Question for Donny

Donny
I noticed in your signature you are using a TC Helicon Harmony 2. If you wouldn't mind giving us your thoughts on it. How you hook it up and your impression of the quality? Looks like it was designed for singer/ guitarists ( like 90% of everything out there ) so how are you using it with your keyboard setup? The one big thing I noticed about it is it has a mono input and output for the instrument used and I know your a big Stereo fan as I am.

Thanks in advance for any info

Hi Bill,....I absolutely love the TC Harmony Singer2 unit....
it really sounds good, vocal tracking is on par with all other TC units for singing. You can use it with any instrument besides guitar, digital piano, organ, etc, So easy to set up and use, excellent reverb and simple harmony selections at the touch of the dial and the Tone feature sets up the perfect EQ for YOUR voice also which you sing. I hook it up right into the EA7 Mic input and use stereo
L/R outs to my Pa system... I would imagine the TC vocal signal gets summed into the keyboard and the overall sound thru the keyboard L/R is stereo out both speakers. I am happy with it.

There is no summing happening, as the mic is mono already. So is your mic input on the EA7. The disadvantage to using this harmonizer in a stereo setup is that your voices are always mono. In my PA900, (and others) the harmony voices can be split left and right. Even though I often use a mono house PA, I monitor in stereo with the on board speakers, and it's a full, rich, vocal spread. You are getting the same signal through both sides of your system ... not a bad thing, but stereo vocals shine even better than stereo EP samples.

What ever the final outcome summing or not it sounds really good for now, being the EA7 doesn't have onboard VH it certainly is a great workaround substitute,...I am well aware of the KORG TC onboard harmony units as I have used them for many years in many of my KORG arrangers. Thanx for your input as always.

Donny and Dave
Thanks for the input. I posted the question here instead of a PM because I thought others might be interested. Simple unit and not too expensive.
To clarify, your just plugging your mic into the unit and not using the 1/4" instrument in / out ? The unit is devolping the harmonies just from your vocal signal ?
Hope this is the case.
I may have to try one and use the voacl reverb on my BK9 .mic input and that may give the vocals a bit more of a stereo feel.
Thanks again, now I have to go shopping.

Donny: what was the reason for switching from the Perform-VK to the Harmony Singer 2?

jingleman

Simple.... Couldn't get it to play nice with the Ea7.... And many features I would never use... Sometimes less is more... Good unit but not for me.. VHS fits my needs for now.

Take care

Donny, was sound quality about the same?

YES TC quality on both units...tracking too.

Dave,
Does the on board vocalizer on your Korg work independently of the rhythms engaged, as when you're playing guitar, or do the styles have to be playing? I've had to create a dummy registration with volume down work around to do this with the yamaha T2 I have. Effects will work without rhythms but not harmony.

Don/Donny,
Has this changed with newer Yamaha boards like psr970?

I may go back to outboard vh but wanted less wiring.

The Harmony M works when the style is stopped. Since it is midi only, it remember the last chord.
Set to a third above my voice, it will follow you pretty well when you just sing without the keyboard! Not as well as the Perform VK though; it is designed to work without midi if you want it to.

One more question on the TC, and I don't even know if you've tried this, but are you able to mute your lead voice and just have the harmonies 'singing'?

I've tried this on my Pa3x and no matter what - including checking the lead mute in the setup page, I just can't get the harmonies only to sound. Any ideas, please?

Maybe even UD might chime in here.

You can on the Harmony M. I didn't try it on the Perform VK.
You can do it on the Korg. I did it but don't remember how! Sorry.

I remember on Yamaha kbs in the VH section there was a RATIO adjustment so you could choose how much LEAD Vocal vs Harmony try turning it all the way to the right ........KORG possibly has it also I cant remember..

Sparky, nope. When I play guitar, or banjo I call up a user preset that is designed to harmonize in a selected key. TC gives you 3 options each for major and minor scales, so you can get the right "smart singers" to follow you.
For example, a diatonic scale has a minor ii chord, but some songs use a maj II, so you have to be prepared for that. Most often I use a standard diatonic scale harmony with a single third above my voice. When I'm on guitar, a simpler harmony sounds more realistic. When I'm in full KB mode, I can do more with multiple voices.

Thanks DonM, Donny. I tried checking the 'lead mute' box in the vocal processor setup - no joy there. Even tried the 'lead to harm' various balance controls that include reverb, delay, and so on.

I'll just keep at it.

No, you HAVE to use the 1/4" input to tell the unit the chords. It doesn't matter if this signal is mono of 1/2 of a stereo signal, as the chords will still be generated, and the signal will pass thru unaffected. The mic, however, DOES get the processing from the pedal, regarding EQ, Reverb, harmony etc.
So, to recap:
1) Plug one output jack (L or R) into the Harmony Singer 1/4" input
2) Plug the "thru" from the Harmony singer into your PA, mixer, or amp. If stereo, plug the other output directly.
3) Plug your mic into the XLR input on the TC unit
4) Plug the XLR output on the TC into a transformer cable that matches the impedance to 1/4" .... this goes into the "Mic Input" on your keyboard.

In this scenario, the mic, and harmonies are mono, but the kb is stereo

Dave

Thanks, thats what I needed to know. I may give the unit a try. I keep flopping between no harmonizer and harmonizer. Never satisfied !

works with guitar OR keyboard

I like the pedal but prefer something like the harmony M or digitech vl3d I used to have that has midi capability to detect chording. This requires one less cable as midi in replaces line/pa both in and out.

And in my case I can use keyboard and accordion thru it via midi merge to unit. Could get dicey but I may try it.