11 Refer all servicing to qualied service person-
nel. Servicing is required when the apparatus
has been damaged in any way, such as powersupply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has
been spilled or objects have fallen into the
apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to
rain or moisture, does not operate normally,
or has been dropped.
Warning!
• To reduce the risk of re or electrical shock,
do not expose this equipment to dripping or
splashing and ensure that no objects lled with
liquids, such as vases, are placed on the equipment.
Caution
You are cautioned that any change or modications not expressly approved in this manual could
void your warranty.
EMC/EMI
This equipment has been tested and found to
comply with the limits for a Class B Digital device,
pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference in residen-
tial installations. This equipment generates, uses
and can radiate radio frequency energy and – if
not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions – may cause harmful interference
to radio communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause
harmful interference to radio or television reception – which can be determined by turning the
equipment off and on –, the user is encouraged
to try correcting the interference by one or more
of the following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equip-
ment and the receiver.
• Connect the equipment to an outlet on a
circuit different from the one to which the
receiver is connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/
TV technician for help.
• Do not install in a conned space.
Service
All service must be performed by qualied personnel.
For Customers in Canada:
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003. Cet appareil numérique de la classe
B est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.
1
Introduction
Before You Get Started
1. Check to see if this manual has been updated
click the following link:
Main wheel locates
presets in Home mode
and selects rows in edit
modes.
Navigate arrows will
increment/decrement
presets by 1 in Home
mode or select rows
in edit modes.
Tab/Step arrows cycle
through tabs in edit
modes.
7
Front Panel
Touch any to engage
effects or hold to jump
directly to the effect’s
edit menu.
Duplicates the switch on
an MP-75 mic to activate
switched parameters.
Touch to activate adaptive EQ, compression,
de-ess and gate or hold
to edit.
Tap at song tempo to
set delay time in Home
mode.
Touch to activate auto-
chromatic pitch correction or hold to edit
correction settings.
Mutes all processing
except Tone when
Tone is active.
8
Back Panel
Connect dynamic or
condenser mic here.
Input gain and phantom
power on/off located in
Setup menu.
Attachment
port for
Kensington
lock
Connect TRS balanced
or unbalanced cable
from mixer here.
Passes dry guitar signal
to an amplier or PA.
Connection here will
remove guitar from the
main mix.
®
A guitar connected here can
guide Harmony and Hardtune
effects. If Thru is not connected,
guitar is mixed to main outputs
with dedicated effects.
Auxiliary input from
mp3 player can be
mixed to outputs and
be used to guide Harmony and Hardtune.
If ground buzz is heard in
your PA, push the Ground
Lift in. Otherwise leave
it out.
Main outputs are balanced and
default output is stereo. Mono and
dual mono modes are congured in
Setup menu.
S/PDIF output always
available. Full Mix or Vocal & Guitar (LR) cong-
ured in Setup menu.
S/PDIF digital input can
be fed dry to analog mix
outs or used as vocal and
instrument (LR) inputs for
effect processing.
Hardware MIDI ports allow remote
harmony and preset control from
MIDI keyboards etc. Ensure USB
Control is set to Off in Setup menu
to use this input.
Connect optional TC-Helicon
Switch 3 footswitch here for
additional control per preset
or globally.
USB I/O connects to a
computer for audio I/O and
system functions such as
preset backup and version
updates.
Connect supplied AC
adaptor here.
AC cable strain
relief minimizes
shutdowns due to
cable pulling.
9
Quick Start
fa. Connections
1. Turn down your mixer channel or main PA
volume.
2. Connect a Mic or Line level input from the
mixer to the respective input jack on VoiceLive
Rack.
3. Connect the XLR or TRS stereo outputs to
your mixer/PA.
4. Connect the supplied AC adaptor to the unit
and press the POWER button in.
fb. Set input level
1. Touch the Bypass button so it ashes.
2. Touch the Input Gain button.
3. Sing or start playback while watching the IN
meter in the display
4. Adjust the IN GAIN setting with the knob
below the onscreen parameter until no CLIP
message occurs.
