USER’S MANUAL Ver. 1.
WARNING To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture. CAUTION This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
Table of Contents: Basics Section Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Using The Effect On/Off Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 The SHORTCUT Footswitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Back Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 The STEP Footswitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table of Contents: Basics Section VoiceLive 2 for the MIDI keyboardist/Singer . . . .26 Connecting VoiceLive 2 To A Computer . . . . . . .32 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 The USB Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 MIDI Hookup And Channel Selection . . . . . . . . . . .26 The VoiceSupport Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 MIDI IN And USB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table of Contents: Details Section The Tone Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 The EQ Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 The Tone Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 The Compress Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 The Adaptive Check Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 The Edit Menu Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 The Shape Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table of Contents: Details Section The System Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 The Expression Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 The VLoop Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 The Store Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 FAQ and Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 MIDI Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 Factory Preset List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction Welcome to VoiceLive 2 Features: Thank you for stepping into the evolution of what it means to be a singer. VoiceLive 2 was conceived and engineered during a time in history when singers took control of their vocal sound with the advent of vocal effects pedals and rack mount units. The significance for you, the singer using VoiceLive 2, is being able to benefit from a wave of innovation that makes production of your vocal sound effortless and creative.
Introduction About TC-Helicon About This Manual At TC-Helicon we truly believe that the voice is the world's most beautiful instrument. We don't mean to degrade other beautiful instruments, but the singing voice is the anthropological source for all things melodic. You’ve no doubt noticed that the Table of Contents has two sections: the Basics section and the Details section.
Front Panel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 9
Front Panel 1. GLOBAL GROUP - When activated, these three effects stay on independent of preset changes. Press any to activate or hold to enter a specific edit menu. TONE applies EQ, compression and more to improve the core sound of your voice. PITCH adds subtle, chromatic pitch correction to help you sing more in tune. Press GUITAR FX to add modulation and reverb effects to the guitar connected to the GUITAR IN jack. The GUITAR THRU jack must be empty for GUITAR FX to be heard. 2.
Front Panel 11. SHORTCUT - Press to access the effect extension that is listed in the MAIN DISPLAY under SHORTCUT. This can include TEMPO,HARMONY HOLD and more. 12. μMOD ON/OFF - Press to enable or disable modulation effects including chorus, flange, detune, tube resonance and more. 13. DELAY ON/OFF - Press to enable or disable timed echo, tempo-based echo, slapback effects and more. Hold to enter a temporary tap tempo setting mode then tap at the tempo of your song. 14.
Back Panel 2 1 3 4 5 1. MIC and LINE inputs - Connect your microphone or line level audio device’s output here. Only one should be connected at a time. Hold the REVERB footswitch to set gain when changing back and forth between MIC and LINE ins. 2. GUITAR IN and THRU - Connect a guitar to the GUITAR IN to guide harmony and mix the guitar signal into the main output. Connect the THRU to your guitar amp and remove the guitar from the main mix output. 3.
Back Panel of the USB digital input is done in the I/O tab of the SETUP menu. 7. PEDAL Input - A standard expression pedal can be connected here to control the level of the Harmony and Doubling voices. Calibration is done in the EXPRESSION tab of the SETUP menu. 10. POWER In - Connect only the supplied adaptor or one with the exact specifications shown on the back of VoiceLive 2. 11. POWER Switch - Press to turn VoiceLive 2 on and off. 8.
Quick Start Overview: Step 1: Pre-Flight Check This chapter will help you get set up in the typical live performance setting with a microphone. You will learn how to connect external devices and how to set the microphone gain properly. At the end you will be ready to move on to experimenting with the vocal effects in the First Impressions chapter. Assemble the gear you need to get started. For now, leave your VoiceLive 2 and PA system turned off. In this section we cover: 1. Initial connections 2.
Quick Start Step 2: Inputs First, connect the XLR cable from your microphone to the MIC input jack on VoiceLive 2. Next, connect the instrument or device you will use to control harmony. On power-up, VoiceLive 2 will automatically configure all harmony presets to recognize which instrument is connected. Only one of the following should be connected for this Quick Start. o o o MP3 player (AUX Input).
Quick Start Step 3: Outputs The typical setup for monitoring the output of VoiceLive 2 is to connect two 1/4” cables to a stereo channel in a PA mixer. VoiceLive 2 can be set to output in mono if preferred in the I/O tab of the SETUP menu. If you are using a snake to connect to an offstage mixer, then the XLR outputs can be connected without the need for DI boxes. The output of the XLR jacks is the same as the 1/4” jacks: line level (maximum +16 dBu).
Quick Start Step 4: Set Mic Level Step 5: Quick Start Settings This step informs VoiceLive 2 how loud you plan to sing with your particular mic. We’ll use VoiceLive 2’s automatic MIC GAIN feature to quickly set the optimum level. Ensure that the HOME and TONE buttons on the front panel are lit. Load preset #1 with the PRESET up or down footswitches. Ensure that the FX footswitch is not flashing. Tap it once if it is flashing to exit Bypass/Tuner mode. 1. Press and hold the REVERB footswitch 2.
