TC-Helicon VoicePrism, User Manual

Page 1: ...USER S MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...N AND MARKED CE LABEL CONFORMS WITH THE FOLLOWING STANDARDS AS AMENDED BY CE MARKING DIRECTIVE 93 68 EEC LOW VOLTAGE DIRECTIVE 73 23 EEC EN 60065 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINS OPERATED ELECTRONIC AND RELAT ED APPARATUS FOR HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR GENERAL USE UL 6500 SECOND EDITION STANDARD FOR AUDIO VIDEO AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT APPARATUS FOR HOUSEHOLD COMMERCIAL AND SIMILAR USE CAN CSA E60065 00 AUD...

Page 3: ...ace with relevant information and user controls helpfully displayed on the large LCD screen We have also pre programmed 128 presets to help get you started and show the range of what VoicePrism can do We have tried to organize this manual for quick reference based on VoicePrism s user interface The table of contents will help you decide where to start reading the index provides a listing of key wo...

Page 4: ... 14 EFFECTS BUTTON 15 FX1 FX2 15 Chorus 15 Flanger 15 Mono Delay 15 Stereo Delay 16 Ping Pong Delay 16 Mono Tape Delay 16 Stereo Tape Delay 16 Ping Pong Tape Delay 16 Studio Reverb 17 Chamber Reverb 17 Club Reverb 17 Hall Reverb 17 Arena Reverb 17 FX1 AND FX2 INPUTS 18 COMPRESSOR EQ BUTTON 19 ASSIGN 19 EQ1 EQ2 19 Low Shelf 19 Band Boost Cut 19 High Shelf 20 Low Pass 20 COMPRESSOR 20 NOISE GATE 21 ...

Page 5: ...N 29 PREVIEW BUTTON 29 STORE BUTTON 30 STORE 30 PARAMETERS COPY 30 WRAP UP 31 APPENDIX A HARMONY A 1 NONE A 1 NOTES MANUAL HARMONY MODES A 1 SHIFT HARMONY MODES A 2 CHORDAL CHORD HARMONY MODE A 3 SCALIC SCALE HARMONY MODES A 4 DIATONIC AND CHROMATIC EXPLAINED A 6 APPENDIX B MIDI B 1 VOICEPRISM MIDI SPECIFICATIONS B 1 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION B 2 APPENDIX C INDEX C 1 APPENDIX D GLOSSARY D 1 APPENDIX E T...

Page 6: ... this shows preset information in addition to the softknob libraries and controls Elsewhere the LCD provides menus where you can view your editable features particularly the softknob menus by click ing the softknobs and the softknob settings 5 5 Numeric Display displays the current preset number A delta dot in the bottom right corner shows that the preset or step sequence has been changed but not ...

Page 7: ...s On Off without affecting the rest of your mix 13 13 UTILITY accesses screens to edit MIDI parameters audio preferences footswitch configura tion and other useful features 14 14 HELP accesses a context sensitive help screen on the LCD Use the data wheel to scroll through the entire help message the tab arrows to change topics Pressing HELP again makes the message go away 15 15 48V turns phantom p...

Page 8: ...PDIF format digital output 44 1kHz standard 7 7 Footswitch VoicePrism can be configured to use a 1 or 3 button footswitch You can set the number of buttons and assign button functions in the FOOTSWITCH menu accessed by push ing the UTILITY button 8 8 MIDI In connect the MIDI Out of your keyboard or sequencer here to send MIDI to VoicePrism VoicePrism defaults to receiving on MIDI channel one For d...

Page 9: ...onfiguration of the harmony voices in this case four big guys If you go into the editable parameters and change the settings the GENDER parameter will read CUS TOM to warn you that you are no longer using a factory library setting You can use these libraries to jump from a flange effect to a chorus effect a mid range boost to a low band cut and waffle between different scoops genders vibratos and ...

Page 10: ...set key in Scale harmony mode or the root in Chordal mode SCALE CHORD changes the preset scale in Scalic harmony mode or the chord in Chordal mode PORTA alters the Portamento setting THICKEN controls Thickening loudness the level of the doubled lead voice The following are parameter libraries each containing factory standard settings GENDER DETUNE VIBRATO SCOOP TIMING FX1 LIB FX2 LIB EQ1 LIB EQ2 L...