5. Touch Home to exit Input Gain setup.
fc. First audio
1. Select preset 6: BRIGHT DOUBLE with the
large wheel or the Navigate up/down arrows.
2. Sing or start dry vocal playback then raise your
monitors/PA level until you hear the VoiceLive
Rack output at a comfortable volume.
3. Touch the Bypass button to hear the effect
programmed into the current preset.
4. Now you can select different presets and/or
touch the effect blocks (µMod, Delay, Reverb
etc) to turn them on and off within the current preset.
10
Basic Operation
fSelecting presets
There are over 200 factory programmed presets
in VoiceLive Rack. Presets are loaded as soon as
the name appears in the LCD window.
To select presets:
1. Ensure the Home button LED is lit.
2. Turn the large encoder wheel. Detents in this
wheel allow increment and decrement by 1
or;
3. Touch the Navigate up or down arrows to
browse by single presets.
fSearching for presets using tags
The Wizard function organizes the presets by
user-selected tag lters and alphabetically so you
can search more effectively for them. The Wizard
also allows you to locate but not automatically
load a new preset while another is currently ac-
tive.
To search for presets using the Wizard:
1. Connect an accompaniment instrument or
music player to VoiceLive Rack. This can be
either:
• A guitar connected to the GUITAR IN
• A MIDI keyboard (channel=1) connected to
the MIDI IN
• An MP3 player connected to the AUX IN
2. Select a harmony-based preset such as 1: Sixth
Encore.
3. Play the accompaniment instrument or track
while singing into VoiceLive Rack. The harmony
intervals will follow the changing chords of the
music.
By default, the GUITAR and AUX inputs are
routed to the main mix output. Their levels can
be muted or adjusted in the GUITAR and I/O
tabs of the Setup menu respectively.
fUsing Harmony or Hardtune presets
without a connected instrument or
track
1. Touch the Wizard button
2. Use the Mix knobs to select the Sort function
and/or to choose up to 3 tag criteria.
3. Turn the large encoder to view the ltered
results.
4. Press the Wizard button to load the highlighted preset.
fUsing Harmony or Hardtune presets
with a connected instrument or
music track
Presets that have the Harmony or Hardtune buttons lit require a musical reference in order to
sound musically correct. VoiceLive Rack automatically senses which input is connected (see follow-
ing) in order to use it as a reference.
This method, which uses a single key and scale
generally throughout an entire song, will produce
useful musical results for many songs but not all.
Experimentation in a rehearsal setting is essential
before using this method before an audience.
1. An accompaniment is required so the singer
can sing relative to a key and scale. This can be
a piano, acoustic guitar, playback etc.
2. Touch the Setup button and navigate to the
SYSTEM tab using the TAB/STEP arrows.
3. Set GLOBAL NATURALPLAY to SCALE and
GLOBAL KEY/SCALE to ON.
4. Touch the Edit button and navigate to the
HARMONY tab.
5. Set the KEY and SCALE* parameters to
match the song accompaniment. This is often
the rst or last chord in the song.
11
Basic Operation
6. Sing while the accompaniment plays.
* There are 3 major scales and 3 minor scales;
generally Major 2 and Minor 2 will work for more
songs. See the Scales Diagram at the end of this
manual for details.
Touch Home to exit and try different presets, all
of which are set to the same key by the Setup
parameters changed in step 3.
fModifying presets
The effect block buttons, the arrow buttons and
tabbed menus allow you to make changes to the
current preset quickly.
To modify a preset by enabling and disabling
effect blocks:
1. Touch any one or a group of effect blocks to
reverse their on or off state. The buttons’ LEDs
will show their status.
To edit effect block parameters including
preset mix:
1. There are two ways to enter the effects editing menu -
fChanging the global mix
There are 4 global mix levels adjustable with the
front panel Mix knobs. When you adjust these
controls at the Home level, the mix screen will
show values for the controls as well as Mic/Line
input, Guitar input and main output levels.