First Impressions How To Audition Presets Using Harmony Presets The best way to sample VoiceLive 2’s effects is to start with preset #1, sing, and then tap the PRESET up footswitch to audition the next preset. These factory presets contain collections of settings that affect your voice in different ways. Most presets that have the HARMONY footswitch lit require that you play your guitar, keyboard or music source (AUX input) to arrange the harmony intervals musically around your voice.
First Impressions Using The Effect On/Off Switches The SHORTCUT Footswitch The Effect On/Off footswitches give you the option to modify the sound without changing to another preset. You can do so by tapping any of the 6 effects footswitches which include μMOD (pronounced “micromod”), DELAY, REVERB, HARMONY, DOUBLE AND FX. This footswitch extends the capabilities of the current preset.
First Impressions The STEP Footswitch Programming Your Own Steps The Step feature allows you to create a series of up to 10 linked effect changes associated with a preset. In a preset that has steps, for example, tapping STEP could toggle to another preset’s effects, turn on all of the effects at once, increase the Delay level by 6 dB or all of the above. 1. Select a preset as the starting effect in your chain. Some factory presets have been programmed with examples of steps.
First Impressions To delete any single step, locate the step you want to remove then enter Step programming mode. Tap SHORTCUT to delete the current step. To speed Step programming, all insertions and deletions are automatically stored when you exit Step mode. If you want to experiment without affecting an important Step chain, you can either store the preset to another location first (Steps are stored with presets) and work there or perform a backup before experimenting and restore when done.
First Impressions Activating BYPASS + TUNER Mode Press and hold the FX footswitch to remove all effects from your voice except TONE (when active). The Tone feature remains active in BYPASS + TUNER (Bypass) so your voice does not sound darker when switching to Bypass for speaking or singing with no effects. If you have a guitar connected to the GUITAR IN, its output will be muted in Bypass and the Tuner display will become active so you can tune silently.
First Impressions Basic Editing Concepts When you want to go beyond turning effects on and off to make changes in your preset, press the Edit button to explore VoiceLive 2’s editing tabs. Each of the effect footswitches has a related tab you can access with the NAVIGATE left and right arrow buttons. Holding the left or right NAVIGATE buttons will jump between the uMOD and PRESET tabs. If you make changes you want to keep, presets can be edited and stored in place or to another location.
VoiceLive 2 for the Guitarist/Singer Overview Guitarists have bonus features in VoiceLive 2. In addition to sensing the guitar chords to guide harmony,VoiceLive 2 offers the guitarist: o Effects, including compression, EQ, modulation and reverb dedicated to the guitar o Guitar mix to main outputs o Chromatic Tuner By this section we assume you have completed the Quick Start and have your voice set to a comfortable level in your PA or headphones.
VoiceLive 2 for the Guitarist/Singer If you hear a buzz from either your guitar amplifier or the PA VoiceLive 2 is connected to, press the GND LIFT (ground lift) button to silence it. least two notes. If you want to sing right at the start of a song, it’s important to briefly play a chord first. A recognized chord will show “NP” in the LCD display. Now you can sample the harmony-based presets with the harmonies musically related to your guitar playing.
VoiceLive 2 for the MIDI Keyboardist/Singer Overview Using MIDI opens up a wide range of harmony and parameter control options. This section will discuss the basics of setting MIDI channel and performing with a MIDI keyboard/synth to control harmony. By this section we assume you have completed the Quick Start and have your voice set to a comfortable level in your PA or headphones.
VoiceLive 2 for the MIDI Keyboardist/Singer or tap it to engage harmony in any preset. Now you can play a song on your keyboard while singing and hear how the harmony voices adjust musically as you play the different chords in your song. As each chord is recognized, the LCD display will briefly show “NP” meaning NaturalPlay. The factory presets that have the word “Notes” in their names use another form of harmony control called “MIDI Notes”.
VoiceLive 2 for the Lead Singer Overview Using A Fixed Key (aka “Scale”) This section is for those who do not play an instrument such as a MIDI keyboard or guitar. You are still able to experience VoiceLive 2’s vocal harmony effects with these methods: This is the main method for creating harmony used successfully in the original VoiceLive processor. Briefly, all of the chords in an entire song and your melody can belong to a single “Key”.
VoiceLive 2 for the Lead Singer last chord in a song without extensions. For example G Major is a valid Key, Gm7b5 is not. Hold the HARMONY footswitch to enter Key Set mode then use the PRESET up and down footswitches to enter the Key.The STEP footswitch will cycle through the 3 Major and 3 Minor alternate scales that can be chosen if your harmony intervals sound incorrect at certain chord/melody combinations.
VoiceLive 2 for the Lead Singer “Borrowing” From Another Player If you play with a guitarist or MIDI keyboard player, you can use their playing to guide the harmony voices in your VoiceLive 2. Your guitarist can connect to the GUITAR IN and THRU then to their pedalboard or amp.Their guitar sound will remain the same and you can turn the harmonies on and off when you need them.The only limitation is the length of cable because high impedance signals lose signal over long cable runs.