Page 11: ...ch harmony head tweaks the selected parameter for that harmony voice Press any of the softknobs to view the submenu of harmony voice parame ters as shown in the graphic to the left Twisting the same softknob scrolls up and down the list click again to select ON OFF twisting the softknob will turn its affiliated harmony voice on or off LEVEL Off 0dB sets the loudness of the associated harmony voice...

Page 12: ... Fast 10 sets how quickly the harmony voice corrects pitch from its initial pitch offset VIBRATO DEPTH 0 100cents the softknobs set the vibrato depth for the harmony voices in cents VIBRATO DELAY 0 2 5sec determines when vibrato is applied from the beginning of a new note VIBRATO RATE None 0Hz 12 7Hz allows you to set the vibrato rate for each voice in 0 1Hz increments SETUP The SETUP menu allows ...

Page 13: ...etuned unison for a richer lead and octave above and below for stronger octave doubling Stepped Shift Identical to SMOOTH SHIFT except that the harmony notes snap to the next semitone instead of smoothly graduating between semitones Thus your harmonies will be in pitch even when your lead voice is not Provides pitch corrected shifted fixed interval harmonies Chordal Chordal harmonies follow your v...

Page 14: ...hes while you sing a held note or vice versa You can also sing an ascending arpeggio with harmonies descending You can make the harmony voices sound more natural by adjusting ATTACK RELEASE and VELOCITY in the SETUP menu For details on how to set up MIDI channels do MIDI dumps and so on read the UTILITY section or press the UTILITY button and toggle to the MIDI menu tabs MIDI CC s are listed in Ap...

Page 15: ...usly Applications range from instrumental to vocal usually to obtain a thickened more textured sound DEPTH 0ms 10ms adjusts modulation depth in milliseconds Also known as intensity RATE 0 05Hz 5Hz modifies the modulation speed of the Chorus Flanger The flanger effect is produced by creating a short delay which is modulated to pro duce variations in pitch the difference between chorus and flanging ...

Page 16: ...ed to re create this particular style of effect on instruments or vocals DELAY 0ms 799ms sets the delay time REGEN 0 99 sets the regeneration amount Stereo Tape Delay This variant of the classic tape delay produces this effect through both stereo chan nels with separate time and feedback for each channel Stereo tape delay allows broader control of the effect to attain more complex delay variations...

Page 17: ... the length of time before the reverb begins DECAY TIME 0 5 3sec sets the decay audible echo duration HIGH DAMP 0 9 attenuates undesirable high frequencies ROLLOFF 500Hz flat helps get rid of booming mid range tones Hall Reverb Provides the natural reverberations you would get in a performance hall good for slower songs and a long delay time setting Provides concert hall acoustics PRE DELAY 0 199m...

Page 18: ...output of FX1 as an input to FX2 When the level is set to anything other than off the audio path sketch on the preset will show a line from that voice to that effect If you have an auxiliary source you can set its rela tive wet levels in these menu tabs as well The level setting range is the same for all input sources Off 30dB to 0db Please note that output levels can be adjusted in the pages unde...

Page 19: ...rs twisting the softknobs will alter the parameters shown on the LCD screen High Pass Also called a low cut filter this removes frequencies below a selected cutoff point Useful for eliminating rumble FREQUENCY 80Hz 16 3kHz sets the cutoff frequency of the high pass filter Low Shelf The EQ response rises or falls from the cutoff frequency until reaching the shelf fre quency after which the curve re...

Page 20: ...gle track Compressors attenuate the loudness of your signal over a specific threshold level by a desired ratio For example if you set your threshold to 20dB and the ratio to 2 1 an input signal of 16dB 4dB over the threshold would be reduced to a 18dB out put 2 dB over the threshold Higher ratios 10 1 20 1 put a hard limit on your sig nal keeping the level very close to your threshold Attack and r...

Page 21: ... the time needed to restore the signal once the level is above the threshold RELEASE is the time required for the removal of a a sound below the threshold The LCD displays the voices assigned to the gate lead harmony none or both and the softknob controls THRESHOLD 70dB 0dB controls the level below which all sounds are removed ATTACK 1ms 40ms sets how long it takes for the sound to fall silent REL...

Page 22: ...mony voices and the output from the effect blocks LEAD LEVEL Off 30dB 0db sets the level of your lead voice HARMONY LEVEL Off 30dB 0dB sets the level of your combined harmony voices EFFECT 1 LEVEL Off 30dB 0dB sets level for effect block 1 EFFECT 2 LEVEL Off 30dB 0dB sets level for effect block 2 VOICE MIX This is where you can set levels for your individual harmony voices with the soft knobs Clic...