• Voices - Combined level of the Harmony and
Doubling voices.
• Delay/Reverb - Combined level of the Delay
and Reverb effects.
• Guitar - If a guitar is connected to the Guitar
input and no Guitar Thru connection is made,
this control varies the level of the guitar in the
main output mix.
• Output - Adjusts the overall output level to
the main outputs and the Headphone output.
fAdjusting the Guitar features
The Guitar input has its own Reverb and µMod
processors, 3 band EQ and compressor. As long
as the Guitar Thru has no jack inser ted, the guitar
will be routed to the main output mix with these
effects added.
a. Hold any effect block button for 1 second. This
will present its editing menu. The on/off status
of the effect will not change however.
b. Touch the Edit button and use the Tab/Step
arrow buttons to locate the tab of effect you
want to edit.
2. Adjust parameter values on the highlighted
row with the Mix knobs.
3. Select another row with the wheel or the
Navigate up/down arrows.
4. To nish, either touch Store twice to save your
changes or touch the Home button to allow
further preset navigation without saving.
To adjust the Guitar effects:
1. Touch the Setup button.
2. Use the Tab/Step arrow buttons to navigate to
the GUITAR tab.
3. Select and adjust parameters within the GUI-
TAR tab using the Navigate arrows and the
Mix knobs.
All changes are recalled automatically the next
time the unit is powered.
12
Basic Operation
fPhantom, Mono, MIDI etc. - the
Setup menu
Global parameters are adjusted in the Setup
menu. Changes made in this menu are automatically stored as they are made. Note that some
settings of parameters such as DIGITAL IN and
LEAD MUTE can result in unexpected sound (or
lack thereof) from the unit.
To adjust global setup parameters:
1. Touch the Setup button to enter the Setup
menu.
2. Use the Tab/Step and Navigate arrow buttons
to locate parameters then make changes with
the Mix knobs.
3. Touch Home to exit.
fAdjusting the Tone settings
The goal of the single Tone button, with its adapting Shape EQ, compression, de-essing and gate is
that adjustment is done automatically. If, however,
you want to make manual adjustments, they are
easy to perform.
To change the Tone settings:
1. Hold the Tone button to reveal its menu in the
display.
2. In the rst TONE tab, sing while you make
general adjustments such as adjusting brightness and bass rolloff via the SHAPE control or
increasing or reducing compression amount
with the COMPRESS control.
3. Use the Tab/Step arrows to tab over to the
individual effects and disable the ADAPTIVE
parameter if desired. This will reveal additional
manual adjustment settings.
fPreset chaining with the Step feature
Each preset can consist of up to 10 steps that
you can step through using the Tab/Step arrow
buttons or a footswitch. Steps can be edits of the
starting preset or other presets copied into the
slots.
To add a step to a preset:
1. Locate the desired starting preset and hold
the right Step arrow button.
2. Follow the onscreen prompts to insert and
delete steps in your chain.
Note that inserted steps are automatically stored.
See “Restoring...” below to return the preset to its
original state.
fPerforming a global reset
This can be performed to initialize all presets and
system parameters back to their factory defaults.
To perform a global reset:
1. Power up the unit.
2. When the rst text is displayed in the LCD
window, hold the 4 buttons listed below and
continue to hold until the reset prompt is
displayed:
• µMod
• Delay
• Reverb
• Tone
This procedure can take up to 2 minutes.
13
Basic Operation
fRestoring individual presets to
factory settings
To reset a preset to its original settings:
1. Locate the Manage Preset tab in the Store
menu.
2. Use Erase User Preset to select the preset to
restore and set Conrm to Yes.
3. Touch the Store button.
fMic-Control and Footswitch
assignments
External control of parameters via the MP-75
microphone and Switch 3 footswitch can be assigned uniquely per preset or globally.
