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Using HarmonizersDefine your signature vocal sound and moreby the Tweak
The harmonizer is one of the less understood studio processors. They are less likely to show up in a typical home studio rack. I think that is an oversight, though it's easy to see why. Harmonizers are expensive, at least the really good ones, like the famous Eventides, certainly are. Nowadays, like with other gear, you can get great sound under a grand. With harmonizers, unlike other effects, you have to go the hardware route. While there are some pseudo-harmonizers in expensive software bundles these do not hold a candle to the real thing. So to play the game you have to ante up for hardware. What is a Harmonizer?A Harmonizer is a device that samples incoming audio material and automatically creates several time stretched versions at different pitches and combines them all to an audio output. All of this happens on the fly in real time. You hear this device all the time on the radio. Whenever you hear ultra tight vocal harmonies that sound "too perfect" you are listening to a harmonizer at work. There's also a lot of times where it is at work where it's not obvious. Harmonizers can be used to thicken, detune and add effects to instruments and can, for the creative, make very strange effects out of any audio material. You can hear some audio before/after demos at the TCHelicon site.
Why get a Harmonizer? People tend to think that a harmonizer is just a vocal processor. The truth is, and remember this, any piece of gear can be used for unintended functions and the harmonizer is one of those devices that can do lots of things. In addition to vocals, harmonizers can be applied to guitar, keyboards, even drums (you can make massive hits with detuning), and incredibly thick ambient pads (in fact many a fat R&B string pad was made with a harmonizer). The process here is simple. Play or Sing in one note; 1-5 notes come out, depending on which model you have and how you have set it up. Many harmonizers also come with effects, such as delay and reverb, and some even have Mic preamps. So think for a minute. Instead of pouring out the cashola for a hardware reverb and delay box (which software plugins can do pretty well now), why not invest in a box plugins can't do, a box that harmonizes, and has as a bonus reverb and delays and a pre. Makes an awful lot of sense to me. Things to watch out for when getting a HarmonizerThere are a few different types of harmonizers that are designed for different things. Guitarists often have a harmonizer in their rig, often as an effects pedal. These are really just designed to do simple octaves or perfect fifths over a guitar solo. These are often lo-fi in quality. Software can handle that kind of harmonization. I used to be able to say, if its in a pedal form factor, forget it, its for guitarists. But not any more. Today's stage vocalists want the power to harmonize under foot. Check out the VoiceLive Vocal Floor Processor for one of those. Check out the demos at zZounds. This device is really good for country style harmonies. Be careful that the item actually does harmonies. Not all vocal processors do. Some may just correct pitch or add different effects. Others may just allow you to change the formant and pitch of one voice but not allow for the creation of harmonies. The ideal processor for the studio will do all 3. It will produce harmonies, correct pitch and intonation and let you modify the formant of single lines within the harmony. Which device does all that? TC Helicon's Voiceworks and Voiceworks Plus does. I have it here in the lab. Figure out how many harmonies the device can generate at once. If it does not specify, be careful.
Using a HarmonizerThe good thing about many of today's Harmonizers are, yep, presets. Even if you know little about music you can just connect your mic and spin the dial till you find something really cool. Ideally, though, you need to know the key (root note and scale) your music is in, like the key of C#major, A minor, or Beethoven's favorite, E flat minor...but I digress. Once you set the key, the harmonizer will then figure out what note you are singing, or playing and create harmonies that are consonant with the key. So If I punch in the key of A minor and sing an "A", it it could produce harmonies at C and E. You can set up your presets in many ways. You can have all voices at unison, which makes for a really thick vocal sound, or you can specify intervals, such as voice one will be up 2 semitones, voice two will be up 7 semitones, voice 3 will be down 5 semitones. Or you can specify the chord of the moment and the harmonizer will create voices based on the chord. C maj7 any of you cool breeze jazz dudes? In no time you'll be on the beach sipping from a coconut shell. Using MIDI with your harmonizer
You can also set up some harmonizers so that MIDI tells it what the current chord is. Here the harmonies that are created will follow the chords you play on your MIDI keyboard. This is not as hard as it sounds. It's the same principal that a vocoder uses. Just make a midi track that contains nothing but simple block chords every bar or two and route that to the harmonizer. Then step up to the mic and be amazed as your harmonies track the song. Types of effectsThe main effect, naturally, is the harmonies. The typical use is to record your chorus tracks through the harmonizer and lay this track under the main vocal. One cool ability of my unit, the TC VoiceWorks, is "gender shifting" as well as pitch shifting. I can make my voice really low or really high. Of course it can do Darth Vader and munchkins effects, but that's all old hat. With the gender features you can add more maleness or femaleness to your voice. Ever wanted to sound like a chick, you macho dudes? Sure you have. Ok forget that then, turn yourself into a 12 foot 600 lb blues singer with a really deep voice. Basso Profundo! Another effect easily achieved is thickening, doubling (or tripling and quadrupling), detuning. This not only sounds good on vocals, but one other instruments too. Many harmonizers have effects like delay and reverb. If you wanted to you could just use the box for these and bypass all the rest, so if you are working live there won't be any reverb hiccup as a preset changes and you can hit a footswitch and go from harmonies to straight vocals.
Setting up a HarmonizerThere are many kinds of harmonizers out there and you have to pay attention to the different ins and out so you get one that will fit in with your existing gear. For example, if you get one without a Mic preamp or want to use a different preamp you need to make sure the unit has line ins and outs at the with the connectors you need. Keep in mind some may have only one set of XLRs, TRS, TS or RCA connections. Ok, don't check. I'll see you in adapter hell at Radio Shack. For use with an analog mixer, you would put the harmonizer on inserts, or in a typical sends/return effects configuration. Using sends and returns may be superior if your sends can be set to "prefader" where you can remove the original source and just hear the effected signal. With inserts, there may be a need to devote an extra channel. Harmonizers may only have a single mono input and the output is usually stereo, so you need an extra channel.
Connecting directly to an audio interface also works, though there could be some latency if you monitor through the CPU. If this is the way you intend to hook it up look for a harmonizer with a headphone jack. This will allow you to monitor the harmonizer before the CPU actually records it. Of course if you only have a 2x2 soundcard you'll be back there cursing and swapping cables, unless the harmonizer offers digital i/o as many do, which works great.
See my notes on my setup in the sidebar. Using Pitch CorrectionNot all Harmonizers have pitch correction. Because I am not a vocalist myself, it's a must have feature for me. The harmonizer can't work effectively if it cannot tell what pitch you are attempting to sing, so if your voice is like mine and starts at Gb and rises to A# when I try to sing an "A"you could be heading for trouble in your harmonies. So consider that. One advantage of having pitch correction is that once you hear your voice hit the right pitches as you monitor its easier to let go and really express yourself. As you learn what the correct note actually sounds like your vocal abilities may actually improve. I think i am seeing some improvement just after a few days. OverallBecause a lot of home studio's don't have one, your studio takes on an edge because you do. There will be fewer things the big boys downtown can do that you can' do. Consider the fun factor. Harmonizers are a really fun piece of gear. When you hear what comes out compared to what you put in you will bang yourself on the head for not getting one sooner. It's an absolute great time. Great entertainment for anyone you bring into your studio and a sure-fire giggle-fest with potential significant others. And it can scare the heck out of you nosy neighbors playing with the gender controls. Your kids will love it too.
Regards always,TweakNovember 2007Want to discuss Harmonizers? Go to the Studio-Central Effects processors Forum
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