Which Vocal Harmony type pedal?

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close2uclose2u Frets: 997
edited March 2015 in FX
I have been watching demos of
TC Helicon Harmony
TC Helicon H1
Vocalist Live 3
etc etc

Any regular users of these with preferences and why? Or alternatives?

Usage:
either / or
1] electric band setting for backing singer (who is not the guitarist) to have a fuller sound with blended harmonies
2] acoustic duo with one guitar / one singer to add extra textures and harmonies to the vocals
budget about £150
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Comments

  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23906
    I have the TC. I like it. The "Tone" preset for EQ compression and de-essing is ace.

    All pitch sensing harmony pedals need clean and accurate guitar playing.
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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    Miku stomp?
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • smudge_ladsmudge_lad Frets: 653
    I have the TC. I like it. The "Tone" preset for EQ compression and de-essing is ace.

    All pitch sensing harmony pedals need clean and accurate guitar playing.
    This. Great pedal, and the tone button is fab!
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9444
    Ive got a TC Harmony Singer (actually never use it !!!) and they are superb !
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  • joeyowenjoeyowen Frets: 4025
    This isn't the most helpful, but I saw someone using a TC pedal for harmonies and it did sound great! I just don't know what model it was.

    Boss have just released the VE something I think, might also worth a look
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    edited March 2015
    error
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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    I have the H1 and it uses the guitar signal to determine the harmonies.

    Our singer uses the Vocalist Live 4 and it's excellent. I'd recommend both pedals.
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    @hubobulous I was hoping you would add something here Thanks The vocalist is obviously more complex than the TCs Did you choose TC for any specific reason? Can you compare / contrast the two?
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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    The H1 is obviously much simpler. I tend to just set it for a third up and leave it like that for the whole gig. Since I'm just on backing vocals, that's more than enough.

    The Vocalist Live 4 is a great piece of kit. Up to 4 different harmonies in a patch with reverb and delay, (compression and other features too). We don't use its MIDI capabilities yet, but will get round to that to tie guitar pedal patches with it for different songs.
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    The H1 is obviously much simpler. I tend to just set it for a third up and leave it like that for the whole gig. Since I'm just on backing vocals, that's more than enough.
    In the band setup I'm thinking of that would be ideal.
    H1 or Harmony Singer might fit the bill.



    The Vocalist Live 4 is a great piece of kit. Up to 4 different harmonies in a patch with reverb and delay, (compression and other features too). 
    That would be good (I'm looking at the 3 version) for acoustic duo. 
    From what I can tell, it also acts as a 'mini-mixer' for guitar and vox so with powered speakers no need for a desk. 
    Is that right?

    One thing I can't seem to track down. Does it just do a single harmony ... say the 3rd up? Or only two harmonies?
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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    I think you're right about the Vocalist acting as a mixer. We don't use it that way but from memory, you can achieve what you need with it.

    The Live 4 version that we have can contain anything between 0 and 4 harmonies per patch. So you can have the singer's voice with no harmony as the basic sound and then kick in the harmonies when required. Some patch examples therefore could be:

    3up
    3up 5up
    3up 5down
    5down 3down 3up
    5down 3down 3up 5up
    Octave up 3 down

    ....and so on
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  • pauladspaulads Frets: 494
    i just picked up the (now discontinued, i think) TC Voicelive Play GTX for £136 at Thomann...i've only scratched the surface but i think it's fantastic and you can use it to hoof your guitar direct into the PA if yer amp bites the dust mid-gig too...stompbox sized and road-ready with 3 year guarantee...

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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    @paulads

    another good looking device
    probably more bells / whistles than  I need as I don't need it to do all the guitary stuff ... just vocal fx ... but the price puts it in the same ball park so thanks
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997

    I have also come across the TC Helicon VoiceTone Harmony-G XT

    this is more or less a match-up for the Vocalist 3

    one thing:

    the Vocalist 3 looks like it can be used as direct to active speakers without the need for a mixer ... travelling light and easy for acoustic duo work

    Can the TC G XT do the same?

    I can't find this info in the manual.

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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    I'm not sure. A demo in a shop would be my only way of knowing this one I'm afraid, unless you can determine which output jack on the Vocalist live is used and then see if there's a corresponding one on the TC - obviously not foolproof but you get the idea.
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997

    Both the Vocalist 3 and the Helicon G-XT can go direct to powered speakers.

    Great.

    Now, which one to get?

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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    close2u said:

    Both the Vocalist 3 and the Helicon G-XT can go direct to powered speakers.

    Great.

    Now, which one to get?

    @close2u Sorry for the spam but just in case you're interested I have a TC-Helicon G-XT which I've hardly used since I joined my current band.

    £100 posted

    PM if you're interested.

    Oli
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    I have just seen this:


    more thinking ahead ....
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  • The voicetone harmony g xt is great, I had a create xt, a voictone synth and a harmony g xt... Now I use a Voicelive 2, but it is probably overkill for my limited use of vocal harmony and the adaptive tone. That button is worth the price of admission on its own ;) compression, and de-essing as well as stopping those pops from p's and b's. Also the good thing with the harmony g xt is the switching between 2 presets, so you can change harmonies/add remove a voice in a song. I've heard good things about the Digitech vocal pedals but never used them. The voicelive play pedals are great as well but I have no use for the guitar processing side of the gts or play acoustic (even though the acoustic has been in and out of my shopping basket on many occasions whilst attempting to satisfy my GAS cravings).
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  • close2uclose2u Frets: 997
    edited March 2015
    I have taken the plunge and ordered a TC Helicon Voicelive Play GTX

    well it was just too good to resist ...

    Vocal 'tone' button
    Vocal harmonies
    Looping
    Guitar FX for electric ... or guitar through if you want to bypass these
    good for acoustic 
    Vocal & guitar DI to powered speakers option
    etc etc
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