To set Mic-control and Footswitch
assignments:
1. Locate the Mic-Control and/or Switch3 tabs in
either the Setup menu (for global assignment)
or in the Edit menu (unique per preset).
2. Make the changes required.
3. If you have made a preset assignment it will
need to be stored with the preset. Global assignment does not require storing.
14
The Tone Button
Tone Overview
The Tone button activates what we call the “Live
Engineer Effects”. These are different from stan-
dard 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 Rack including Harmony, Doubling, Reverb etc.
The suite of effects that make up Tone are:
• Adaptive Shape EQ
• Adaptive Compression
• De-Ess
• Adaptive Gate
The TONE Tab
knobs below the LCD and listening to the results.
You can also cycle the Tone button on and off
while editing to hear the difference between your
effected and non-effected voice.
Note that there is a slight lag between adjusting
the Adaptive effects and hearing the effect as the
algorithm re-assesses your voice input.
fThe 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. Manual adjustment is possible by using
the Navigate buttons to go to the edit tab associated with it and changing the controls on that tab.
fSHAPE
Press and hold the Tone button to enter this
screen and make adjustments or view settings.
This will present the TONE tab allowing convenient control of these four processors in one
screen. At any time you can exit the tab menus by
pressing the Home button.
The factory settings for the Tone button are:
• SHAPE
ADAPTIVE=X(On), SHAPE=50%
• COMPRESS
ADAPTIVE=X(On), COMPRESS=50%
• DE-ESS
DE-ESS=50%
• GATE
ADAPTIVE
These settings are intended to apply to a broad
range of singers’ tastes and PA equipment. Making adjustments consists of turning the Mix/Edit
“Shape” is the name given to the automatically
adjusting EQ that is activated by the ADAPTIVE
check box. When the Adaptive feature is activated, Shape processing offers an EQ curve that
adds an airy brightness, or “sizzle” to your voice
while reducing “mud” due to the proximity effect
from singing closely into a cardioid microphone.
Adjusting the control from 0% to 50% reduces
mud while increasing brightness to a useful range
for your voice. Turning from 50% up to 100%
adds more brightness.
Reducing Mud:
For singers who have a voice with less bass
frequencies, the “mud” reduction may be less
and perhaps not noticeable at all. This is a good
thing - your voice is nicely balanced regarding
bass frequencies. For the average male singer or
women who sing closely on their mic, the re-
duction in bass will be noticeable and benecial.
When voices have too much bass, they tend to
become lost in the other instruments that occupy
15
The Tone Button
those frequencies resulting in sonic clutter. Reduc-
ing bass has the natural effect of emphasizing mid
and upper frequencies which allow the voice to
cut through dense instrumentation.
Lastly, the term “proximity effect” and “cardioid”
need to be claried as they can cause bass build
up. The typical microphone used by singers has
a pickup pattern called “cardioid” or heart-like,
because it picks up less sound at the rear than
at the front. This intends to reduce other 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 Rack
listens continually to your voice through your mic
and adjusts to make your voice sound like it is
professionally produced and balanced.
Adding Highs
The other facet of the Shape feature is that it
adds high frequencies, also known as “air” or
“presence” without making your voice sound
“tinny”. The vocal sounds we hear on CDs and
the radio are not typically what you hear when
you listen to a singer acoustically. Commercial
vocal sounds are more of a hyper-reality designed
to atter the voice or voices and make them cut
through a group of instruments and thus make
a larger impression on the listener. The Shape
feature, used at moderate settings, emulates this
sound through the average microphone and PA
system.
When making Shape adjustments, it’s important
to sing while listening to the PA system your audience will hear rather than only judging by your
monitor sound.
fCOMPRESS
With the ADAPTIVE control activated, the
COMPRESS control reduces the amount of range
between louder and softer singing to produce
more even-sounding vocals. It does so by listening
to your singing over time (less than 30 seconds)
and adjusting accordingly.
