Voice processors for bass players

[bbh]

It probably won’t work out well due to bleed. I’ve run into this issue in any small room. The bleed gets effected and the overall sound get mucked up.

 

[Rib 13]

Not all voice processors are a good choice when you play bass, due to the fact that bass usually is single tones - and guitars are chords.

What does any vocal processing have to do with your bass signal, or playing?

Yeah, I didnt understand that either..........

 

[Rib 13]

Here's what helps singers. Vocal rehearsals. That's what makes singers better. Get together with all vocalists in the band. You gotta have at least one chord instrument there. So one guitar or keys player. Run harmonies. Repeat hard parts.

^ This.....also, the band members themselves......the best thing about playing in a band with all vocalists is that their attitude about "the mix" is a LOT different than just guys who play an instrument as their forte with vox as a necessary inconvenience in their mind

 

[Engle]

Get the TC Helicon Perform-V. I have 2 of them.

You don’t have to use the fancy-schmancy effects that some find cringey. It also does basic dynamic management, feedback control, and EQ. No menus, no “save” button, virtually no learning curve.

And when used tastefully, the little doubling or octave effect adds a nice richness—great for BGs.

That’s the one I have. It can really fatten up the backing vocals.

 

[logdrum]

My friend used the defect of the helicon units to create soundscapes/sound design that are gnarly with his voice, baritone sax and a cheap casio keyboard and I think a Digitech Whammy. And he runs that to a Vox AC30 that is crunchy or dimed. It is something else on top of funky bass line and a very tight or greasy drummer

 

[swarfrat]

I use a Boss VE-8 on guitar a few times at church. You can set the harmonizer/autotune to manual key. But...neither of them do well with accidentals. I typically set it to "I think I can barely hear it" minus half a smidge.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

I have been using a TC Helicon Mic Mechanic 2 for my BGVs and the couple tunes I play trumpet on. I don't use the echo, but the reverb is real nice, and it has autotune that you use with a dial.

I can also recommend Mic Mechanic for autotune, with a warning though: It caused ground loop noise on some instances when I plugged it into the same outlet with my bass pedalboard. Might happen with any gear, just a heads-up.

 

[Paul Corrosion]

I use the TC Helicon Harmony G-XT and love it. It was originally bought when I was the lead singer in a band where none of the other members could sing, so I could provide my own harmonies.
It doesn't require a signal from a guitar to bring tuning in, although that option exists. It does have an autotune button that sounds like it's autotuning you if you slide out, so I always leave it switched off. This does mean that my actual vocal needs to be on point for the harmonies to work.
It also has a double-track function, so will duplicate the actual vocal and apply harmonies to both.
The onboard effects (reverb, echo, etc) are okay but can sound a bit false if you bring them too high up in the mix (this is controllable on the unit).
The band now has another vocalist, so I don't use the harmony part any more but I still like to use the double-track function just to thicken up my vocal and we have a few songs where the echo works particularly well.
I also use it in a band where I play bass and sing backing vocals. Again, I like the double-track but it's primary function in this band is to provide ridiculously high harmonies, ridiculously low harmonies, ridiculously off-key harmonies or all of the above at once at appropriate and inappropriate points during the show just for a laugh.

 

[dangevans]

I can also recommend Mic Mechanic for autotune, with a warning though: It caused ground loop noise on some instances when I plugged it into the same outlet with my bass pedalboard. Might happen with any gear, just a heads-up.

Yes! It also does that if you plug it into a powered speaker with your bass/guitar plugged into the same speaker. Of course, this can be bypassed with a small mixer of some sort- at least that worked for me.

 

[pglaser01]

I will just say as far as these go, if you do it right it can sound pretty good IF you need harmonies and can’t add them with other voices.

to be honest, the only time I’ve ever considered these a huge boost to a performance is when I’ve watched acoustic solo or duo acts that also uses loopers for the guitar parts as well.

So sure, it can be useful, but gotta use it in the right context. Just my opinion though, as many musicians better than me could probably work with them.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Well phooey to that. Sounds like work

Easy for you to say, you got that hot new singer.

 

[ga_edwards]

I'm considering getting TC Critical Mass. No smart harmony tracking, just simple unison, octave up and down effects that can be set loose or tight to simulate a 'crowd' vocal.