Page 23: ...softknob and selecting Insert This creates a new line on which you can set a preset to load at that step Turning the softknob below the Preset parameter selects presets Notice that addi tional softknob parameters become visible in certain presets this is because the VoicePrism recognizes the type of preset and allows you to change the musical infor mation required for your song Adjust the musical ...

Page 24: ...wser row is lit When you turn the data wheel the numbers in the numeric preset display will not increment sequentially but rather will jump skipping those presets which aren t applicable SHIFT fixed interval pitch shifting presets SCALE presets using intelligent key and scale based shifting MANUAL Notes presets that require a MIDI keyboard or controller to create harmony CHORDS for presets that in...

Page 25: ...RMONY UTILITY HELP 48V MIC ON PREVIEW and STORE BYPASS BUTTON Pressing BYPASS bypasses the unit so that your input signal goes around all VoicePrism s processing stages to the outputs HARMONY BUTTON This turns the harmonies Off On without altering the lead voice or any dynamics like pitch compressor equalizer and effects blocks ...

Page 26: ...ncreasing the setting with the softknob increases the level of contrast CHORDS MODE Latch Moment For presets using the chordal harmony mode if you want harmony notes only when MIDI notes are being received select moment momentary Selecting latch allows harmonies to continue after MIDI notes end PREVIEW MODE Cue Demo Select DEMO if you want to put VoicePrism through its paces with a stored audio fi...

Page 27: ...re the buttons for a one or three button footswitch by twisting the softknob under the button description VoicePrism is factory configured for a one button footswitch the Right button which is initially set to MUT MO and the Left and Middle buttons are set to NONE If you change from a single button footswitch to a three button footswitch you can set useful functions to the Left and Middle buttons ...

Page 28: ...usly dumped presets or songs DUMP PRESET twist the softknob to select individual or all presets for dumping DUMP SONG turn the softknob to select individual or all songs to be dumped Clicking the softknob brings up a menu allowing you to either CANCEL or EXECUTE the MIDI dump Twist the softknob to highlight your choice and click to select RESTORE ERASE Use the softknobs to select presets and songs...

Page 29: ...io source other wise the line input from the 1 4 jacks on the back is the default audio source Push MIC ON when your microphone is turned on and everything should be working but for some reason you just aren t getting an audio input PREVIEW BUTTON PREVIEW has two completely separate functions depending on what mode you ve selected under PREVIEW MODE in the PREFERENCES menu tab which you access by ...

Page 30: ... the high lighted letter or space COPY PARAMETERS COPY PARAMETERS is a useful time saving feature when you want to copy customized EQ dynamics vocal effect or mix settings from another preset to the current preset Use the softknobs to change the preset parameter from its default the current preset to the preset whose settings you want to copy This menu is live any alterations will be instantaneous...

Page 31: ...ebsite at www tchelicon com and check it often to learn more about the VoicePrism Expansion Card and other upcoming products You will also find a growing number of audio clips FAQ s and a host of other helpful information Get free stuff Send us an audio file or recording of your interesting and unique VoicePrism output Every month we select our favourites and send t shirts or other TC Helicon merc...

Page 32: ......

Page 33: ... you examples based on the C major scale If you are unfamiliar with this scale we ve shown C major here NONE No harmony voices just compressor EQ and effects Not really harmony but we ve mentioned it for the sake of completeness NOTES MANUAL HARMONY MODES You provide VoicePrism with MIDI note information to determine the pitch of the harmony voices A copy of the input audio is then shifted to that...

Page 34: ...r ticular key or scale These are pure parallel harmonies The most common shift har mony voices are the 5th 7 semitones and octave 12 semitones ranging from two octaves below the input to two octaves above the input pitch VoicePrism has two harmony modes based on this type of harmony STEPPED SHIFT and SMOOTH SHIFT SMOOTH SHIFT allows the harmony voices to follow your input pitch errors and all wher...

Page 35: ...rd and a single third above harmony voice Root C 3rd E 5th G You might have noticed that the harmony notes cover more than one input note or that each input note didn t have a unique harmony note For instance C and D both have E as the 3rd above E and F share G and so on This gives a more stepped sound to the harmony as the changes are both greater in magnitude and less fre quent than the previous...