General Usage Tips Monitor Placement Singing Tips For Harmony Try to ensure that your keyboard amp or monitor is not facing directly into your mic as this can confuse VoiceLive 2’s pitch detection and result in poor sounding harmony voices as well as bring on feedback. The more in-tune you sing, the better the harmonies will sound. Most harmony presets have a slight amount of pitch correction (known as Smoothing) on the harmonies but your pitch is still very important.
Connecting VoiceLive 2 To A Computer The USB Connection Connecting the supplied USB cable between VoiceLive 2 and your Mac or PC computer offers the following benefits: o Audio input and output for recording, processing and monitoring without a separate audio I/O box o MIDI connection from your computer to VoiceLive 2 without an external MIDI interface.
Connecting VoiceLive 2 To A Computer VoiceSupport’s HOME page) is current with the version shown on the TC-Helicon website. If a newer version is available, you can download it from our website. VoiceLive 2 And Digital Audio Here are a few common methods of using VoiceLive 2 with a USB-connected computer and an audio application (DAW): 1. Capturing a full mix of your performance Connect your mic and headphones to VoiceLive2 and pick a preset you like.
Connecting VoiceLive 2 To A Computer Method #3 - Recording dry vocal and guitar tracks: You’ll need a fully dry mono vocal track and optionally, a dry instrument track (guitar or keyboard) or midi performance if you plan to use harmony. Set the I/O parameters as such: 1. DIGITAL IN: USB: FULL MIX 2. DIGITAL OUT:VOCAL & GUITAR Connect your mic and a guitar to VoiceLive 2 and your headphones to the headphone out.
Connecting VoiceLive 2 To A Computer Selecting The Audio Device In the Mac and Windows operating systems, you can select VoiceLive 2’s audio device in your workstation program by name. In some Windows XP DAW apps, however, the name of the audio device may be “USB Audio Device”. USB And MIDI Control To use VoiceLive 2’s MIDI IN jack for harmony, preset change or realtime control while USB is connected, enter the I/O tab in the SETUP menu and set USB CONTROL to OFF.
Details Section In this part of the manual we shed light on the individual editing parameters in VoiceLive 2.
The Global Controls:Tone The Tone Button The Tone button activates what we call the “Live Engineer Effects”.These are different from standard vocal processing effects in that they adjust their settings to your particular voice and the way you sing at different times of your performance just like a professional audio engineer will. All EQ and compression enhancements applied here will affect the overall sound of VoiceLive 2 including Harmony, Doubling, Reverb etc.
The Global Controls:Tone Note that there is a slight lag between adjusting the Adaptive effects and hearing the effect as the algorithm re-assesses your voice input. The ADAPTIVE Check Boxes These show whether the automatically-adjusting Adaptive feature is enabled for the SHAPE or COMPRESS controls. NOTE: If either or both ADAPTIVE check boxes is unchecked, the associated control is set to MANUAL.
The Global Controls:Tone instruments or sounds from getting into the front of the mic. A side effect of this that singing closely on a cardioid mic adds more bass frequencies than your voice actually has. This is called “proximity effect” because it is caused by closeness to the mic. The adaptive Shape feature of VoiceLive 2 listens continually to your voice through your mic and adjusts to make your voice sound like it is professionally produced and balanced.
The Global Controls:Tone feedback with lots of compression combined with Adaptive Shape EQ. o Note that, in order for the Adaptive Compression feature to work properly. you must have your mic gain set properly either with by using auto MIC GAIN or by setting it manually. following to your dynamics: “I LOVE to watch you WALK down the STREET” Applied appropriately, the difference between loud and soft is reduced without killing the interesting dynamics in your performance.
The Global Controls:Tone brightness to remain on the voiced portion of your singing. aren’t singing, the gate will close and block sounds around you. There is only the single DE-ESS control; no other manual adjustment settings are required. The factory setting of 50% gently reduces sibilance without becoming obvious. Higher settings of compression and Shape or a bright, sibilant voice may require a higher setting.
The Global Controls:Tone default), most of the adjustment is done automatically so fewer controls are required.These are: ADAPTIVE ON/OFF SHAPE AMOUNT WARMTH ON/OFF ADAPTIVE ON/OFF This activates the automatic EQ algorithm and changes the control set for the EQ tab. When set to ON, this places an X in the ADAPTIVE check box in the TONE tab and allows editing of the SHAPE control in that tab.
The Global Controls:Tone WIDTH). For vocals, the gain of a narrow parametric band is typically reduced to overcome room or voice resonances and smooth the sound although experienced users may boost a band felt to be missing in a particular voice as well. HIGH FREQ The 3 GAIN controls allow +/- 12 dB of adjustment.The 3 FREQ controls range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Boosts or cuts the band of frequencies centered at the setting of the PARA FREQ control and its associated WIDTH.
The Global Controls:Tone COMPRESS Tab With ADAPTIVE ON The ADAPTIVE Compression algorithm performs automatic processing which reduces the amount of adjustable parameters. As such, once ADAPTIVE is enabled, the only control is COMPRESS. dB: 0 dB being the loudest input signal VoiceLive 2 can accept without distortion and -30 dB being a very quiet signal. If you sing consistently more quietly than the THRESHOLD, you will not hear any compression.
