TC-Helicon VoicePrismPlus User Manual

USER’S MANUAL SUPPLEMENT
VOICEPRISM PLUS
VOCAL FORMANT PITCH PROCESSOR
FEATURING
VOICECRAFT
HUMAN VOICE
CARD
THE LIGHTNING FLASH WITH ARROWHEAD SYMBOL, WITH-
IN AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE, IS INTENDED TO ALERT THE USER TO THE PRESENCE OF UNINSULATED ‘DAN­GEROUS VOLTAGE’ WITHIN THE PRODUCT’S ENCLO­SURE THAT MAY BE OF SUFFICIENT MAGNITUDE TO CONSTITUTE A RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK TO PERSONS.
THE EXCLAMATION POINT WITHIN AN EQUILATERAL TRI-
ANGLE IS INTENDED TO ALERT THE USER TO THE PRESENCE OF IMPORTANT OPERATING AND MAINTE­NANCE (SERVICING) INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LITERATURE ACCOMPANYING THE PRODUCT.
INSTRUCTIONS PERTAINING TO A RISK OF FIRE,
ELECTRIC SHOCK, OR INJURY TO PERSON
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:
READ AND SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING - WHEN USING ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS,
BASIC PRECAUTIONS SHOULD ALWAYS BE TAKEN,
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING
:
1. READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT.
2. DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT NEAR WATER - FOR EXAMPLE NEAR A BATHTUB, WASHBOWL, KITCHEN SINK, IN A WET BASEMENT, OR NEAR A SWIMMING POOL.
3. THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE USED ONLY WITH A CART OR STAND THAT IS RECOMMENDED BY THE MANUFACTURER.
4. THIS PRODUCT, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINA­TION WITH AN AMPLIFIER AND HEADPHONES OR SPEAKERS, MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUC­ING SOUND LEVELS THAT COULD CAUSE PER­MANENT HEARING LOSS. DO NOT OPERATE FOR LONG PERIOD OF TIME AT HIGH VOLUME OR AT AN UNCOMFORTABLE LEVEL. IF YOU EXPERI­ENCE ANY HEARING LOSS OR RINGING IN THE EARS, CONSULT AN AUDIOLOGIST.
5. THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE LOCATED WITH SUF­FICIENT AIR SPACE FOR PROPER VENTILATION.
6. THE PRODUCT SHOULD BE LOCATED AWAY FROM HEAT SOURCES SUCH AS RADIATORS, HEAT REGISTERS, OR OTHER HEAT PRODUCING PRODUCTS.
7. CLEAN ONLY WITH A DAMP CLOTH. BEFORE CLEANING THE UNIT, TURN OFF THE POWER AND UNPLUG THE POWER CORD FROM THE OUTLET.
8. THE POWER SUPPLY CORD OF THE PRODUCT SHOULD BE UNPLUGGED FROM THE WALL OUT­LET DURING LIGHTNING STORMS OR WHEN LEFT UNUSED FOR A LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
9. DO NOT DEFEAT THE SAFETY PURPOSE OF THE GROUNDING-TYPE PLUG. A GROUNDING TYPE PLUG HAS TWO BLADES AND A THIRD GROUND­ING PRONG. THE THIRD PRONG IS PROVIDED FOR YOUR SAFETY. IF THE PROVIDED PLUG DOES NOT FIT INTO YOUR OUTLET, CONSULT AN ELECTRICIAN FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE OBSOLETE OUTLET.
10. PROTECT THE POWER CORD FROM BEING WALKED ON OR PINCHED PARTICULARLY AT PLUGS, CONVENIENCE RECEPTACLES, AND THE POINT WHERE THEY EXIT FROM THE APPLI­ANCE.
