TC-Helicon VoiceLive Play GTX User Manual
USER’S MANUAL
v2.0
Table of Contents
CONNECTION GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . 3
BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
SOFT BUTTONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
GENRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
FAVORITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
SETUP - INPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SETUP - OUTPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
SETUP - SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
SETUP - LOOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
SETUP - MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
EFFECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
EFFECTS - UMOD (MICRO MOD) . . . . .20
EFFECTS - DELAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
EFFECTS - REVERB. . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
EFFECTS - HARMONY. . . . . . . . . . . .24
EFFECTS - DOUBLE . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
EFFECTS - HARDTUNE . . . . . . . . . . .27
EFFECTS - TRANSDUCER . . . . . . . . . .28
EFFECTS - GUITAR . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
MIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
PRACTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Connection Guide
MIDI In
Inst In/Thru
USB
Switch3 InPhones
Power In
Out to P.A.
Aux In
Mic In
or DAW
Power In - Connect the included power supply (ALWAYS USE A TC-HELICON POWER SUPPLY. USING
ANY OTHER POWER SUPPLY MAY DAMAGE THE UNIT AND WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY.)
USB - Connect to your computer with the included cable. Use VoiceSupport to manage presets and update Firmware. www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicesupport
Phones - Headphone output.
Le+Right - Main XLR outputs connect to your P.A. system or audio interface. Always use balanced
cables to avoid HUMMMMMMM.
Switch3 In - Use a TRS cable to connect a Switch 3, which can control looping. If you use the S3, you
have access to looping without pressing the Up and Down footswitches.
Aux In - Use a 1/8” cable to connect any music source you like, espcially the 8-Track from your 1974
Comet. When an input is detected here, Play will use the music to gure out Key/Scale info.
MIDI In - Connect a MIDI cable to your keyboard or computer to send Notes information for Harmony/Hardtune. Some CC’s are also available. (see Setup - MIDI for more info)
Inst IN/THRU - Connect a guitar or keyboard (audio not MIDI) to IN. To pass guitar signals to an
amplier and bypass internal guitar processing, connect a 1/4” cable to your guitar rig from the THRU
jack.
Mic In - is is where the magic happens. Plug your dynamic, condenser or MP-75 Mic in here. Remember to set the mic type and level, as described in the QuickStart Guide.
3
Basics
Mic Gain Knob
Once you’ve connected your microphone and selected the Mic Type (pg. 9 Dynamic, Condenser, MP-
75), use the Mic Gain Knob to set the input level for your microphone.
As you increase the level, pay close attention to the LED on the top of the VoiceLive Play GTX.
You want the input to light the LED Green. It’s OK if the LED sometimes lights Yellow, but it should
never turn Red. If it does turn Red, reduce the level. Red means the input is overloading. You’ve got
powerful lungs!
4
Basics
LCD Display
1. Patch Name (Geddit Started)
2. Patch Number (27)
3. FAV – Shown if the current preset is tagged as a Favorite
4. NP – Shown when NaturalPlay key/scale information is being processed by the system
5. LOOP – Shown when a loop is playing in the background
6. GENRE – Displays the name of the genre selected in the genre screen. Not shown when the
genre is set to ALL.
*What is NaturalPlay?
NaturalPlay is the voodoo we do inside the VoiceLive Play GTX to gure out which key your music
is in. If you plug in a Guitar or Keyboard to the INST In, NaturalPlay will look there rst for key/scale
info. Next, it will look at the MIDI input. Finally, it will look at the Aux input and RoomSense mics.
Once the GTX “hears” Key/Scale information from one of the inputs, it will set the Key/Scale on the
y. NP is only shown when a change in Key/Scale is detected, so don’t panic if you don’t see it all the
time.
5
Basics
Switches and Operation
1. The UP and DOWN switches allow you to navigate through presets. Press once for a single
preset change. Press and HOLD to quickly move through presets.
2. HIT/TALK – In normal operation, this button acts as a HIT button. When activated, a new
effect or effects will be added to the current patch. This feature is perfect for adding effects like
Harmony to a chorus section of a song, or even to a single line or word.
3. When you press and HOLD the HIT/TALK button, the VoiceLive Play GTX enters TALK mode.
All effect output is muted and the mic input is passed directly to the output.
If you have a guitar plugged into the INST IN, you will enter TALK/TUNER mode, activating the
guitar tuner. The guitar output is muted to allow tuning, but the Dry voice is still passed to the
output, allowing you to tune your instrument and still entertain the crowd with witty banter.
