VoiceOne Voice Pitch and Modeling Tool USER’S MANUAL
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS The lightning flash with an arrowhead symbol within 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.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 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 residential 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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Table of Contents Text Conventions Quick Start Guide Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIDI / UTILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .3 .4 .9 BASIC OPERATION Front Panel Rear Panel Setups . . . Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 .
QUICK START BEFORE YOU BEGIN Thank you for purchasing the TC-Helicon VoiceOne Vocal Pitch and Modeling Tool.We know you want to get started right away. By reading this Quick Start guide you will be up and running in a matter of minutes. Please use this to get into the main functions of VoiceOne, but do refer to the main manual for more detailed features and descriptions. The TC-Helicon Team www.tc-helicon.com BEFORE YOU BEGIN 1) Check the contents of your VoiceOne carton.
QUICK START SETUP - AUDIO AND MIDI SETTING UP VOICEONE Note: Do not turn the unit on until you make all of your setup connections. 1) Connect the power cable to the back of VoiceOne and plug it in to the power receptacle. 2) Connect your audio source - a) Connect the output from your mixer, preamp or other balanced equipment to VoiceOne, using XLR analog cable to Channel 1, or b) an S/PDIF digital cable to the DI jack. See the I/O SETUP section for Digital I/O information.
QUICK START FRONT PANEL CONTROLS FRONT PANEL NAVIGATION PITCH and VOICE MODELING KEYS A single click will activate/deactivate the effect. Double clicking on the key will enter the edit menu of the effect algorithm. A lit key LED indicates that the effect block is active. FUNCTION KEYS: I/O and MIDI/UTIL A single click will enter the parameters for editing. DATA WHEEL ARROW KEYS ENTER KEY BYPASS KEY Bypasses all functions, allowing the original input audio to pass.
QUICK START VOICEMODELING EDIT PARAMETERS VOICE MODELING (VM) STYLES AND AMOUNTS Here’s a good way to get started hearing all of the Voice Modeling effects with your vocal. • Go to factory preset 99 - we’ll use this preset to do our experiments. • Press the VM effect key so that it lights - the effect is now active. Choose between Inflection, Vibrato, Spectra, Breath, Growl and Resonance. • Double click that same key to enter the edit parameters. • Set the Amount to 50% - a midrange value.
QUICK START PITCH EFFECTS EDIT PARAMETERS PITCH CORRECTION Again, we will use Factory preset #99 for our experiments. Turn all of the VM effects off for now by pressing their keys on the front panel. Press the CORRECT key in preset #99 to turn on the effect. We have set this up to correct to a chromatic scale, with a default root of C. Double Click the CORRECT key and use the ARROW keys to find the COR Window or correction window.
INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing the TC-Helicon VoiceOne Voice Modeling Tool. This is a unique, state of the art processor designed specifically for vocal applications. We know you will enjoy using it, as much as we enjoyed designing it for you. The TC-Helicon VoiceOne is designed for studio applications as well as live applications. VoiceOne allows manipulation of a singer's voice to introduce unique vocal enhancement, pitch correction and pitch shift effects.
FRONT PANEL POWER KEY On/Off switch for the unit. INPUT LEVEL KNOB Adjusts the Input level. Range: 12dB. The global input range can be set in the I/O menu. OUTPUT LEVEL KNOB Adjusts the Output level. Range: 12dB. The global output range can be set in the I/O menu. This knob controls overall output level. It is not correlated with the output meter. The Output Meter measures output levels and DSP activity before the signal is affected by the Output knob. INPUT METERS Peak meter showing Input level.
FRONT PANEL FRONT PANEL CONTROLS GENERAL INFORMATION A single click will activate or deactivate the effect. Double clicking on the key will enter the Edit menu of the effect algorithm. A lit key LED indicates that the effect block is active. PITCH CORRECTION KEY On/Off/Edit key for the Pitch Correction block. PITCH SHIFT KEY On/Off/Edit key for the Pitch Shift block. INFLECTION KEY On/Off/Edit key for the Inflection block. VIBRATO KEY On/Off/Edit key for the Vibrato block.
REAR PANEL Balanced XLR Analog Inputs Balanced XLR Analog Outputs Digital S/PDIF Input/ Output MIDI In, Out, Thru Footswitch Jack MIDI Cable Note! The analog Input and Output connectors on the VoiceOne are balanced XLR jacks. Optimal performance with balanced equipment is achieved using balanced cables. Balanced XLR Cable - 3 Pin Type 12 DIN CONNECTOR 5POLE - MALE 45 degrees max.
SETUPS Connecting and Setting up Voice One - Analog Analog Audio Setup: • Connect Auxiliary Send from Mixer or output from preamp to input 1 on VoiceOne. Voice one does not accept a microphone directly. Run a microphone into a mixer or mic preamp first, then route to the VoiceOne. If you wish, place insert processors like a compressor before VoiceOne in the chain. Input 1 is the default input. You may use only one input at a time. • Connect Outputs 1 and 2 to two channels on your mixing desk.