The Global Controls:Tone Note that the RATIO control has to be set above 1.0 (1.0:1) to apply any compression regardless of the setting of the THRESHOLD. When the GATE is set to MANUAL, an additional parameter,THRESHOLD, is displayed. Also note that automatic makeup gain occurs depending on your combination of THRESHOLD and RATIO. A side effect of compression is that it can reduce apparent level until makeup gain is applied to raise the overall level.
The Global Controls:Tone attenuation amount of -10 dB should work well in many situations, but you can further reduce the level if you still hear harmonized instrumental chattering when you stop singing. THRESHOLD (MANUAL Gate Only) This parameter becomes visible when the GATE has been switched to MANUAL. The THRESHOLD defines the minimum singing level you need to reach in order for the Gate to open and let your voice sound.
The Global Controls: Pitch The Pitch Button Pressing the Pitch button activates auto chromatic pitch correction. For most applications, this is all that is required to set this feature.There is no need to set Key or Scale; all notes that you sing in the 12 tone western chromatic scale are corrected to the nearest scale tone.
The Global Controls: Guitar FX The Guitar FX Button GUITAR Tab For those guitar players who mix their guitar through VoiceLive 2’s outputs by not connecting to an external mixer or amp via the GUITAR THRU jack, the effect processors enabled with the Guitar FX button yield added sonic depth and clarity. This tab allows you to control the guitar mix level and the style and mix settings for the Reverb and μMod effects.
The Global Controls: Guitar FX help, but if you typically remain in the same position it can help considerably. To see if phase reversal will help, stand where you will perform in relation to your monitor and carefully turn up the level of your guitar with your guitar's onboard volume control until it starts to feed back. Note the volume if the control has an indication then turn down the volume and adjust the phase reverse control in VoiceLive 2.
The Global Controls: Guitar FX The EQ Tab Use the Navigate arrows to tab over to the EQ tab from the GUITAR tab. Here you will find a 3 band EQ featuring: Low band shelving All band fully parametric peak/dip control High band shelving The 2 “Shelving” EQs boost or cut all frequencies below or above the the frequencies set by the LOW FREQ and HIGH FREQ controls respectively. These are most like the common Bass and Treble controls on a stereo system.
The Global Controls: Guitar FX PARA GAIN Boosts or cuts the band of frequencies centered at the setting of the PARA FREQ control and its associated WIDTH. PARA FREQ Defines the center of the parametric band. PARA WIDTH Defines how narrow or wide the parametric band is to be. The ends of the control range are labelled “NARROW” and “WIDE” to add meaning to the numbers in the middle of the control range. The COMPRESS Tab Use the Navigate arrows to tab over to the COMPRESS tab from the EQ tab.
The Edit Menu Overview Basic editing, menu navigation and concepts are briefly discussed on page 23. This Edit Menu section discusses the actual parameters in detail for those that want to go beyond merely loading a new style in order to make changes to their sound. Navigation Press the Edit button to access the editing menus and make changes to the current preset.This will present the edit tabs.
The Edit Menu: µMOD Tab Overview μMod is short for micro-modulation ("μ" is the scientific symbol for micro).The μMod effect is capable of creating many different sounds that range from subtle but lush thickening to creatively destructive. It uses a combination of stereo pitch shifting (Detune), small amounts of stereo delay (Delay), and then a complex path of filtering, feedback, and modulation. μMod does a faithful job of emulating classic detune, chorus, flange and thickening sounds.
The Edit Menu: µMOD Tab mono. LEFT puts the left side out of phase with the right which is normal phase and vice versa for the RIGHT value. BOTH puts both sides out of phase with their respective sides’ correct phase while remaining in phase with each other. WAVE DLY L / DLY R These send cross feedback from the left and right delay lines (XFL L) and from right to left (XFR L). Cross feedback returns the delayed audio to the opposite side's delay line. This can produce interesting stereo effects.
The Edit Menu: µMOD Tab HARM TO UMOD Sets the amount of harmony level sent into the μMod block. The HARMONY footswitch must be on to feed this send. LEAD LEVEL Controls the lead (dry + Tone) voice level when the individual effect is turned on with its respective footswitch. This allows a unique wet/dry mix for individual effects. When multiple effects are active, the lowest LEAD LEVEL value will determine the value.
The Edit Menu: DELAY Tab Overview The delay effect is a configurable echo. You can control how far apart the echoes occur (Delay Time), and whether the echoes fade out quickly or slowly or build on themselves. In addition, there are filtering and stereo controls that allow you to create many popular delay sounds. Delays can be typically be categorized into the two listed categories below: STYLE Use the soft knob assigned to this parameter to choose a pre-programmed delay style you like.
The Edit Menu: DELAY Tab MIDI: The unit can be set to derive its delay times from incoming MIDI clock signal. quarter notes) or syncopated sub-beats (e.g. 1/4 triplets, 1/4 dotted notes) for the left and right delays. TEMPO TIME L / TIME R This is where you can manually set the tempo in beats per minute (bpm) that is used to derive delay times for both the left and right delay lines. The bpm value of the TEMPO parameter is only applied to the delay times when TAP or MIDI is set as the source.