Typical compressors require multiple controls,
knowledge and experience, and time spent test-
ing and rening over a performance. With TC-
Helicon’s Adaptive Compress feature, these are
not required.
The factory setting of 50% strikes a good balance
between moderating dynamics in your singing
without incurring feedback, a side effect of compression used in a live mic setting. If you have a
high quality monitoring/PA setup with a at frequency response and you want more compression, by all means add more with the COMPRESS
control. Be aware though, that average quality
systems have frequency peaks that may cause
feedback with lots of compression combined with
Adaptive Shape EQ.
• 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.
fDE-ESS
There is a side effect that comes from adding
high frequencies and compression to your voice,
and that’s excessive sibilance. Sibilance can be de-
scribed as the brief whistle that accompanies “S”,
“T” and “D” syllables in your vocal performance.
Again, when singing acoustically, there is no issue
with these sounds. It’s when you amplify and
combine with boosted highs and compression
that they can become piercing.
VoiceLive Rack’s DE-ESS control monitors the
level of sibilance and, when it is detected, will
quickly and transparently reduce it. Typically, it’s
16
The Tone Button
only briey required and it then gets out of the
way allowing the silky brightness to remain on the
voiced portion of your singing.
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.
fGATE
When set to the factory default of ADAPTIVE,
the GATE control on the Tone Edit screen helps
in two very important ways by:
1. Minimizing feedback
2. Reducing the amount of audible effects processing on sounds entering the mic other than
your voice.
A typical, xed gate works by shutting off, or
reducing the level of any signal below a threshold that you set. When you sing louder than that
threshold, the gate will open and your vocal will
come through the PA. When you aren’t singing,
the gate will close and block sounds around you.
The Adaptive Gate in VoiceLive Rack works automatically with your singing style to provide the
optimum balance between how loud you have to
sing to open the gate and how much other noises
are reduced.
For troublesome audio environments, or for
those who are familiar with setting manual gate
parameters, there is also a MANUAL setting on
this page.
17
The Tone Button
EQ Tab Overview
The EQ tab is where you control the tone shaping of your voice. It is where you can turn the
ADAPTIVE feature on and off for the SHAPE EQ.
EQ Tab With ADAPTIVE On
When the ADAPTIVE control is set to ON (the
factory 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. When set to OFF, this
presents the manual parametric EQ controls, and
removes the check in the ADAPTIVE box on the
TONE tab.
EQ Tab With ADAPTIVE Off
Turning ADAPTIVE off presents manual parametric EQ controls for users who understand this
type of equalization. There are 3 bands of control:
• Low band shelving
• All band fully parametric peak/dip control
• High band shelving
The two “Shelving” EQs boost or cut all frequen-
cies below or above 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 “Parametric” EQ boosts or cuts the frequencies within a selected band that is dened by
a center frequency (PARA FREQ) and a width
control (PARA 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.
The three GAIN controls allow +/- 12 dB of
adjustment. The 3 FREQ controls range from 20
Hz to 20 kHz.
fSHAPE
This is a duplicate of the SHAPE control found on
the TONE tab discussed previously.
fWARMTH
This control returns a narrow band of low frequencies for singers who prefer this sound. The
majority of the “mud“ frequencies are still re-
duced automatically when using this control.
fLOW GAIN
Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies below
the frequency set by the LOW FREQ control.
fLOW FREQ
Allows you to dene the frequency range for
the low shelf by choosing the highest frequency
below which boosting or cutting is possible.
fHIGH GAIN
Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies above the
frequency set by the LOW FREQ control.
18
The Tone Button
fHIGH FREQ
Denes the frequency range for the high shelf
with the selection of the lowest frequency above
which boosting or cutting is possible.
fPARA GAIN
Boosts or cuts the band of frequencies centered
at the setting of the PARA FREQ control and its
associated WIDTH.
fPARA FREQ
Denes the center of the parametric band.
fPARA WIDTH
Denes how narrow or wide the parametric
band is to be. The ends of the control range are
labelled “NARROW” and “WIDE” to add mean-
ing to the numbers in the middle of the control
range.