4. To enter LOOP mode, press and hold the UP and DOWN switches simultaneously. Once in
LOOP mode, the DOWN footswitch controls REC/PLAY/OVERDUB functions, the UP
footswitch controls the STOP/CLEAR functions and the HIT button exits LOOP mode. You
may exit loop mode while a loop is still playing. That means you can choose a new vocal sound
and then re-enter LOOP mode to add a new overdub to the loop. Press and hold the DOWN
footswitch after performing an OVERDUB to UNDO.
*LOOP mode is the default action when pressing the UP and DOWN buttons simultaneously. The alternative mode, set on SYSTEM page 5 under UP/DN Function is KEY/SCALE mode, described below.
5. To access TAP TEMPO, press and hold the UP and HIT switches simultaneously. Once you
see the tempo on the LCD screen, tap the HIT button in time with your music. When you’re
nished, stop tapping and the screen will “time out” back to the preset screen. Voila!
6. To enter KEY/SCALE mode and select the KEY/SCALE to be used with Harmony and Hard
tune effects, press and hold the UP and DOWN switches simultaneously. To save your select ed KEY/SCALE, press EXIT.
*If you don’t know the KEY/SCALE that a particular song is in, try using the last chord of the song for
the KEY and Major 2 for the SCALE. It’s often correct, especially in popular music.
6
Basics
Control Knob and Arrow Buttons
The control knob is used to move through presets and to move through various settings when in Edit,
System or other menu areas. The Arrow Buttons act similarly, moving through presets, styles, Genres
etc..
Back
Exits the current screen or mode.
Store
When you have made a change to a preset, simply press STORE. The rst press will bring up the name/
location window, allowing you to re-name and/or relocate the preset. Pressing STORE again will save
the preset, along with its new name or location.
To change the NAME of a preset, press the STORE button once, then press the Left Blue Soft Button
to modify the letters/numbers. Press STORE again to complete the process.
To save the current preset in a different LOCATION press the STORE button once, then press the
Right Blue Soft Button and use the control knob to select the destination number for the preset. Press
STORE again to complete the process.
If you change your mind and don’t want to save the changes, simply press BACK.
*Soft Buttons and their operation are described in more detail on the next page.
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Soft Buttons
There are six (6) “soft” buttons, three (3) on each side of the LCD Display. Each button is context spe-
cic, meaning that when its function is available, you’ll see it lit up with a WHITE or BLUE LED. When
there is no function available, the button will not be lit. In WHITE LED mode, the text on the button
refers to its action. In BLUE LED mode, the button will select the segment of the LCD screen that is
beside the button. Not every menu uses all six (6) buttons.
Genre
Sorts presets by category, ranging from musical style to effect type. When in the GENRE menu, use the
Control Knob to navigate through the available options. Press BACK to return to the main window,
where you will see just the presets contained within the GENRE that you have selected. Presets can
be associated with multiple genres.
Favorite
The “Favorite” button toggles the current preset as a “FAV”. When on, FAV will be seen in the top
right corner of the LCD, as shown above.
If you set one or more presets as a “FAV”, you can see a list of only those presets by choosing FAV
from the GENRE screen. If there are no “FAV” presets tagged, FAV will not appear in the GENRE options.
*Using Fav’s is a great way to make set-lists or group all of your custom presets together, so you can
nd them easily.
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Setup - Input
When pressed, the VoiceLive Play GTX enters the SETUP menu, which is comprised of 6 pages and
controls the general functions of the device:
Mic Type – Selects the type of microphone.
There are 4 settings:
1. DYNAMIC MIC– for dynamic mics (like an SM-58 or OM5)
2. CONDENSER MIC – for condenser mics (like a Beta 87A)
3. MP-75 MIC - for use with our MP-75 microphone, which has an onboard switch to control
various functions of your VoiceLive Play GTX, such as the HIT or LOOP functions.
*Mic Control defaults to HIT when MP-75 is selected.
4. USB – Digital audio can be passed to the VoiceLive Play GTX via the USB port. allowing you to
send vocals from a DAW to the unit for processing.
Room Sense – Controls the way the two onboard RoomSense microphones function.
There are 3 settings:
1. AMBIENT – RoomSense uses the onboard mics and passes that signal via the headphone out
put. Control for RoomSense level can be found in the MIX section. To avoid feedback, the
RoomSense output is only passed to the headphone output and not the XLR output.
*Try using the AMBIENT setting alongside a vocal mic to pick up an instrument, like an acoustic
guitar or piano, and mix it in with your vocals. You can also mix some of the AMBIENT signal
into an in-ear monitor mix to give you room sounds with your direct mic feeds.