Page 36: ...st the EDIT SCALE softknob to scroll through the different input notes You ll see the harmony notes change as the input note changes This is also where you can modify the scale for any incorrect harmony voices provided you know the input note In the beginning it might be better to try all the scales to see if one of the other factory scales might work It is also tricky to pick out the key in some ...

Page 37: ...armony VoicePrism User Manual Lead Voice C C D Eb E F F G G A Bb B MAJ1 3rd Above E nc F nc G A nc B nc C D D 5th Above G nc A nc B C nc D nc E F F MAJ2 3rd above E nc F nc G A nc C nc C D D 5th above G nc A nc C C nc E nc E F F MAJ3 3rd above E nc F nc G A nc Bb nc C D D 5th above G nc A nc Bb C nc D nc E F F MIN1 3rd above Eb nc F G nc Ab nc Bb C nc D nc 5th above G nc Ab Bb nc C nc D Eb nc F nc...

Page 38: ...pecified scale or chord so a third above harmony voice actually varies between 3 and four semitones above the lead note where the chromatic harmony would stay exactly 4 semitones a major 3rd above each note To recap we have three different harmony modes that use chromatic or diatonic scales Shifting which uses the chromatic 12 semitone scale changes the input pitch by a fixed number of semitones C...

Page 39: ... off 64 127 on Enables chord recognition for Scale type and key A major or minor chord played in octave 1 2 or 3 sets scale to Major or Minor 1 2 and 3 A major or minor scale in any other octave sets the scale to Custom Song Select CC 22 0 49 selects song number if in song mode Damper Pedal off CC 64 Harmony Hold Damper message will sustain last chord in before note off message Harmony Key Scale s...

Page 40: ...ard 18 X O Song Step Backward 19 X O Thickener Depth 20 X O Vibrato Rate 21 X O Scale mode Set Key 22 X O Song Select 64 X O Harmony Hold Damper Program Change X 0 127 Presets System Exclusive Parameter Edit X O All parameters accessible Group Edit O O All or part of a preset Preset Save O O All or part of a preset Song Save O O All or part of a preset System Common Song Position X X Song Select X...

Page 41: ...ass 19 High Shelf 20 L LCD Contrast 26 Lead 11 Level Knobs 7 Lock 6 Low Pass 20 Low Shelf 19 M Main Mix 22 Manual 7 Mic On 7 29 MIDI Configuration 26 MIDI Implementation B 2 MIDI Specifications B 1 Mix Button 7 22 Mode 13 Mono Delay 15 Mono Tape Delay 16 N Noise Gate 21 Notes Manual 14 A 1 Notes Manual 4CH 14 O Ovf LED 6 P Ping Pong Delay 16 Ping Pong Tape Delay 16 Preferences 26 Preset 9 Preview ...

Page 42: ...Appendix C Index VoicePrism User Manual C 2 U Upgrade 28 Utility 7 26 V Version 28 Vibrato 12 Vocals 6 11 Voice Mix 22 ...

Page 43: ...es that do not require external power Effects FX anything that changes the audio signal from one sound to another alters the signal from dry to wet Ess See sibilant EQ equalization an audio utility that uses filters to change the frequency response of the unit Flange an effect that creates a short modulated delay that makes a characteristic whoosh ing sound similar to a jet airplane passing overhe...

Page 44: ...ognizes the absolute musical pitch of an audio input Portamento carrying on the tone from note to note without gaps Preset a stored collection of parameters Regeneration feedback repetition of sound Reverb echo Scoop bending up to the correct pitch from a pitch below Semitone the smallest difference between each whole note e g from C to C Sibilant the non voiced portion of speech i e sssst sounds ...

Page 45: ...B A weighted THD 0 007 1kHz Frequency Response 10Hz 12kHz 0 8dB 2dB 20kHz Crosstalk 105dB 1kHz EMC Complies with EN 55103 1 2 ENS 5022 Class B EN61000 4 2 3 4 5 6 11 Safety Certified to EN 60065 CAN CSA E60065 00 UL 6500 Environment Max Operating Temperature 50 degree Celsius 122 degrees Fahrenheit Min Storage Temperature 25 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Fahrenheit Control Interface MIDI In Out Thru ...

Page 46: ...34 8240 Risskov Denmark Phone 45 8742 7000 Fax 45 8742 7010 Info tcelectronic com TC Electronic Inc 742 A Hampshire road Westlake Village CA 91361 USA Phone 805 373 1828 Fax 805 379 2648 www TC Helicon com Sep 00 Prod No 606100211 ...