Live Vocal Processors: Add Studio Magic to Your Live Show

Date:2020/2/18 21:16:31 Hits:

For many singers, one of the most thrilling developments in music technology to take hold over the past decade is the widespread availability of live vocal processing. What started off as a handful of harmony processors that passed only in the cover of poor live acoustics and high stage volumes has grown to a full range of effects and processors that let you take studio magic onstage. Here’s a basic overview of the kinds of vocal processing options available today.

Pitch & Harmony TC-Helicon Mic Mechanic 2
Live tuning and harmony were among the most sought-after vocal processors from the outset, and while early attempts were more than a little bit robotic, the current generation of live pitch effects are almost indistinguishable from their plug-in equivalents. Of course, if you want something with more of a classic electronic sound, options such as the Electro-Harmonix V256 Vocoder and the Roland VT-3 Voice Transformer are happy to oblige.

Today, you can add simple chromatic pitch correction to your mic with something as small and convenient as the TC-Helicon Mic Mechanic 2. Likewise, standalone harmony processors such as the DigiTech Vocalist Live Harmony make adding backing vocals to your sound easy. As handy as simple pitch and harmony effects may be, they’re limited entirely by either your voice or preset configurations. So if you’re too far off key, you’re going to end up with some amusing effects. Fortunately, these are just the beginning.

Modern pitch and harmony effects are almost always bundled together. Probably the best known vocal multi-effects processors belong to TC-Helicon’s VoiceLive series. Many of these vocal multi-effects, including the VoiceLive 3, let you trigger harmonies and constrain tuning parameters by following incoming guitar or keyboard chords. This lets you utilize a whole range of cool pitch-based effects onstage.

Vocal Effects and Processors
While most vocal effects and processors still live inside more sophisticated units, individual pedals have become increasingly more common. For instance, the TC-Helicon VoiceTone D1 offers doubling and detune effects with the simplicity of a guitar stompbox. Similarly, the BOSS VE-1 Vocal Echo features adjustable delay effects, though it also includes basic doubling and pitch correction. Other dedicated vocal effects pedals cover reverb, distortion, and more, while you can get everything from compression and de-essing to added harmonic warmth from the TC-Helicon VoiceTone T1.

TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2
A fun way many vocalists have explored new performance options has been with loopers. Originally only found in guitar pedals, loopers are now a standard part of hands-on vocal multi-effects like the popular TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2. Some live vocal loopers, such as the BOSS RC-505 Loop Station, let you build DJ-style performances by looping your voice and other input sources and adding samples. There’s no limit to what a creative vocalist can do when equipped with a powerful loop workstation like this.

Live Vocal Plug-ins
Now that we’ve seen the rise of a new generation of live vocal processing hardware, what’s next? If we look at more recent trends, then it’s safe to assume that live vocal processing plug-ins are becoming increasingly more viable. Antares led the charge with their special, low-latency Auto-Tune Live release, a standard native plug-in that runs in most plug-in hosts.

DiGiGrid hardware brings many specialized Waves SoundGrid plug-ins to the live arena as well, allowing engineers to add things such as automatic gain and various vocal enhancements to full-scale music production. It’s likely we’ll see future generations of live vocal processing follow this same model, providing vocalists with amazing new possibilities.

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