I have the TC Helicon Quintet Harmonizer, which has the same sampling engine as the VoiceWorks. The only difference is the VoiceWorks has a little more bells and whistles to it (effects, harmony hold, etc.)
I didn't opt for the VoiceWorks because I didn't need to pay the extra $$$ for that stuff. I
have effects and didn't "have to have" the harmony hold.
It was at the NAMM show where I saw it demoed, but they tend to "fool" you a little bit, almost bait and switch.
- You CAN pan, cancel, select gender, and adjust levels of any voice used, BUT you must do it via MIDI. This is OK for home recording, but also means having to bring a lap-top to a gig and for me that's out of the question. You can't save your changes you did via MIDI on to the unit itself. (I am not sure if you can on VoiceWorks...you'll have to check the website.)
- I only use it live, never in my home studio. At first I over-used it: too many harmonies on too many songs. It took almost a year of gigging to really dial it in. This included backing off on harmony volume, lowering the population of harmonies, even getting the right microphone that is friendlier to the Quintet. This thing isn't perfect and it WILL take time to tweak so it will fit YOUR application. DO NOT think this will be harmonies "out of a box."
- It will take a while to decide on your key signatures. The song may be in DMAJ, but you'll sing your vocal line in GMAJ...perfect example is the chorus to "Sweet Home Alabama." This takes a while to get used to, but you'll see the logic and soon you'll dial in harmonies on the fly. You could be in a rehearsal, fart around with a song in EMIN, and add harmonies using the BMIN key signature. Sometimes it just works out that way...but you'll get the hang of it! In some cases we play "Stump the Band" at our gigs and I have even borrowed patches from other songs when we play something not on our songlist.
- DO NOT attempt to use this live with out a GOOD monitor. It will be a kiss of death if you don't. You go off key and the TC Helicon goes out of tune right with you. You have to sing in tune otherwise it's unforgiving. Don't rely on pitch correction when using it live.
- Learn to use (not over-use) this weapon and it will bring you and your listeners/band members smiles to their faces. I love to look at the looks of peoples' faces when the three-part harmony kicks in...they stop their conversation, or stop the beer mug from hitting their lips and look at the band. They can hear them, but can't see the harmonies. A real attention getter!
Sorry to ramble so much about this, as I understand you may not be using this unit in a live situation. I still say singing your own harmonies (in home recording) is better because it sounds more natural.
I am considering dumping my TC Helicon Quintet and upgrading to an Eventide. THAT is where the world-class harmonizers are. The TC's are harmonizers for those who can't afford the Eventide's (like me) but once you test out (and hear) the Eventides you will NEVER be satisfied with the sound of the TC.
For use in a bar band like me, the beer-drinking dancing-fool patrons won't care what harmonizer you use, so the TC
does have it's niche in the market, and they did a pretty good job.
Hybrid Mode
