TC-Helicon VoiceWorks User Manual

TC-Helicon VoiceWorks User Manual Manual pdf 24 page image

22HARMONY AND TUNINGthat pitch. The method of creating harmonies,using a fixed number of semitones relative toan input note or pitch, is called chromatic har-mony, the theory of which we'll go into later.We consider this type of harmonizing to benon-intelligent because VoiceWorks is not setto any particular key or scale. These are pure,parallel harmonies. The most common shiftharmony voices are the 5th (7 semitones) andoctave (12 semitones), ranging from twooctaves below the input to two octaves abovethe input pitch.Below is The C Major scale, showing thirdabove chromatic scale harmony, as used inVoiceWorks Shift Mode.Black = Lead & Grey = HarmonyChord (Chordal) ModeChordal harmonies take your chord informationto create intelligent, diatonic harmonies basedon your voice. To make “Chordal” harmonies,you need to input in real time the chords of thesong. This may be done either via MIDI orthrough a programmed sequence of chordroots and types in song mode. Chord informa-tion consists of the chord root and type, whichdefine the 3 or 4 notes in a given chord. InChordal mode the Voiceworks will only createharmony voices that fall on the notes of thechord. Chordal harmonies are “intelligent”because they decipher the chord you’re play-ing and the note you’re singing to producemusically pleasing harmonies. When 1 aboveis defined as a harmony voice (Up1), the nextnote from the chord above the input note isoutput for that harmony voice.The subsequent illustration shows the harmo-ny notes for the C major scale with a voicingselection of a C major chord and a single “oneabove”.Root: C, Chord Type: Maj, Voicing: Up1Black = Lead & Grey = HarmonyHarmonyHere's where we can go into a little moredepth about harmonies. We've tried to keep itpractical, focusing on what VoiceWorks can dofor you.Harmony HoldTruly an innovation, the Harmony Hold featurelets you (on a whim) sustain the backing har-mony voices while you continue to singthrough them. On activation (press and holdan assigned footpedal button or use theHarmony Hold MIDI CC), you can freeze what-ever the harmony voices are doing, and theywill hold their notes (in a very natural way) untilyou let go (of the pedal button or by sendingthe proper CC value). See the FOOTSWITCHparameter description in the “Setup” section ofthe manual and the “MIDI Implementation”section of the manual for more information.Harmony ModesVoiceWorks has five different harmony modes,which give five unique methods of creatingharmony. Once we get into describing themore complex harmony modes, we’ll be show-ing you examples based on the C major scale.If you are unfamiliar with this scale we’veshown C major here.Notes ModeIn this Mode, you provide the VoiceWorks withspecific MIDI note information to determine thepitch of the harmony voices. VoiceWorks hastwo “Manual/Notes” harmony modes, singleand 4 channel. The VoiceWorks may be set toNotes 4 Channel mode through the setupmenu. Notes 4 Channel mode allows you tosend 4 channels of MIDI information, one foreach individual harmony voice. This is themost direct and flexible way of creating har-monies, allowing you to weave complexmelodies and counter harmonies irrespectiveof your lead vocal.Shift ModeAlso known as “Fixed Interval”, this takes thepitch of your lead voice and creates harmoniesa set number of semitones away, based on