Vocal FX

monquixote

Anyone using vocal FX?

I'm possibly going to have to go back to doing backing vocals which I haven't done in a band for 18 months and I'm a bit nervous.

Having looked at the TC site it looks like TC Helicon stuff has come on leaps and bounds the Mic Mechanic and Harmony Singer look amazing and really aren't that expensive. I could quite happily have one on my pedalboard.

De-Ess, Compressor, EQ, Gate, Reverb, Delay and either Harmony or Pitch Correction for £120 is pretty awesome. 

Anyone using them, or an alternative?

monquixote

Here is a vid:

meltedbuzzbox

Bit confused here.

Why do you want to use this? To correct your pitch?

monquixote

Not primarily. 

Mostly to make up for the fact that I have a slightly crap voice so I'd be more interested in being able to have some nice compression, EQ, De-ESS and verb on my voice as the PA in most rehearsal places and gigs is a bit shit and doesn't have those features. 

A bit of pitch correction would be a bonus, but it isn't why I started looking at the pedals.

meltedbuzzbox

Have you ever considered lessons?

You could have a brilliant voice that needs a little coaxing

monquixote

I don't sing too badly when I'm doing it regularly. I just haven't done it for a while and I'd at least like to give my singing the best platform.

I would like singing lessons, but it's hard to find the time and money.

meltedbuzzbox

If you have the technique side of things down I would say put some time in and brush up.

£130 on lessons could take you further than the pedal.

The plus side with singing is you can do it anywhere almost at any time.

The drive to and from work usually provides the best times (for me anyway). 

monquixote

I consider it two separate things.

A pedal will make no difference if I can't sing but regardless of how well I sing eq, compression and reverb are a good thing

meltedbuzzbox

it does autotune though right?

You want to buy it dont you? ;-)

I would say for live backing you dont need it but if you want to indulge go for it bud.

Im just trying to look at this from a similar angle for guitar playing. If I came to you to say I have found a pedal that masks me being a bit of a shit guitarist I would guess you would tell me to practice more and that ultimately the pedal would be my downfall?

I am making an assumption so I appreciate I could be massively wrong here.

monquixote

As I said pitch correction is not why I'm considering buying it.

Presumably you don't consider reverb and compression on vocals or guitar cheating?

meltedbuzzbox

Sorry I might have just misunderstood your angle

I guess with reverb and compression it depends. If a solo is drowned out with reverb to mush all the notes so you cant hear the mistakes as badly then yes I consider it cheating (and I have seen it done) 

Compression not so much of a cheat, I see it as more of an enhancer for guitar.

I guess it would boost a weak voice though when it is extended beyond its natural range or lacking support.

Do you have your own PA? If so does it not have reverb, eq and compression? I appreciate you cant adjust that mid song etc

Roland

We use a Helicon for our female singer, although I can't remember which model. It does pitch correction by mixing the dry and corrected signal, which sounds chorused, and helps the singer correct herself. What we find really useful is the feedback destroyer. During the sound check it hunts for up to nine frequencies, and kills them with narrow band notches. Tonight we played in a very bright room, and it used all nine of its frequencies. I'd buy it just for that, particularly if your voice is not very strong, and prone to feedback because of low signal to noise ratio.

fretmeister

I've got a harmony singer - does NOT do pitch correction.

The Tone button switches on the EQ, compression, de-Esser etc and it's brilliant. It's like having someone on the desk that knows what they are doing!

Ignoring the harmony bit, it basically removes all the faff in getting a good vocal sound.

smudge_lad

fretmeister said:

I've got a harmony singer - does NOT do pitch correction.

The Tone button switches on the EQ, compression, de-Esser etc and it's brilliant. It's like having someone on the desk that knows what they are doing!

Ignoring the harmony bit, it basically removes all the faff in getting a good vocal sound.

+1 for this - great pedal for all that @fretmeister said!

viz

Main vocalist just needs delay (better than verb imo). And EQ and low cut filter is better than compression. Backing vocalists just need a bit of compression, no delay. Maybe a teeny bit of reverb to lush it up. That way the dynamics of the song will come through; the lead singer will always be out in front of the mix, and you won't get washed with multiple delays.

digitalscream

My dad uses a Boss VE-20, mainly for harmonies and some reverb. Works a treat...

EricTheWeary

Looking for something to read on the loo read a very positive review of the Digitech Vocalist as a do it all vocal multi fx.

In my old band the singer had a couple of fx at the board and rigged up an on/ off footswitch. Primarily a big dub style delay which was fun for shouting intros and stuff.

Kebabkid

Our singer in the function band has used one of the old Digitech harmoniser units for ages and utilises it for some reverb and basic 3rds and unison octave harmonies - he selects the keys and punches it in and out on the fly. They work well if you mix them in well with the direct signal and those new Helicon ones look really good. I'd prefer to add compression to a vocal.
What I liked about the unit was that with an in tune vocal - courtesy of our good singer - his harmony, seemingly helped improve the remainder of our real backing vocals as we had something solid to pitch against. I'm not a fan of those units that follow your guitar chords though.

guitarfishbay

Our singer just bought a voice live 2. On paper it looks great but I've not heard it yet. He's been messing around with it at home and he seems really happy with it. As an originals band we would rather retain some control over things, plus the effects on the desk at rehearsal are neither footswitchable nor any good!

vasselmeyer

digitalscream said:

My dad uses a Boss VE-20, mainly for harmonies and some reverb. Works a treat...

+1 for the Boss Ve-20. It's got a range of effects (comp, delay, reverb) and it can do subtle or not so subtle pitch correcttion if you want it. It also does some great harmonies and you can just switch them in and out. It's in a BOSS stompbox format which makes guitarists feel immediately at home.

monquixote

Cheers for the input chaps. 

When I last looked into it a few years ago it seemed like you could just get the very simple one shot pedals that would just do reverb or compression for about £100 or you could get the big processors for £300+ that required some programming. 

The exciting thing is that the Mic Mechanic seems to be all the things you want without the cost or the associated complexity. 

To clarify my needs. I'm going to be using a very basic PA for live and at rehearsal which will have limited EQ and no comp/verb and I'm probably not going to have a soundman or easy access to the desk. In the last band I did BVox in I benefitted from a slightly over the top setup which had a dedicated rack with comps and verbs in etc and they just make the best of what you've got so I'd like to have the same, but in a format I can stick on my pedalboard.