I agree, they sound cheesy for a lead vocalist on a band, but we have two lead singers (male and female), and even though I can sing lead, I'm a better backing vocalist. Two other band members sing backing as well, but I just want a little more for a handful of songs that require big 'stadium' vocals (Livin on a Prayer or almost any Queen track for example, or a few shouty words such as 'hey', 'ho' and 'huh' that crop up in a number of songs these days). When put on a backing vocal it's rather more subtle and just fills things out nicely without sounding too weird.

 

[DanGroove]

My 2cents is that you really don't need a vocal processor for backing vox. And the harmonizer function that you are worried about not getting the maj/min information from the chord input, in my opinion, is really a function for the lead vocal. This opinion is of course subject to debate and artistic vision. That being the case, if you are wanting to throw a vocal harmonizer on your backing vocal but want to be sure it is in key with the guitars, feed it the guitar instead of your bass.

 

[Marc valero]

I had a digitech unit I used years ago with my band. The lead singer would set the key with the foot switch while looking back at the unit in a rack. We set it for the 3rd above and always checked the level before the show started and it worked good for us.

 

[Fretless_gurl]

I play bass and sing backing vocals/harmonies.
I would like to sound better, and have thought about getting a voice processor/harmoniser from TC Helicon.

Not all voice processors are a good choice when you play bass, due to the fact that bass usually is single tones - and guitars are chords.

Any recommandations for a simple product?

Thanks


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I have the same situation; I am in a 4-piece band and only 2 members sing (incl me), so I use it mainly to add 2 part harmonies to augment what the lead vocalist is singing. I use the TC Helicon Voicetone Harmony G/XT. I have had no issues whatsoever with the pitch or sound of the harmonies. Plus there are customizable "patches" you can download from TC Helicon and install using the VoiceSupport app for Mac or PC.

 

[TomB]

I have the same situation; I am in a 4-piece band and only 2 members sing (incl me), so I use it mainly to add 2 part harmonies to augment what the lead vocalist is singing. I use the TC Helicon Voicetone Harmony G/XT. I have had no issues whatsoever with the pitch or sound of the harmonies. Plus there are customizable "patches" you can download from TC Helicon and install using the VoiceSupport app for Mac or PC.

Do you feed it a guitar send, or …?

 

[iSteen]

What does any vocal processing have to do with your bass signal, or playing?

Most of the TC HELICONs are meant to have guitar run through the processor, and that does not work with a single tone instrument like a bass, since the processor needs a chord (minor/major) to build a harmony

 

[iSteen]

More to the OP’s question: What are you hoping to achieve? Are you going to feed 1 or 2 harmony parts to the PA? It’s not designed to “sweeten” a single part, though the newer pedals do include autotune algorithms.
Can you explain better what you’re trying to get as output?

I would like to sing better backing harmonies, that about it

 

[iSteen]

Voice live play. Has room sensing microphones that pickup the guitar/keyboard in the monitor
it’s about 95% accurate in catching the harmony. It will mess up If it’s too close to the drums
Or you can get one that takes a guitar input and just run a line from the guitar/keyboard channel out from the board and take their chords

Our guitar guy actually brought a Voicelive Play to a rehearsal yesterday. Works without plugging in an instrument, but I was a bit disappointed how it sounded. The harmonies were muddy sounding - but the reverb and echo was okay

 

[iSteen]

For those just saying “take lessons” that doesn’t add a harmony part to your own voice. In some bands, like mine, we only have 2 singers and sometimes songs sound sweeter with a little high or low harmony during the backup parts. Lessons won’t add a second vocal line. I use a Digitech unit and it sounds very natural when dialed in right and used sparingly. What I will agree with is this, do not count on one of these vocal processors to correct your pitch. They are all terrible at it and sound unnatural. That’s usually why people don’t like these things, they don’t turn that part off and it sounds very robotic. Turn off the auto correction and it will work well.

You actually hit that right on the button, I think the key is to dial your pedal in right. We have seen the YouTube videos from TC Helicon, and IT sounds terrific out of the box, but in real life you have to fiddle with it for a long time, before it is just okay sounding