The Edit Menu: DELAY Tab Applying these filters to the delays can create the feeling of space while not obscuring the main vocal signal. output of the μMod block. The μMod footswitch must be on to feed this send. DUCKING AMOUNT LEAD LEVEL This sets how much attenuation (gain reduction) is applied to the delayed signal when a vocal is present. For ducking to not be too obvious, a slight reduction of -6 dB is best.The DUCKING parameter must be set to ON for this to have any effect.
Overview Reverb is the arguably the most common vocal effect. It can add a spaciousness that softens the abrupt beginnings and endings of lyric phrases. Many reverb types are meant to imitate the natural sound of spaces like churches, clubs and halls but not all. Some reverb effects are recreations of electro-mechanical effects meant to imitate real spaces like plates and springs. Reverbs are made up of early reflections and the longer reverberant sounds known as the tails.
The Edit Menu: REVERB Tab HI FACTOR DIFFUSE This allows you to raise or lower the level of the high band of the Reverb tail independently. Also known as Diffusion, this is a very subtle parameter used to simulate and control the density of the reflections inherent in real acoustic spaces. Low DIFFUSE values (-25 to 0) are intended to introduce more discrete echo-like motion to the tail where high values (0 to 25) make the tail smoother-sounding.
The Edit Menu: REVERB Tab DUCKING AMOUNT LEAD LEVEL This sets how much attenuation (gain reduction) is applied to the reverb signal when a vocal is present. For ducking to not be too obvious, a slight reduction of -6 is best.The DUCKING parameter must be set to ON for this to have any effect. Controls the lead (dry + Tone) voice level when the individual effect is turned on with its respective footswitch. This allows a unique wet/dry mix for individual effects.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab Overview The Harmony block in VoiceLive 2 produces up to 8 harmony voices and is the home of the Choir effect. IMPORTANT NOTE: The parameters available on the HARMONY Tab and their organization differs depending on the value of the NATURALPLAY parameter at the bottom of the tab. This section begins by describing the most common NATURALPLAY harmony mode: AUTO INPUT SENSE.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab more masculine and deeper effect and values above 0 lend a more feminine or thinner effect. V1 to V4 PAN Each voice may have a unique pan position. There are 100 possible steps in each of the left and right pan positions. Note that the Setup parameter: OUTPUT must be set to STEREO in order to hear the panning effect. DOUBLING and DBL LEVEL This can thicken the sound of your harmony voices by engaging a doubled version of each voice.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab overall effect. HUMANIZE AMOUNT The various Humanization styles consist of various amounts of the following modifiers: You can vary the amount of humanization for the harmony voices. All the styles except for the last one: TIME & PITCH were designed at middle values to allow you to add or remove effects as you see fit. TIME & PITCH was designed so you can create wild special effects as you experiment with high values.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab overall style with this parameter. All the styles were designed to be useful at middle values but you can add or remove vibrato as you like. V1 to V4 PORTA Each voice has its own Portamento time. Portamento is a delayed response to the pitch movement of your singing voice. It is also referred to as "Glide" in synthesizers. The range of values equals approximately how long the upwards or downwards slide will take to reach each new note.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab parameter has elapsed. TUNING The Tuning parameter allows you to affect tiny pitch adjustments to your harmony intervals to achieve Equal, Just or Barbershop tuning. Each preset can have a different value for TUNING. Equal tuning is the “compromised” tuning standard that instruments such as guitar and keyboards are designed to produce.This tuning mode allows you to play and sing in any key without completely retuning your instrument for every chord.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab lowest LEAD LEVEL value will determine the value. o GUITAR - This forces the current preset to look only to the GUITAR IN for musical input. In the case where you have a MIDI sequencer and guitar into VoiceLive 2, this will cause it to ignore the MIDI input for harmony control. o MIDI - This forces the current preset to look only to the MIDI IN for musical input.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab allows you to pick pitch shift intervals that fall outside of the standard “musical harmony” definition and as such, require no musical input from you. o o MIDI NOTES - Allows you to specify exact melodies and chords as harmony pitches from a MIDI keyboard or sequencer. A MIDI note held during a sung arpeggio will not move until the note is changed. As well, a single, sustained input note from you can have a moving harmony arpeggio by playing it on a keyboard.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab V1 to V4 VOICING The voicing alternatives change in SCALE mode and they are displayed in scale degree terminology.They are organized lowest to highest, relative to the input note. MAP IN SOURCE / MAP IN NOTE These allow to customize individual harmony note intervals relative to your input note and create a custom scale. A custom scale is not share-able with other presets until the preset is copied to another location.
The Edit Menu: HARMONY Tab o ON (4 VOICES X2) - With this you can play up to 4 voices at once, but each voice can be doubled for extra thickness. o UNISON - All 8 voices are triggered from a single MIDI note.This is similar to a synthesizer mode of the same name where you can layer all voices on one note. ATTACK / RELEASE These settings are designed to introduce fade ins and fade outs to the harmony voices.