19
The Tone Button
COMPRESS Tab Overview
This tab offers further control of the compression
effect. The controls on this tab change depending on the status of the ADAPTIVE setting in the
same way as the EQ tab.
COMPRESS Tab With ADAPTIVE
ON
The ADAPTIVE Compression algorithm performs
automatic processing which reduces the number
of adjustable parameters. As such, once ADAP-
TIVE is enabled, the only control is COMPRESS.
fCOMPRESS
This allows you to vary the amount of peak
reduction by the ADAPTIVE compression algorithm. The factory value is 50% but you can
increase or decrease as you require.
COMPRESS Tab With ADAPTIVE
OFF
Turning off ADAPTIVE compression switches
compression to manual control. Be sure to
reduce the level of your PA or switch to headphones when adjusting the manual compressor
because high settings can cause more gain and
thus feedback.
input level on the IN meter on the Home screen.
A good setting for experimentation is -10 dB.
fRATIO
This sets how much gain reduction you prefer
when your voice level goes above the threshold.
The range is from 1:1 (no gain reduction) to 4:1
(maximum vocal gain reduction ). The default setting for RATIO is 4:1.
The number on the left side of the : (colon)
symbol is how loud the peaks in your singing have
to be in order to achieve a 1 dB gain increase. A
brief example of how adjusting the ratio of compressor works is this: say a word you sang went 4
dB over the threshold when the Ratio was set to
4:1. The compressor would only allow it to go 1
dB louder.
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.
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.
fTHRESHOLD
This sets the singing level at and above which the
amount of gain reduction (compression) specied
by the RATIO control will occur. The range is 0
dB to -30 dB: 0 dB being the loudest input signal
VoiceLive Rack can accept without distortion and
-30 dB being a very quiet signal. If you sing con-
sistently more quietly than the THRESHOLD, you
will not hear any compression. You can see your
20
The Tone Button
GATE Tab Overview
The Gate feature can assist in:
1. Minimizing feedback.
2. Reducing the amount of audible effects processing on sounds entering the mic other than
your voice.
fGATE
This sets the Gate type. The factory default is
ADAPTIVE, which performs automatic level as-
sessment for the average musical setting. You can
also turn the gate to OFF with good results if you
are in a quiet, low volume musical environment.
This can be set to MANUAL if you have more
challenging requirements. When the GATE is set
to MANUAL, an additional parameter, THRESHOLD, is displayed.
you aren’t singing . The factory default attenua-
tion 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.
fTHRESHOLD (MANUAL Gate
Only)
This parameter becomes visible when the GATE
has been switched to MANUAL. The THRESHOLD denes the minimum singing level you need
to reach in order for the Gate to open and let
your voice sound. The factory default setting of
-40 dB is very sensitive to allow a wide range of
singing levels but it may also allow more nearby
instrumental sounds through when you are not
singing. In this case, further adjustment from -39
dB and upward may be needed.
fLEAD ATTEN
This controls how much your lead voice level is
reduced (attenuated) when your voice falls below
the Gate threshold and the Gate closes. This setting applies whether the GATE is set to ADAPTIVE or MANUAL. The factory default setting of
-3 dB (a reduction of 3 dB) is gentle enough that
if your voice strays below the threshold, it is not
cut off completely. If you are in a feedback-prone
environment (loud monitors plus Shape and
Compress on) you can increase this to reduce
more. A setting of 0 dB offers no gain reduction
on your lead voice at all. Settings of -30 to OFF
effectively mute your voice when the Gate is on.
fHARM ATTEN
This sets the amount of attenuation for the
Harmony and Doubling voices when the Gate
closes. They have a separate attenuation setting
to reduce chatter caused by instrument sounds
entering the mic and being harmonized when
21
The Pitch Button
Pitch Button Overview
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.
