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More on the Digitech Vocalist Live 4 Harmonizer

11:08 am by Ryan in Musician Gear, Live Performance Tips

A quick update for those that saw my previous entry on the Digitech Vocalist Live 4 Harmonizer.  Amazing as it is, yes I did convince my wife that we needed it before we bought a new refrigerator.  Not sure how I pulled that off, but it was something about being able to make more money with this unit than with a new ice box.

 

So, I’ve had some time to live with the unit and get used to it.  I am starting to do some custom settings on the guitar effects, but maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

Once again, let me give you a quick overview of what it does.  You plug your guitar and microphone into the unit and send one (or two, for stereo) of various outputs to your PA system.  Whenever you want harmonies, you tap a button on the unit with your foot.  While you’ve been playing, it’s been listening to the last 30 seconds of music to programmatically figure out your key via your guitar chords.  Hit the harmony button, and it synthesizes just the right harmonies for the passage you’re in—usually changing keys automatically, if that’s required.  You can choose the type of preset harmonies that you’d like, from The Eagles, to CSN to gospel choir, via up and down foot switches.  There is a bank of 50 presets that you can’t modify, and 50 mirror presets that you can mess with.

 

There is an effects footswitch that kicks in some nice guitar/vocal effects.  These effects change with the vocal harmony setting, but on a second bank of 50 mirrored presets, you can make and save changes to them.

 

While most of us basically flip out when we try this unit, working with it a while reveals some minor irritants that need to be addressed—mostly through technique.  I’d advise practicing with this thing for five or ten hours before you take it to a gig.  For one, having the vocals suddenly jump in behind you requires the same discipline you need when singing harmonies with humans.  You have to keep it together and stay on your note, no matter how much you want to pay attention to the beautiful sound of harmonies.  It’s something like, “Man, that sounds good.  Oh crap, I just lost my part.”

 

When you’re singing harmonies “for real,” you will usually have to change the notes of some of the voices to track the chord progression you’re in.  Quite often you’ll also notice that one of the voices sustains on the same note, because there are notes from one chord to the next that are the same.  For instance, change from a G to a C on your guitar, and the triad for G (GBD), and the triad for C (CEG) have the G in common.  If the voicing is placed in a particular order, then a person singing a G note may sustain that G through the change—this has been going on since Bach first did four-part, so it’s nothing new.

 

Okay, but what about the notes that change?  The unit tracks it pretty quick, but a couple of execution techniques on your part (yes, literally on your part) will make it better.  For one, sing confidently.  If you’re using the unit during harmonies, it really wants to “hear” the notes.  Sing to softly and the harmonies will either cut out or not track correctly because it can’t hear your voice—the basis of the entire triad that it’s trying to build. 

Second, the unit needs to hear your guitar well.  Make sure the guitar is turned up enough.  If it’s a little too loud, you can use the unit’s guitar volume control to turn down the guitar signal coming out of the unit and going to the PA.

 

Now, I’m not suggesting that you drive your guitar volume so hard that it distorts.  You will still have to be aware of unity gain/gain staging issues that I talk about in my Live Sound clinics.  Just make sure the signal is good and solid, and you may have to turn up from your guitar volume itself, when you decide to finger pick.  It still works very well—CSN’s Helplessly Hoping sounded great.

 

Next, I get slightly more accurate harmonies when I either jump into the chord change or lag the entry of the vocal just a fraction of a second during the chord change.  This is more critical in some songs than others, and it sounds more difficult than it is.  If you’re a decent guitarist and/or singer it won’t be a problem.  I play CSN’s Suite: Judy Blue Eyes in modal tuning and it has a much easier time when I use this technique.

 

Finally, there is a built in tuner that is incredibly easy to access in the unit.  You simply hold down the guitar/effects button for a few seconds and it shows up in the LED display panel at the top.  It also cuts your guitar off, so no one has to listen to you tune.  It is a chromatic tuner, which means it works with your open tuning too.  You should always use it because the unit pitch-corrects the voices to concert pitch.  It doesn’t matter if you capo up or down, or retune to a non-standard tuning, the vocals will keep up with you if you use the tuner to make sure you’re on par.

 

Like everyone else you’re reading out here in the cybersphere, I love this unit.  I’ll be using it as a solo, and in bands, I’m sure.  I’ve even thought of hiring myself out as a sideman guitarists—and entire backup vocal section.  I can be The Pips and half the band, all by myself!

1 Comment

1. I just received my Live 4 yesterday and have read quite a bit about it but never anything from someone that actually owns and uses one. I’m in the middle of moving so I haven’t had a chance to fire it up but after reading your two articles about it, I’m really looking forward to it. Just wanted to say thanks for the review.

   Comment by Mike — June 4, 2008 @ 10:35 am

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