The Edit Menu: DOUBLE Tab Overview The Double effect uses the same type of Humanization technology as in the Harmony effect to create up to four overdubbed versions of your voice. The four voices are set to unison intervals as opposed to the move-able intervals available for the harmony voices. Unlike simple detune or micro-shift techniques available with the μMod effect, Double simulates the sound of a vocalist overdubbing their vocal part multiple times.
The Edit Menu: DOUBLE Tab a delayed response to the pitch movement of your singing voice. It is also referred to as "Glide" in synthesizers. The range of values equals approximately how long the upwards or downwards slide will take to reach each new note. Setting each voice to different values greatly assists the illusion of other singers singing with you. V1 to V4 SMOOTHING At low values, Smoothing acts like pitch correction for the harmony voices.
The Edit Menu: FX Tab Overview o OFF - No routing. The FX tab contains the edit settings for a combination of two effects: o LEAD - Transducer is inserted on the Lead voice only. Harmonies and Doubling are unaffected. o Transducer, which uses distortion and steep filters to emulate the sound of radios, phones and devices that generally degrade the audio signal. o HARMONY - Transducer is inserted on the Harmony path only.
The Edit Menu: FX Tab LOW CUT and HIGH CUT CUT, and PRESENCE to customize them. Sets the cut-off frequency for these very steep low and high shelving filters. TIP: these and the PRESENCE filters can be used without Distortion effects to apply more radical EQ to your presets. The AMOUNT parameter adjusts the amount of distortion for the current distortion style.This is not the same as the IN and OUT GAIN controls which work on level adjustjment.
The Edit Menu: FX Tab down. Use th OUT GAIN control to adjust the output level of the Transducer block to properly balance the current preset with the others. PRESENCE GAIN, PRES FREQ and PRES WIDTH The parametric EQ allows a peak/dip filter to be added to help emulate the sonic characteristic of various speakers such as a megaphone which has a very narrow mid peak. GAIN adjusts the amount of boost or attenuation while FREQ sets the center frequency of the filter.
The Edit Menu: FX Tab and the Harmony NATURALPLAY mode is set to SCALE, then only the key is passed on to the HARDTUNE effect. This allows a different scale to be used for the HardTune effect independent of the Harmony effect. When Harmony is set to SHIFT, MIDI NOTES, or MIDI NOTES 4 CHAN, HardTune will use its own key and scale parameters. HARDTUNE SHIFT Sets the a relative shift in semi-tones above or below the input vocal.
The Edit Menu: FX Tab o Minor-Asc (ascending melodic minor) o Chromatic (no key or scale required) NOTE / ENABLED These are applicable when you wish to edit a custom scale for HARDTUNE. A custom scale is indicated by a series of dashes and circles: "-" and "o". Each of these symbols represents where a note is in the correction scale or not.
The Edit Menu: RHYTHMIC Tab Overview button for a moment then tapping in your tempo. Using the Rhythmic features, tap tempo can control effects on the lead voice, harmonies and doubling voices in time with your music. The RHYTHMIC menu is organized into three main collections of rows: 3. Sing a sustained note or a legato melody. The first two rows in this menu control the waveform modulation type effects aka Rhythmic Stutter and Rhythmic Gender.
The Edit Menu: RHYTHMIC Tab DEPTH Sets the intensity that the Rhythmic settings have on the Target. Determines what Rhythmic modifies.These include: GENDER, (Lead only) HARM LEVEL, L+H LEVEL (Lead and Harmony) RHYTHM Turns the effect on and off. Note that this can be assigned to the SHORTCUT button in the PRESET tab for easy access in performance. DIVISION Sets how many cycles of the TYPE waveform occur during the bar or the elapsed time over a number of beats.
The Edit Menu: RHYTHMIC Tab 1/8 DOT 1/16 DOT 1/32 DOT 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/8 TRIP 1/16 TRIP 1/32 TRIP SAMPLE LOOP CAPTURE Defines whether the sample is repeated from a point before the footswitch is pressed equal to the SAMPLE LOOP DIVISION (END) or following the footswitch press (START). SAMPLE DIRECTION Samples can play forward or reverse.This effect is most noticeable on longer duration samples.
The Edit Menu: PRESET Tab Overview This tab contains parameters that don’t pertain to the other tabs. LEAD LEVEL This allows the overall lead (dry with Tone) voice level to be reduced for the current preset. There are additional LEAD LEVEL parameters in the effect tabs (uMOD, DELAY etc) which may be used to reduce lead level further but only when their respective effect is active. LEAD PAN Sets where your lead voice appears in the stereo field for the current preset.
The Setup Menu: I/O Tab IN GAIN Sets and displays the MIC / LINE input level. Both inputs share the same gain settings and are not meant to be used simultaneously; switching from a Mic to a Line level signal will likely require resetting IN GAIN. To set input level automatically, use the AUTO MIC-GAIN function by pushing and holding the REVERB footswitch and following the prompts.When any digital input is selected (USB or SPDIF) the IN GAIN does not control the digital input level.
The Setup Menu: I/O Tab DIGITAL IN Selects between SPDIF and USB physical inputs as the input and also specifies where the incoming digital signal is routed. By default the routing is USB: STEREO, where the digital input is routed to the same path as the AUX input, but is not passed on to the digital output. When set to USB: VOX L / INST R, or S/PDIF:VOX L / INST R the digital input replaces the analog MIC/LINE and GUITAR inputs and the MIC and GUITAR IN connections are disabled.