2. AMBIENT/AUTO – In addition to the ability to output RoomSense sounds via the headphone
mix, the onboard RoomSense mics will also listen to musical information from the surrounding
environment (a single instrument or even your whole band will work!) to determine the KEY/
SCALE for harmony/hardtune.
3. VOICE – The RoomSense mics are used as the primary vocal input. This action is only available
via headphones.
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Setup - Input cont.
Guitar – Adjusts the guitar input gain.
Different guitars have different output levels, based on their pickups and electronics. Use this setting to
ensure that your guitar input isn’t too low or too high. (Strat’s tend to be less “hot” than a Les Paul)
Without singing into your mic, play your guitar as hard as you would at your most intense. Really rock
it out. (make sure the volume on your guitar is maxed)
Turn up the Guitar level until the RED “IN” LED lights while you play, then back the level down by
3-4dB. Doing this will ensure you have enough signal to properly feed the amp simulation processors.
Mic Control – Sets the action associated with the Mic-Button.
There are 4 settings:
1. HIT – The mic button controls HIT in any patch that has a HIT function assigned.
2. HIT + TALK - Pressing the mic button engages the HIT function. Pressing and HOLDING the
mic button engages TALK mode, bypassing all effects. Press again to exit TALK mode.
3. PRESET UP – Cycles through the presets, moving forward through the menu.
4. LOOP – Activates or De-Activates RECORD/PLAY/O-DUB for Looping. For Looping.
Tone Style – Applies varying amounts of Adaptive EQ, Compression and Gate.
There are 9 styles to choose from:
1. OFF – No Tone Style is applied.
2. NORMAL – Some “bottom”, “mid” and “air” EQ , light compression and minor gating (when
the input level gets low enough, the input is muted) is applied to the signal.
3. LESS BRIGHT – Similar to Normal, but with less emphasis on high frequency EQ.
4. NORM+WARMTH – Similar to Normal, with a small “mid bump” to add some warmth to the
voice.
5. MORE COMP – Utilizes the Normal EQ and Gating settings, but with more aggressive com pression settings. This is a good setting to try if you have a large dynamic range when singing
and want to keep your levels under control.
6. NORM NO GATE – Removes the Gate function from the normal setting. This means that even
at very low input levels, the mic is still active or “hot”.
7. LESS BRIGHT NG – The same as Less Bright, but with the Gate function removed.
8. WARMTH NG – The same as NORM+WARMTH, but with the Gate function removed.
9. MORE COMP NG – The same as MORE COMP, but with the Gate function removed.
10
Setup - Input cont.
Pitch Cor Amt
Pitch Correction Amount allows you to control the amount of Auto-Chromatic Pitch Correction the
VoiceLive Play GTX applies to all incoming signals from the microphone. For a natural sound, we nd
that 50% or less is a good place to start. If you’re having a hard time hitting notes accurately, or want
an Auto-Tuned sound on all of your vocals, experiment with amounts closer to 100%.
*If you’re new to Auto-Chromatic Pitch Correction, you may nd that the sound you hear with Cor-
rection engaged sounds “doubled”. This is due to you hearing both the corrected signal from the VoiceLive Play GTX and your own voice via bone conduction in your noggin. The two sounds have small
variances which can be interpreted as “doubling”. It’s perfectly normal, but will take a bit of getting
used to. The Audience won’t hear the “doubling”.
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Setup - Output
Output – Sets the way VoiceLive Play GTX outputs sound via the XLR outputs.
There are 3 settings:
1. STEREO – XLR outputs receive a stereo mix of all voices, guitar and other inputs.
2. MONO – A MONO full-mix signal is on the LEFT and a DRY vocal is on the RIGHT. Any Tone
and Pitch Cor Amt settings from the Setup menu are included on the RIGHT DRY channel.
3. DUAL MONO – All lead and effected vocals are sent via the LEFT output and all guitar, aux/
digital signals are sent via the RIGHT output. Loops are passed in Stereo.
Vocal Cancel – Attempts to remove the vocals from a piece of music.
There are two settings:
1. OFF – No processing is performed on the aux input.
2. ON – Processing occurs to attempt to remove lead vocals from a piece of music. This pro cess can create “Karaoke” style music for you to sing along to, including key information for
harmony generation. The processing capability can vary quite a bit from song to song, depend ing on the way the song was originally mixed.
Lead Mute – Mutes the Lead vocal and only outputs processed signals.
There are two settings:
1. OFF – Lead vocals are routed to the main mix.
2. ON – Lead vocals are removed from the main mix.
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