This type of vocal pitch correction is quite subtle
at its factory setting of 50% but even the most
highly skilled and on-pitch singers will hear a slight
chorusing from the PA or monitors with it engaged.
Press and hold the Pitch button to access the
PITCH tab and adjust the single parameter for
this feature. Once you see this tab, the Pitch button can be cycled on and off to allow you to hear
the difference. Press the Home button to exit the
Pitch edit tab.
fAUTO-CHROMATIC AMOUNT
The factory default value of 50% is active when
you enter the PITCH edit tab. Turning the control
towards 0% reduces the correction effect and
turning towards 100% increases it. Above 50%
the effect becomes more noticeable when you
slide from note to note. This is the effect of faster
transition speed between your input note and
the closest scale tone as well as the fact that the
algorithm is trying to pull you closer to the target.
For those singers who want to use or experiment
with scale-based pitch correction and perhaps
even the jagged, modern HardTune effects, there
are presets set up specically for this that can be
found by pressing the Wizard button and choosing CORRECT or HARDTUNE as the Tag.
22
The Tap Button
Tap Button Overview
This button provides convenient access to tempo
setting for the Delay and Rhythmic effects. You
can tap it at any time to synchronize these effect
blocks to the beats of a song.
The display will temporarily show the BPM (Beats
Per Minute) derived from your most recent two
taps.
To enter an exact BPM, you can use the up or
down Navigate buttons while the TEMPO display
is shown on the display for ne tuning.
The Delay or Rhythmic effect buttons must be
active for Tap tempo to have an audible effect.
Upon loading a new preset, the LED in the Tap
button will ash indicating the Delay SOURCE in
the preset is set to TAP. If the Tap LED does not
ash upon loading a preset, the Delay SOURCE
is set to TIME or MIDI. Regardless of the initial
setting, tapping the Tap button will temporarily
modify the current preset so that its SOURCE
becomes TAP.
To prevent the tempo from changing as you load
different presets, set GLOBAL TAP TEMPO in the
SYSTEM tab of the Setup menu to ON.
23
The Bypass Button
Bypass Button Overview
Pressing the Bypass button will mute all active effects blocks from the vocal audio path except Tone
if it’s active. This is done so that your basic tone
remains the same as you address the audience
during Bypass. To remove Tone from Bypass, press
the Tone button.
The Bypass button will ash and the display will
show BYPASS as long as the unit is bypassed.
Bypass has no effect on the Guitar or Aux inputs.
24
Detailed Operation
Overview
Much of the operation of VoiceLive Rack is
covered in the Quick Start and Basic Operation
chapters. This Detailed Operation chapter offers
additional procedural detail where it’s needed.
For button menus and parameter descriptions
see the Setup, Edit etc. menu chapters.
Harmony and Hardtune Guided
by a Guitar
TC-Helicon’s NaturalPlay algorithm can listen to
chords played on an electric guitar or electried
acoustic guitar to guide the Harmony and the
Hardtune effects. Both need to stay “in key” or
musically relevant to accompanying instruments.
fAcoustic guitar
If you haven’t by now, connect a cable from your
pickup-equipped acoustic guitar to the GUITAR
IN as described in the Quick Start. You should
now hear your guitar sound mixed with your
voice.
To adjust the balance of guitar and voice, ensure
the HOME button is lit then turn the third Mix/
Edit knob. This will present the MIX screen so you
can adjust the level of your guitar.
Now, sing while you sample the harmony- and
Hardtune-based presets with effects closely
related to your guitar playing. You should now
hear nicely produced lead vocal, harmony and/or
Hardtuned vocals and guitar from your PA system
or headphones.
fElectric guitar
Connect a cable from your electric guitar to the
GUITAR IN. Connect another cable from the
GUITAR THRU to your rst guitar effects pedal
or to your amp. Set your guitar amp volume to a
level compatible with your vocals.
By connecting a jack to the GUITAR THRU, the
guitar signal is removed from the internal mixer
and effects paths in VoiceLive Rack.
