedal and a tremolo. If I power it down (by pulling out the AC adapter) then back up, the effect goes away, but comes back intermittently. After it happened five times in one gig, I just stopped using it.
Dave Starns many people including myself have had the same thing happen. The problem is that when volume coming in through the mic line increases, it overloads the input and software. TC Helicon has put out a firmware update you can download from their website under “support”.
Kevin Cosgrove yes, I saw that while researching the issue. They recommend that everybody with a Harmony Singer 2 do it (even if they I haven’t experienced the problem, because all the units are susceptible to it). I applied to mine, and it hasn’t given me a problem yet.
I had two of these and in the middle of gigs after leaving the stage for a break when you come back after not singing the vocals stutter like crazy on both units it has to do with auto gain shutoff the only solution is to power off and back on. the original Harmony singer with the gain control knob on the side is a better unit and does not have this inherent issue i returned both new ones and bought a used 1st generation, difficult to deal with mid song at a packed club.
Hey brother a question for you. Can our drummer use this pedal running off the guitar player's pedal board? I hope I worded that question where you can understand what I'm trying to ask.
Huw can you tell me if this pedal changes your giutar tone at all? I went away from using these type of vocal pedals because they thinned out my guitar tone way too much?
UPDATED Feb 2024: Nice review, is it momentary or patch? Momentary would be handier live ? Too pricey for what it does and doesn't do. It really needs a Slapback Delay button just to thicken the vocals. I have the voicelive Acoustic play but it's too big. UPDATE : Momentary option when powering on, check manual. I have this pedal and the larger Acoustic Play. The harmonies from this pedal are awful compared to the larger Acoustic Play. It can't be a firmware update, it just doesn't sing in harmony, very disappointed as I bought this for its size and portability.
"If you run audio from your keyboard through a Harmony Singer, it'll work just fine. You'd get the best results if you only send left hand chord stuff and also have chorus/reverb off on the keyboard output."(Craig @ TC-Helicon, 2013)
I have the TC Helicon singer 2 but I don't hear much if a pitch correction, or Harmony, working with whatever guitar chords I'm playing. I have it in the 2nd position of my pedal chain after the guitar tuner. Could this be affecting it's ability to process what key I'm in?
Nice review. Its a great pedal. Im hoping H.S 3 they make it where you can make all the changes with your feet. Instead of having to go to the ground to make a change. And like u said its easy to bump a knob and change the setting. Think it is about time for them to come out with the H.S. 3. Good vid.
Auto tune is a wimp way of singing...ala current pip stars whom are truly fake...mariah, taylor,etc & all the boys...lame O studio puppets who rely on ghost writers...
@@sean-xm9661 damn, so much hate... this fx is a fun tool for ppl who enjoy messing around and experimenting in the studio. I'm not bothered by 'fake pip stars' who get famous just by using this fx and pass themselves off as musicians, I'm all about having fun with music and this fx is a fun one.
Why no comment on the controls on the side of the unit which can affect the sound produced? Have used this for a considerable time now and if you do not use these controls correctly it can give you the opposite of the desired effect.
Saw your comment. Ive been having some low-end distortion out of my PA speakers, but the speakers are fine as i had them checked. Are you referring to the ground on the side? Any of your comments would be helpful....
I have the boss Acoustic Singer amp and the harmonizer works great. It was the feature that moved me to buy. At the time buying a cheaper amp plus this pedal was the same $$$ so I thought why not buy the Boss. Busking on the street I just got a Fender Acoustic Junior Go which is rechargeable battery powered but sooo miss the harmonizer in the Boss, so now looking at this pedal. It seems pretty good, expensive $300+ in Canada, but the fender, pedal plus this harmonizer will be paid off by end of summer, based on what i have made in just 4 days busking. The Boss is a great little amp if you are gigging with power available.
Hello Huw, Thanks for the review I have now purchased one of these units, Could you tell me please if its ok to use the same 9v power supply that I have for the TC Helicon duplicator?
I'm thinking of getting this for my pedal board and putting it before my volume pedal so I can play my electric to control the harmonies without the electric going through the system. My one question is how well do the harmonies work with a clean (No effects, pre amp, compressor etc) electric guitar signal?
Is this with autogain? Some of these vocal stompboxes has in early version no autogain. Does the Harmony Singer automatic vibrato? One time I made the mistake to feed the TC Helicon I had with a processed voice. Compression made crosstalk better audible and the TC tried to harmonize this. Low cut eliminated the fundamentals - the TC Helicon was sounding like the vocal harmony in Yamaha keyboards.
Question. Singing unaccompanied - no instrument connected - will it harmonise? For example, I might want to use the 3rd above harmony for a whole song. Thanks!
well not with just the mic but if you use a backing trax and have a desk take the lead line from monitor or headphones out and plug it into the guitar input n in theory that should be the same - I use the boss ve 2 and do this works well
thanks for your review quick question. what happens if you use it without the guitar with the armonizer? what tune will it get. or is it required to work with a guitar chord all the time ?
On the Voicetone H1, the harmony pedal from them that I've been using for several years, you have the option to set it to use a certain key, or your guitar through-put to determine keys. On this, it seems to be missing that option, so I'd assume they just made it where it is simply ALWAYS pulling the key from the chords played? That would only make sense...
if you took a feed from your backing trax from your monitor out on desk and used that instead of guitar it would in theory work the same way ...but not just from a mic ...
Ever since I purchased mine I need to hold down the middle button for harmonies which is awkward. Anyway I can fix it so that I can just press it once for harmony ON harmony OFF?
@@HuwRees Thank You for the reply Huw, in a 4 piece band at the moment, we had a fifth but hes no more we are only 2 singing now, so hoping to buy the right TC for the job and not be disappointed.
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I think it bases the harmonies on the chords which the guitar is playing. I'm guessing that without the guitar, it wouldn't know what key to harmonise in or whether to use a major or minor scale, so it couldn't really work. The same company produce a similar product called the Voicetone H1 Intelligent Harmony Pedal, where you have the option to manually select the key of your song so it can harmonise with you without needing a guitar input.
@@MathsYknow Yes, I got one but took it back. I am getting the Boss one that you can select the Key or use a guitar. I like the extra options. More expensive though
Great video ! I noticed how you adjust the knobs with your toe and wanted to say that there is a clip on device thats made ( and I'm sorry I dont remember the name of it or I'd put in a link ) that would make doing that a lot easier especially when on stage and having to do it on the fly especially having to sing AND play guitar , you wouldn't have to dedicate so mch of yor attention looking down while adjusting . Thank you again for creating such a great and informative video , I didnt know this existed and it came up as a suggestion , now I'm glad I clicked on this. Keep up the great work