11. USE ONLY WITH ATTACHMENTS/ACCESSORIES SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER.
12. THE PRODUCT SHOULD BE SERVICED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL WHEN:
A. THE POWER SUPPLY CORD OR THE PLUG HAS
BEEN DAMAGED; OR
B. OBJECTS HAVE FALLEN, OR LIQUIDS HAS BEEN
SPILLED INTO THE PRODUCT; OR
C. THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO RAIN;
OR
D. THE PRODUCT DOES NOT APPEAR TO OPERATE
NORMALLY OR EXHIBITS A MARKED CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE; OR E. THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN DROPPED, OR THE ENCLOSURE DAMAGED.
13. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SERVICE THE PRODUCT BEYOND WHAT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE USER MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS. ALL OTHER SERVICING SHOULD BE REFERRED TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
IVL PART # SUP0129 R1.1
FOR PRODUCT SAFETY AND CONFORMITY, REFER TO VOICEPRISM PLUS USER MANUAL, APPENDIX F.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing the VoicePrism Plus! This remark­able tool contains these exciting features:
· TC-Helicon Voice Modeling dedicated to the Lead voice, with parameters such as Vibrato, Scooping, Warp, Spectral Effects, Breath, Rasp and Growl.
· World Class Digital Effects and Signal Processing from TC-Electronic of Denmark.
· Two Dynamics Banks, Four EQ Banks assignable to either the Lead or Harmony voices.
· S/PDIF and AES/EBU Stereo Digital Inputs and Outputs.
· 24 Bit Internal Processing.
If you already own a TC-Helicon VoicePrism, the VoiceCraft upgrade expansion card containing all of the above special features is also available. You can easily upgrade to the VoicePrism Plus in a matter of minutes.
Only updated VoiceCraft features are included in this supplementary manual: you may need to refer back to your original VoicePrism User Manual for func­tions that have been retained from the VoicePrism.
Text conventions:
Bold, all capitals:
front panel BUTTON AND KNOB control names.
Underlines, all capitals:
MENUS (accessed by the front panel buttons).
Italic, all capitals:
CONFIGURABLE PARAMETERS (assigned to the
softknobs).
Underline, small capitals:
P
ARAMETER SETTINGS
(twist the softknobs
to modify).
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Introduction
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 USER INTERFACE 5
WHAT'S NEW 5
FRONT PANEL 5 REAR PANEL 6
PRESET SCREEN 7 VOCALS BUTTON 9
LEAD 9 VOICE MODELING EFFECT CATEGORIES 10
VM SPECTRAL 11 VM WARP 12 VM GLOTTAL 13 VM INFLECT 15 VM PITCH 16
EFFECTS BUTTON 17 COMPRESSOR/EQ BUTTON 18
ASSIGN 18 EQ1/EQ2, COMPRESSOR, NOISE GATE 18
MIX BUTTON 19 STEP BUTTON 19 BROWSER BUTTONS 19 UTILITY BUTTON 20
MIDI CONFIGURATION 20 DIGITAL I/O 20 ROUTING 21 VERSION 22
APPENDIX A: MIDI 23 APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY 30 APPENDIX C: INDEX 32 APPENDIX D: ABOUT DIGITAL I/O 34
ABOUT S/PDIF 34 ABOUT AES/EBU 34 ABOUT DITHERING 34
APPENDIX E: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 36 APPENDIX F: PRODUCT SAFETY AND CONFORMITY 38
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Table of Contents VoicePrism Plus User Manual
USER INTERFACE
WHAT'S NEW
FRONT PANEL
Whether you are upgrading your original VoicePrism with the new VoiceCraft card, or you have purchased a VoicePrism Plus, the front panel controls are the same. All improvements and new features are neatly contained within the internal software, so you can avoid the hassle of learning new con­trols. The LED’s of
44.1K and 48K illuminate to indicate
Digital Signal status as follows:
Solid
41.1
K
OR 48K - means locked with either
internal or external frequency
Blinking
44.1K XOR 48K - means not locked but using
internal frequency
Blinking
44.1
K
AND 48K - means not locked but using
external frequency (which is unknown if we have no lock).
