Re: Looking for a pitch shifter pedal

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 6:05 PM +0000 11/17/07, Ian Popperwell wrote:
>
>I play wind instruments, saxes, flute and sometimes wind synth. I 
>use chorus and delay on my flute and want to get different 
>possibilities of harmony and thickening of the sound. I have a Boss 
>PS-5 pitch shifter pedal and have been disapointed with the thinness 
>of the sounds that I get out - even a fourth up or down. I know that 
>the further from the actual pitch , the grainier the sound, but some 
>of it might be because the pedal's circuitary  is designed for 
>guitar. I'm interested to hear if any LD members have used pitch 
>shifters/harmonisers with instruments other than guitar to good 
>effect? I really want to go for a pedal or at least small unit that 
>can fit into my pedalboard -I don't want to take a rack around with 
>me. I'm wondering about some of the Digitech Voocalist units or 
>t.c./Hellicon units...?

Two thoughts, Ian:

First, if you're really into the Boss units, try one of the old 
PS-3's instead of the PS-5.  I'm not going to say that it's 
realistic, but it degrades in a much more pleasant manner than the 
newer PS-5.  Many people (myself included) like that model for the 
textures you're able to pull out of them.  BTW, the stereo detune 
function is great for thickening up your sound with a small box -- 
better than most choruses even -- and is worth the price of the unit 
alone.

Next, at the other extreme, I use one of the TC Helicon Voiceworks 
units (the rackmount model) dedicated to my Yamaha VL70-m.  Even 
though it's designed for shifting and harmonizing voices, it works 
brilliantly for horns and wind instruments.  I can turn a sax patch 
into an entire section quite easily, and it sounds believable.  Also, 
the intelligent harmonization and part variation helps a lot.  I've 
taken a monophonic slide guitar line (again, from the VL70-m and 
turned it into a fantastic steel guitar patch played on my WX-11. 
There's a floor pedal unit called the VoiceLive, I believe, which 
could just as well fit your needs.

        --m.
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