The Setup Menu: I/O Tab through VoiceLive 2 with the shortest possible latency inherent to the system. When set to VOICE SYNC, the lead voice is delayed slightly to synchronize with the processing latency of the harmony voices. Mutes the guitar signal in the main outputs when no jack is connected to the GUITAR THRU jack.This allows the guitar dry signal to be mixed externally.The guitar signal still feeds the NATURALPLAY harmonies and tuner.
The Setup Menu: MIDI Tab CHANNEL Sets the MIDI channel that VoiceLive 2 uses for presets and MIDI harmony control. When a NATURALPLAY preset is set to MIDI NOTES 4 CH, the channel selected is the channel used for VOICE 1. The MIDI channel for VOICE 2 is the selected MIDI channel + 1, VOICE 3 is +2,VOICE 3 is plus 3. FILTER Allows MIDI Program Change or System Exclusive messages to be ignored for convenience. CC CHAN Sets a separate MIDI channel for CC control if desired.
The Setup Menu: MIDI Tab PBRANGE (Pitchbend Range) Sets the range in semitones that MIDI pitch bend information will alter voice pitch shifts.
The Setup Menu: SYSTEM Tab LCD CONTRAST Sets the contrast level of the LCD display. Useful for better viewing at different angles and light conditions. without having to change Key every time. In this mode, Key and Scale settings are not saved with a STORE action. When set to OFF, key and scale is configurable per preset. USB CONTROL GLOBAL SHORTCUT Setting this parameter ON should only be done when USB is connected.
The Setup Menu: EXPRESSION Tab Overview Keyboard-Type Expression Pedal Connecting an expression pedal such as a TC-Helicon Express 1 allows you to modify preset or global settings from a standing position using a standard volume or expression pedal. Pedal Setup Supported Pedal Types If you are using a keyboard type expression pedal, connect a 3 conductor cable (or the cable built into the pedal) to the PEDAL input on VoiceLive 2.
The Setup Menu: EXPRESSION Tab Assigning The Expression Pedal The pedal can now be set to control any of the following parameters: HARMONY + DOUBLE LEVEL HARMONY LEVEL UMOD LEVEL REVERB LEVEL μMOD/DLY/REV LEVEL GUITAR LEVEL DELAY SEND LEVEL RHYTHMIC DEPTH DELAY + REVERB LEVEL DOUBLE LEVEL DELAY LEVEL LEAD LEVEL OUTPUT LEVEL AUX LEVEL REVERB SEND LEVEL RHYTHMIC DIVISION To assign the pedal globally (affects all presets), choose a value with the knob below the GLOBAL EXPR-PEDAL parameter in the EXPRESSION t
The Setup Menu:VLOOP Tab Overview Using VLoop Looping is a new feature for firmware version 1.3. The VLOOP tab offers control of new parameters required for looping. After the parameter descriptions below is a discussion of how to loop with VoiceLive 2. VLoop allows you to create short, layered audio recordings on the fly. All analog audio inputs are recorded into the loop including Mic input, vocal effects, Guitar and Aux In. MIDI and USB inputs are not recorded.
The Setup Menu:VLOOP Tab settings previously assigned to your presets but it can be reversed later if needed. After assigning the SHORTCUT footswitch, the Home display will show LOOP [STOP] in any presets in which it is assigned or all presets if LOOP is assigned globally. Rhythmic features are disabled when Loop is assigned. To overdub another layer on your loop: 1.Tap SHORTCUT once during playback. Sing.Your new audio is added to the loop.You can layer continuously if you like.The display shows [O-DUB].
The Store Menu Overview Pressing the Store button presents either the STORE or MANAGE tab depending on which was last used. In the STORE tab, turn the respective control to name presets and re-assign to other preset numbers. Navigate to the MANAGE tab to access useful preset functions listed below. CLEAN PRESET BANK (UP TO 2 MINUTES) This function will run automatically on VoiceLive 2 when a large number of preset stores have been executed.
FAQ and Troubleshooting My guitar doesn't change the harmonies. Ensure your guitar is connected to the Guitar IN and not the THRU. Turn up the volume control on your guitar. My DELAY/REVERB MIX level is up but the sound is still dry Turn on the Reverb and/or Delay effects with their respective footswitches. Remove any guitar effect pedals between your guitar and VoiceLive 2's input. If the effects are on, but you still don't hear the effect, make sure the sends are turned up for the effects.
FAQ and Troubleshooting When I switch Phantom on and off the level changes.Why? tab of the SETUP menu is OFF and remove the USB cable. Because condenser microphones tend to have much higher output levels than a dynamic microphone, VoiceLive 2 stores different mic gain levels for when phantom power is on and off.The gain you set for your condenser mic is recalled when you turn Phantom on and an alternate gain is recalled for your dynamic mic.