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User Interface
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
REAR PANEL
Behind the four-screw plate lies the new VoiceCraft Human Voice Modeling Card, which provides the VoicePrism Plus two additional connections for Digital I/O, S/PDIF and AES/EBU. Digital signal configuration and routing are modi­fied by pressing the
UTILITY button on the front panel. You
can scroll to either the
DIGITAL I/O page or the ROUTING page to
edit these parameters, using the
MENU TAB buttons.
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User Interface VoicePrism Plus User Manual
DODI
AES/EBU
VOICECRAFT EXPANSION CARD
S/PDIF
PRESET SCREEN
You will notice a slight change in the preset screen from the original VoicePrism. On the original VoicePrism, if you incor­porated the Thickening effect on the lead voice, a block marked
TH would appear in the signal path diagram after the
lead voice block. With VoicePrism Plus, when you incorpo­rate Voice Modeling (VM) in your preset, this block appears as
VM, as Voice Modeling is used to create a Thickening
effect. For details on VM, refer to the
VOCALS button section.
The original VoicePrism manual illustrated how you can assign the softknobs in the
PRESET screen to control different
parameters -- you can now access new libraries using these same controls. The new parameters that can be assigned to the softknobs are:
VM LIB: Selecting a VM LIB will automatically set the style and
amount of each of the VM effects to a predetermined setting (designed by TC-Helicon), creating pleasing results that you can quickly recall and implement in any of your presets. The Thickening effect, a parameter in the original VoicePrism, can be replicated using the controls on the
LEAD menu page
under the
VOCALS button on the VoicePrism Plus. In the
LEAD menu you can set the Detune amount of the Voice
Modeled (VM) voice and set the ratio between the dry and VM voice with the
DRY
:VM MIX
softknob. Pitch differences between the two voices, along with the Pan settings, enables the creation of a more configurable Thickening effect.
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Preset Screen
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
LEQ1 LIB, LEQ2 LIB, HEQ1 LIB, HEQ2 LIB, LCMP/NG, HCMP/NG: In
each of these acronyms,
L stands for Lead, H stands for
Harmony,
EQ stands for Equalizer, CMP stands for
Compressor,
NG stands for Noise Gate, and LIB stands for
Library. There are now separate Lead and Harmony library settings, in addition to two banks of EQ for the Lead voice, and two banks for the Harmony voices. These libraries recall standard settings for quick preset construction. With an increased number of effects and dynamics parameters, we have created a greater number of library categories, enabling you to fine-tune your presets without delving into subter­ranean edit parameters.
For further details, refer to the
COMP/EQ and EFFECTS sec-
tions of the VoicePrism and VoicePrism Plus User Manuals.
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Preset Screen VoicePrism Plus User Manual
VOCALS BUTTON
This accesses the new VoicePrism Plus Voice Modeling (VM) features, enabling you to manipulate the Lead voice using our Voice Modeling effects. You access the following menus by pressing the
VOCALS button and paging left and right with
the
MENU TAB buttons, just like on the original VoicePrism.
LEAD
The LEAD menu provides the tools necessary to produce a Thickening effect by designating different characteristics for the Dry Lead and VM Lead voice and controlling the Lead voice mix. The control parameters are as follows:
DRY:VM MIX (0-100% MODELED): sets the balance
between the Dry Lead voice, and the VM Lead voice.
100% is undiluted VM voice, and
0% is Dry voice.
DRY PAN (100% LEFT - 100% RIGHT): sets the posi-
tion in the stereo field of the Dry voice.
VM PAN (100% LEFT
- 100% RIGHT)
: sets the position in the stereo
field of the VM voice.
VM DETUNE (0- +/- 50 CENTS): detunes or offsets the pitch of the
VM voice from the Dry voice to create an fuller overall Lead voice.
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Vocals Button
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
VOICE MODELING EFFECT CATEGORIES
There are two basic parameters in each of the Voice Modeling (VM) menus:
AMOUNT and STYLE.