If you hear a buzz from either your guitar amplier or the PA VoiceLive Rack is connected to, press
the GND LIFT (ground lift) button to silence it.
Now you can sample the harmony- and Hardtune-based presets with the effects musically
related to your guitar playing.
fGuitar performance tips
To ensure that the harmony voices follow your
guitar closely, it’s best to play cleanly with chords
containing at least two notes. If you want to
sing right at the start of a song, it’s important to
briey play a chord rst. A recognized chord will
show “NP” in the LCD display.
Your guitar should be well-tuned. TC Electronic’s
PolyTune is perfect for this.
If the song section you want vocal harmony or
Hardtune effects on has fast chord changes, single
note runs or very slow arpeggios, it may be bet-
ter to use presets based on a xed Key. To nd
out more about this see Harmony and Hardtune
guided by a xed key.
Harmony and Hardtune Guided
The recommended pickup is the typical undersaddle type because potential mistracking can result from resonances generated by soundboardmounted pickups.
by a MIDI Keyboard
Using MIDI opens up a range of harmony options.
This section will discuss the basics of setting MIDI
channel and performing with a MIDI keyboard/
synth to control Harmony and Hardtune.
25
Detailed Operation
fMIDI hookup and channel selection
If you haven’t already, connect a MIDI cable
between your keyboard’s MIDI out and VoiceLive
Rack’s MIDI IN. Play a note on your keyboard and
check VoiceLive Rack’s display to see if the MIDI
indicator lights. If it doesn’t, set the MIDI transmit
channel of your keyboard to 1 (VoiceLive Rack’s
default). If you want VoiceLive Rack to receive on
another MIDI channel, locate the MIDI tab in the
Setup menu and set CHANNEL to the same as
your keyboard transmits on. Check the display as
you play your keyboard to conrm reception.
fMIDI IN and USB
To use the MIDI IN jack while you have a USB
cable connected, locate the SYSTEM tab in the
Setup menu and turn the USB CONTROL setting to OFF. This will enable the MIDI IN jack.
Alternatively, you may also remove the USB cable
to access MIDI IN.
When you want to restore computer control of
VoiceLive Rack over USB, or you want to access
the VoiceSupport application’s features, you can
turn the USB CONTROL parameter back to On.
you play. The harmony notes will adapt to the
octave of your playing where the Hardtune effect
ignores it.
The maximum number of harmony notes that
will sound can be 4 or 8 depending on which
preset you load. This in turn is due to whether
Harmony Doubling is activated in the HARMO-
NY tab of the EDIT menu.
fMIDI performance tips
In chords without a clear third, VoiceLive Rack will
assume a major chord, so when you play in a minor key, and as a general rule, you should always
include a third when changing chords.
If you want to sing right at the beginning of your
song, it’s important to play a chord just before
you sing
If you sing while playing a chord and then press
the sustain pedal, you’re able to add a keyboard
embellishment that doesn’t affect the harmony.
Your mod wheel can be used to add or remove
vibrato in harmony presets.
fMIDI-controlled Harmony and
Hardtune
Now that you’ve followed the preceding section,
you can sample the many presets that feature the
Harmony and Hardtune effects. Load a preset
with one or both of these effect buttons lit. Now
you can play a song on your keyboard while
singing and hear how the effects adjust musically
as you play the different chords in your song. As
each chord is recognized, the LCD display will
briey show “NP” meaning NaturalPlay.
The factory presets that have the word “Notes”
in their names (presets #217-238) operate differently for both Harmony and Hardtune. These
presets allow you to determine the pitch of the
Harmony or Hardtune effects to the exact notes
Alternate Harmony and
Hardtune Methods
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 Rack’s Harmony and Hardtune effects with these methods:
• Using xed Key and Scale
• Singing to music-only playback
• “Borrowing” from another player’s instrument
fUsing a fixed key (aka “Scale”)
This is the main method for creating harmony
used successfully in the original VoiceLive proces-
sor. It is also the main method for other Hard-
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