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Looper's Delight
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At 12:31 AM -0700 7/3/06, L.A. Angulo wrote: >Anybody using this one live? its flirting with me the >and the demo is quite impressive! check it out >http://www.tc-helicon.com/VoiceLive Well, I was also looking seriously at grabbing the VoiceLive until I managed to get an absolutely killer deal on a VoiceWorks a couple of months ago. Form factor notwithstanding (VoiceLive is a foot controller, VoiceWorks is the rack-mount) the only big differences between the two are that the VoiceLive includes a limiter, as well as some extra tonal shaping presets for things like "cockpit radio voice". Otherwise, I believe the software is basically identical between the two, and the VoiceWorks can behave like the VoiceLive with the simple addition of a footcontroller or MIDI pedal. The VoiceWorks is excellent in regard to pitch shift, with some considerations. For the record, I'm using it as a dedicated unit inside my Wind Synth rig: Yamaha WX-11 & VL70-m (with Patchman ROM) --> Presonus Eureka preamp --> TC Helicon VoiceWorks --> Boss VF-1 --> out. I'm also using a Novation A-station in parallel for vocoding and extra synth/arpeggiator parts, but that bypasses the VoiceWorks. First consideration is that obviously the input needs to be monophonic. It tracks and harmonizes perfectly with a mono source, but if you feed it even simple two-note chords -- glitch city. Keeping a good constant level also helps, which is why I preamp the material first. Second consideration is that you need to watch your range. You've got a good amount of leeway from middle C -- probably between two to three octaves in either direction, depending upon your source material -- but once you start to stray too high or two low, the VoiceWorks starts to have some trouble with its tracking. Keep in mind that it's designed for voice, and although it works great on other material, it is optimized for a particular tonal range. When actually used with voice, the Harmony voices are realistic and each harmony part can be programmed into different voice characters. They can also be individually controlled, and add an amazing amount of realism when used in the studio under such control. For live use, the harmony scales are pretty easy to use (either save a particular key/scale into a preset, or just send MIDI notes). Pitch correction is likewise good, and can be applied in various amounts, depending on how out-of-pitch your source is. My singing sucks, though, so I've been concentrating on using it with different instruments (hence, the Wind Synth setup). Using the VoiceWorks' intelligent harmonizing in conjunction with the VL70-m I've been able to pull off whole string sections with little trouble. Horn sections are a little trickier, as for some reason they often come off sounding more like "sampled horns" than the real thing. Still not bad, just different. Some sound/harmonization combinations are phenomenal, though. I've got a simple slide guitar patch, for instance, that becomes a full blown studio pedal steel -- just beautiful! It follows the slides flawlessly, and I'd defy anybody to tell that it's actually a wind controller playing a monophonic physical modelling synth through an intelligent harmonizer (although I'll admit a real pedal steel is probably a heckuva lot cheaper :P ). Overall, it's the best pitch shift I've used this side of an Eventide (and it'll even give something like an H3000 a run for its money, IMNSHO). Let me know if there's anything in particular about which you were curious, though, and I'll be happy to address that. :) --m. -- _______ "Behind every fear lies a wish, don't you think...?"