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Post by andyhowell on Jul 9, 2017 12:33:14 GMT
Had a chance to play with one of these things yesterday. Astonishing piece of kit. Does anyone use one?
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Wild Violet
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My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Jul 9, 2017 18:59:42 GMT
No, but now I need one.
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 9, 2017 21:40:31 GMT
I've always been a bit suspicious of these vocal processors but the harmonies here are very good. I want one as well!
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,553
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Jul 9, 2017 23:24:35 GMT
I've heard their Harmony pedal being used live before and was really impressed. This does a lot more and the reviews are excellent. I'm going to add it to my wish list on Amazon.
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 10, 2017 7:02:19 GMT
I'll post some impressions in a bit
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leoroberts
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My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Jul 10, 2017 9:40:56 GMT
I'll post some impressions in a bit Great. Your Margaret Thatcher is so lifelike...
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 10, 2017 18:30:28 GMT
Lynn,
Here are some thoughts after playing with the Acoustic Play for an hour or two. I was able to play it during the afternoon set up for an evening gig — thankfully free of the noise and interruptions of a store!
Guitar
I was interested in this mainly because of the vocal processing/harmonies. But I was surprised at how good the guitar processing is. In effect this device is also a guitar preamp.
You can EQ the guitar and add a little delay and/or reverb as well. The body res function really does seem to add a more natural sound to a pickup (and I didn’t experiment with this much). I would say that the eq is a little limited. I would be tempted to run my signal through my usual preamp and then into the Play Acoustic.
Apparently, until recently you could only apply global settings to the guitar channel, however, a recent software upgrade means that you can now use guitar settings on individual presets. This means you could, for example, use different settings optimised for different guitars (if you use more than one in a set).
Although the effects are limited you do have a very decent range of TC Hall of Fame reverbs which is pretty good for the price.
I wasn’t prepared for the quality here!
Vocals
My main interest was in the harmonies but I found the other settings to be very useful. A little delay on the vocal is always nice and you have some pretty decent reverbs to play with. A little compression could be useful as well. You optimise the sound for various mics as well (more later). Use subtly these effects are very impressive. The sound reminded me of shen I use a BOSE digital mixer (quite a compliment).
The harmonies are, frankly, astonishing if you use them sparingly. You can use two or three part harmonies using either 5ths or 7ths (and you might be able to do even more than that). I liked the two part harmonies a lot. On some of my higher pitched songs a third below was very nice and on others a third higher worked. The full harmony really packs a punch when you want it. The volume our each harmony voice can be altered which means you can be very subtle. Subtlety is the key hear as a guess over use could make everything sound a bit processed and over the top. Use it well and the effect is astonishing.
There are two ways go fixing the harmonies to your song. There is an automatic function which I think works out the key from the guitar playing. This is fine and in many ways acceptable but if you manually enter the key the everything is much sharper.
The vocal processing can also ‘autotune’ your voice. I must admit I didn’t go for this — you still have to be able to sing in key!
To use for a set you will need some preparation, effectively creating a preset for each song most importantly logging the key — a bit of a problem if you put the capo in the wrong place :-)
The preset would have global settings for voice and so on and then harmony settings which kick in when you press the pedal.
This sound complicated but I think it is pretty straight forward. You can name presets and save them to your computer. I’d create a preset for each song. Create a set list and you can apply presets to numbers and you can just use the up button to move to the next song. You could have some more generic presets, for example, Key of D with a second harmony, which could be used more loosely.
I’d say this is worth doing if you have time to set up properly for at least four songs of for at least half hour set.
Setting up at a gig
I use my external preamp in most places and get set it on a mixc stand in a few seconds. Depending on configuration you can set this up just as quickly.
The most simple setting is among mix out of both vocal and guitars. This requires just one XLR out.
I know you playa some of the same kind of places as I do — farmer’s markets, outdoor events and so on. Often I find the sound here is pretty basic and through a PA with little processing. Here I would just ask whoever is running the board to put the XLR into a channel that is set flat.
You do need mains power!
With a more professional outfit you can send out two channels for the sound guy go balance themselves. But you can still set the required levels of delay and reverb and so on.
I think I would still use my existing preamp (which sometimes blends with a mic). I would also continue to use my BOSS Tuner Pedal especially when playing outdoors (this does have a tuner but I didn’t like it much).
One of the best things about this is that you can set the reverb levels for both guitar and vocals — you don’t have to rely on some nutter wanting to make you sound as if you are playing in Lincoln cathedral!
So, it is more than just a harmoniser, although put the preparation in and those harmonies are astonishing!
I didn’t have time to play with the looper though I am told you really need an external three way pedal (connectable) for this to work well.
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 10, 2017 18:32:08 GMT
I'll post some impressions in a bit Great. Your Margaret Thatcher is so lifelike... For some reason you have me thinking about vegetables!
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,553
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Jul 13, 2017 20:22:00 GMT
thank you for your detailed review. Do you now own one? It sounds like a really useful thing to have, I actually did put it on my wish list.
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 13, 2017 21:36:58 GMT
thank you for your detailed review. Do you now own one? It sounds like a really useful thing to have, I actually did put it on my wish list. No I don't! I just had a chance to have some good time with one. I didn't get too deep except that I realised how you would use the presets to work with your set. As far as I can see the Boss alternative isn't as flexible with presets. On the other hand the Boss has battery power which might be useful. Those harmonies are excellent and I guess the biggest challenge is to use them sparingly. It did seem quite easy to get a better guitar sound as well. Do I need one? Not really but I might just crack ...
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Wild Violet
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My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Jul 14, 2017 8:51:47 GMT
It certainly sounds like a useful tool, especially for someone playing solo.
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Post by ocarolan on Jul 14, 2017 9:00:20 GMT
It certainly sounds like a useful tool, especially for someone playing solo. ...is that a euphemism....? Keith
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 14, 2017 12:53:20 GMT
It certainly sounds like a useful tool, especially for someone playing solo. I agree. I think I want one but then self discipline kicks in :-)
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jul 14, 2017 14:13:38 GMT
It certainly sounds like a useful tool, especially for someone playing solo. I agree. I think I want one but then self discipline kicks in :-) Is that a euphemism as well?
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007
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Post by 007 on Jul 14, 2017 19:13:20 GMT
It certainly sounds like a useful tool, especially for someone playing solo. ...is that a euphemism....? Keith Don't be disgusting boy, people could be watching
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