Does it make sense to get an external tc helicon hardware? I'm not having much luck getting good sounding harmonies with the tc helicon built in software. Thanks!
If you're working with recorded vocals, a software package might work. But, as noted above, it takes lots of learning, experience and time. If you're looking for live vocal harmonies, Dan, above, is right. The TC products are probably the best there is. I've used them for years and found nothing better, just pull up one of the hundreds of programs and instant harmony! Doubling, two part, three part, full choirs, reverbs, delays; the TC units, at least for me, can do it all.
Does it make sense to get an external tc helicon hardware? I'm not having much luck getting good sounding harmonies with the tc helicon built in software. Thanks!
I've been using the Voice Prism, the VoiceWorks, and VoiceWorks Plus for a number of years. I only fooled around with the TC-Helicon software included with the PG Music software once and couldn't come anywhere near what I was already used to getting from the hardware I used. To be honest, I didn't give the software much of a chance, but I really hate to invest a lot of time in something new when I'm already getting good to great results from processes I already know.
I've only used Helicon's rack mounted gear and can't speak to how good their pedals are.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I don't think TC-Helicon is currently making any of the rack mounted units that I use. If my house burned down and I had to reconstruct my studio, I'd go on eBay and find a used VoiceWorks.
I have never used this program, even though I have it (I think) with BB/RB.
I'm not a fan of trying to create harmonies from existing vocal tracks. The primary reason is that any time you move a note from it's original position by very much, you introduce artifacts of the process into the resultant note. It generally sounds very artificial. I've listened to the results of what others have posted using TC Helicon and decided that was not the sound I wanted in any of my songs.
Even Melodyne, which is, IMHO, the best tool on the market for doing this, unless used carefully, and with great diligence, can easily ruin the attempt.
BB/RB does this as well with the instruments, but the process they use moves the notes only a few semi-tones at most. So in many cases, artifacts are kept to a minimum, and if you are in the same key the original tracks are in, there's no transposing needed.
So here's my recommendation to getting good sounding harmony notes. Use TC Helicon if you must, to create the harmony lines you want. Move them to a DAW or to Real Band where you can SOLO that one harmony track and then learn the melody of the harmony one vocal phrase at a time. Sing that harmony line live into a new track. You can sing along with the TC track.
With a DAW that lets you do punch recording easily, simply take the harmony vocal track one or two vocal phrases at a time. There are always plenty of spaces in a vocal track to punch in and out easily. If it takes you 30 minutes or more to learn the part phrase by phrase and record it, hey, it doesn't matter.... the thing is that you have a decent sounding harmony track. Now, if you have Melodyne in your tool kit, you can go back and fine tune the harmony and the lead vocals and you can use this method to build another 2nd or 3rd harmony track if you wish.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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