The
AMOUNT softknob controls whether the VM effect is subtle
or intense. When initially dialing in a sound we recommend an
AMOUNT setting of 50%.
STYLES are created for each voice modeling effect to provide
a diverse range of vocal possibilities to incorporate into your presets -- feel free to scroll and explore.
The last few styles in each effect are often special effects, novelty sounds or something else out of the ordinary. Any combinations of these styles may be stored in a preset, along with the other effects available in the VoicePrism Plus, as described in the original VoicePrism User Manual.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual
VM SPECTRAL
The Spectral control is a set of equalizer response curves intended to complement the
VM
WARP selections. This equal-
ization is different than those controlled via
COMP/EQ and
applied to the output signal. The
VM SPECTRAL styles reflect
the natural equalization equivalent to the native control a
singer has over his or her own voice, and apply this equalization to the Voice Modeling (VM) voice. These styles may be used in con­junction with the resonances, or purely as additional tonal control over the VM voice.
* Special Note: Each VM effect menu has an
AMOUNT control
to 'dial in' the amount of effect desired. Remember that there is also a
DRY:VM MIX control in the LEAD menu that determines
how much of the input vocal is left Dry and how much is passed through VM. The setting of this ratio can determine the effectiveness of your other parameter settings, as it is essentially a master mix control for the Dry and VM Lead voice.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
VM WARP
Warping is how we model different vocal tract dimensions, and apply them to incoming vocals. Your favorite vocalists all have unique pitch and glottal characteristics. Warp changes the tonal makeup of the sound by moving vocal formants, so that the Voice Modeled (VM) Lead voice sounds quite differ­ent than the original. Formants are the harmonic combina­tions that help make our voices unique.
The styles have been given names that are easily identified when assembling presets. The names may be associated with a particu­lar genre of music or sound. This way, you can associate a certain modification with a name, similar to how we describe colors in a picture with names.
Some of the Warp styles contain a built-in octave shift, either up or down. This is to accommodate a male singing in the female register, with a feminine timbre, or for a female to simulate a male singing voice. These Warp styles enable you to sing in a natural range and still hit the notes of your oppo­site gender comfortably; they are
STYLE settings F2M (Female-
to-Male) and
M2F (Male-to-Female).
The
AMOUNT knob allows you to dial in the relative strength of
this effect on your VM voice;
0% for no effect,
100% for pure
Warping.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual
VM GLOTTAL
Glottal refers to the combination of complex sounds the human voice can make to change non-pitched aspects of the vocal sound. Consider these examples: the cool breathy sound of a Jazz or Folk singer, the legendary warm grumble of Blues from the Mississippi Delta, the brazen sizzle of Rock and Alternative Rock or the growl of 60's Soul.
The Glottal
STYLE settings contain three types
of effects:
BREATHINESS, RASP, and GROWL,
arranged in various combinations in the style library. All of these are set to create percus­sive and expressive textures in addition to
the sung note. Experimentation is the key to finding styles that work in your scenario, or are difficult to create in your scenario. The last few entries contain extreme and unreal Glottal styles -- no longer need you burn out your throat night after night. Glottal styles are created using the following parameters:
BREATHINESS factors in 'virtual air' that gives the effect of being
close to a sensitive condenser microphone. This intimate sound may be used in some Jazz styles or for pop ballads, although its application is not limited to these.
BREATHINESS
may also be used to give a 'tired' or 'strained' sound, where the singer may be pushing a lot of air. You can also dial in 'whisper' or like textures to simulate a specific singer’s style.
RASP is an effect where the breath pushed through the throat
cavity goes beyond mere breathiness, into a harsh sizzle or grind. These sounds are a combination of hard breath and friction in the larynx, which are difficult for many singers to reproduce and are very damaging on the vocal cords. You can use
RASP on your normal voice and achieve a grittier,
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories
VoicePrism Plus User Manual
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