FAQ and Troubleshooting My corrected voice or harmony voice sounds out of tune Harmony send parameters and make sure they are turned up. It's possible that the tuning reference of the instruments you are singing with are not tuned to the default setting of A=440.You can change the default tuning reference in the I/O tab of the SETUP menu. 4. If the send levels active are for the harmony voices, make sure the Harmony effect is turned on. My sound is distorted.
FAQ and Troubleshooting when singing. If not, check connection and run MIC GAIN setting procedure. 3. It's possible LEAD MUTE is enabled globally in the Setup I/O menu, set it to OFF to change. 2. If the Tone button is on, check that if the GATE is set to MANUAL, that the THRESHOLD is adjusted properly for your singing style. The edit asterisk is always on in preset names 4. Turn off all effects, one of the effects could have LEAD MUTE enabled.
MIDI Implementation Parameter Footswitch On/Off CC# Range Harmony Double Reverb HardTune Step μMod Delay Trans FX 110 111 112 113 115 116 117 118 104 0-63 off 64-127 on “ “ “ “ “ “ 0 to the # of steps in preset 0-63 off 64-127 on “ “ “ “ “ “ Style Level Style Level Style Level Style Level Style Out Gain Style Level Harmony Key Harmony Scale Voicing Voice1 Voicing Voice2 Voicing Voice3 Voicing Voice4 Level Voice1 50 90 51 62 52 91 53 15 55 105 56 12 30 31 89 61 88 3 46 0-24 0-127 0-12 0-127 0-30 0-12
MIDI Implementation HardTune Parameter CC# Range Level Voice2 Level Voice3 Level Voice4 Gender Voice1 Gender Voice2 Gender Voice3 Gender Voice4 Human Style Human Lvl Vib Style Vib Amt Doubling Lvl Choir Lvl Choir Style Key Scale Rate Amount Window 17 21 25 29 19 23 27 16 20 24 1 35 72 73 47 48 54 57 49 “ “ maps to “ “ “ “ 0-6 maps to 0-7 maps to “ “ 0-14 0-11 0-5 0-127 maps to “ Comments Tone Pitch Guitar Guitar Guitar Guitar Guitar Guitar 106 107 108 109 9 22 26 28 0-63 off 64-127 on maps to 127
MIDI Implementation Parameter CC# Range Delay/Reverb Lvl Dry Pan Output Level Bypass Harmony Hold Sustain Aux Level All Notes Off 86 10 7 114 119 64 58 123 “ “ “ “ “ “ 0-63 off 64-127 on “ “ “ “ Maps to 127 “ “ Comments 127 MIDI values map to 201 pan values, Center = 64 Bypass only, no tuner mode. FX button is not lit in this Bypass Active in MIDI Naturalplay and MIDI Notes, MIDI Notes 4 Chan modes.
Factory Preset List 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SIXTH ENCORE CLOSE UP 3RD TUNED UP+DOWN KANYE LOCKDOWN ANOTHER BRICK BRIGHT DOUBLE TWO HIGH CHORALE THREE UNISON CHOIR AUTOTUNE RADIO DEEPER YOU POWER CHORDS 2 HIGHER CHOIR HARMONY CHOIR RADIOHARMNY DLY BASS & 3RD UP ELVIS RADIO DOUBLE REFLECT ANGELS RADIO DIGERI-VOICES DISTORTO POP DUO LOWER BACKUP THE MASSES DEEP DOWN 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 SIMPLE SLAP LONGVERB DUCKE
Factory Preset List 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 DELAYED UPPERS DELAYED HARMONY LIFE IN THE F L TONE DRONE UNI UNI+5TH DRONES OCTAVE DRONE TONE DRONE DOWN TONE DRONE UP DIGERI-DISTORT MICROPITCH DOUBLE CHORUS CHORUS PLATE DOUBLE BALLAD OVERDUB SLAP 100% WET UNISON LAGER & ALE MIXED OCTAVES OCT UP DOUBLE OCT UP GROUP THINNER YOU POPEYE + OLIVE OCTAVE POP FIFTH DIVA UNISON F&M UNISON M&F PANNED DOUBLES MASSIVE STACK 102 128 129
Effects Path Diagram To Guitar Thru Jack Guitar Input Guitar Guitar Mute EQ Comp µMod Reverb HardTune On/Off Tone Button EQ Comp De-Ess Gate Lead Mute HardTune Pitch Button Pitch Voices EQ Harmony µMod Mic & Line Input Doubling Output µMod Delay Reverb Delay/ Reverb Choir On/Off Choir In Transducer Insert Effect Out Multiple Insert Points 103
Warranty All products manufactured by TC-Helicon are warranted against failure arising through faulty workmanship and materials for a period of one year from date of purchase. All claims under this warranty must be made to the distributor in the buyer’s country (in many cases the distributor is TC-Helicon’s parent company TC Group), by returning the unit, securely packed, postage prepaid and insured, with an enclosed note, describing the symptoms.
Specifications Analog Inputs Digital Inputs and Outputs Connectors, balanced Connectors Formats Mic.: XLR, Line: 1/4" phone jack, Guitar: 1/4" phone jack, Aux: 1/8" stereo mini jack Input Impedance: Bal./Unbal. Mic.: 2.14/1.07 kOhm, Line: 13/6.