SETUPS & SIGNAL FLOW Connecting and Setting up VoiceOne - MIDI MIDI Setup: • Connect the MIDI Out of your MIDI controller or sequencer to the MIDI In of VoiceOne. • You can set different MIDI channels to receive for the main MIDI section, for MIDI pitch shifting, and for MIDI pitch correction. You may also send the MIDI pitch output on its own channel as well. See the MIDI/Util section later in the manual.
PRESET HANDLING Preset types Factory presets The VoiceOne holds 100 factory presets. Factory presets can be edited and stored in any User location. You cannot store presets into a factory location. User presets User presets can be edited and stored in any User location. You can store up to 50 user presets in the User bank. Recall Recalling a preset means loading/activating a preset. • Press RECALL to enter the RECALL menu. • Use the DATA wheel to preview presets.
VOICEMODELING EDIT PARAMETERS EDITING VOICE MODELING PARAMETERS GENERAL INFORMATION A single click will activate/deactivate the effect. Double clicking on the key will enter the Edit menu of the VM effect algorithm. Lit key LED indicates active effect block. As all human voices are unique in their character, every input voice will be affected differently by VoiceOne. The Style parameter in each category is a collection of different Voice Modeling algorithms. Each one has its own unique application.
VOICEMODELING EDIT PARAMETERS VIBRATO PARAMETERS Vibrato is a pitch and amplitude effect that singers often use in their delivery of a piece of music. It is a combination of various characteristics of the voice being repeatedly altered in a oscillating fashion. Every singer's vibrato is unique. The Vibrato Styles are based on real vocalist's vibratos. We have analyzed a large set of parameters from a voice database and created various vibrato models.
VOICEMODELING EDIT PARAMETERS BREATH PARAMETERS The Breath styles add breathiness to the vocal. This varies from a whisper, all the way to a rough, raspy sound, such as is found in hard rock and ‘alternative’ rock music. Some styles are sensitive to the dynamics of the incoming vocal, meaning that they can be ‘played’ by varying the level of what is sung into Voice One. This is also known as ‘self control’. BRE Amount The amount of breath effect incorporated into the signal.
PITCH EFFECTS EDIT PARAMETERS EDITING PITCH EFFECTS PARAMETERSGENERAL INFORMATION A single click will activate/deactivate the effect. Double clicking on the key will enter the Edit menu of the pitch effect algorithm. Lit key LED indicates active effect block. PITCH CORRECTION PARAMETERS COR Scale - Scale Type The selections in this category are: Major, Minor, Other, Custom and MIDI. Other scales come from the predefined list below.
PITCH EFFECTS EDIT PARAMETERS PITCH SHIFT PARAMETERS SHI Amnt/SHI Mode - Shift Amount/Mode To understand how the shift amount is applied in the various modes, it is a good idea to be familiar with how VoiceOne shows the shift offsets. At any time, you can check the status of shifted notes by referring to the Shift Map. (See Below). The mode selected decides the way the shift is expressed. SHI Mode sets the shift mode - the way in which VoiceOne interprets the Shift Amount.
PITCH EFFECTS EDIT PARAMETERS the shift map screen will show "NA", as the shift amount may not be exactly specified in 100 cent intervals. The shift map is updated immediately as you change the out note, allowing you to audition possibilities while you sing. If the corrector is using a MIDI scale and you has select COR Scale shift mode, the Map will show "NA" as a shift map is not calculable under this condition. *SHI Formnt - Voice Formants Edit Allows the user to set the formant character of the voice.
I/O SETUP I/O Setup In the I/O menu you will find input/output settings, analog/digital, Status Bit and Dither. For any successful operation of the VoiceOne these parameters must be correctly set. All parameters in the I/O menu are ‘global’ parameters that are not stored with the presets. These parameters are ‘remembered’ by VoiceOne when powering off. BASIC OPERATION • Press I/O • Select parameters using the ARROW KEYS in the CONTROL Section. • Change values using the DATA wheel.
I/O SETUP - MIDI/UTIL Latency The choices in this parameter are Normal , Medium and Low latency. Low latency mode is the lowest latency setting that will not compromise quality. There is a small process delay required to do Voice Modeling. The lowest latency/delay is available in PureShift(TM) correction mode. Entering PureShift(TM) mode will disable the non-pitch Voice Modeling effects and their portion of the display.
MIDI/UTIL Growl Ctrl Values: Auto, Manual. When set to Auto, the self-control is enabled. The type of self-control is defined by the style you choose. Auto mode scales the growl effect dynamically between 0 and the dialed amount. This is the standard operating mode. However, you may want to add growl in specific sections of your vocals and therefore have full control over the effect amount. This is what the Manual mode is for.
MIDI IMPLEMENTATION - PITCH CORRECTION CATEGORY Pitch Correction (COR) Pitch Correction On / Off Scale Type CC DATA RANGE DESCRIPTION 26 16 0-127 0-49 Root Pitch Window 49 21 0-11 0-127 0-63 off 64-127 on Scales as defined in the COR Scale parameter C=0, G=7, B=11 etc.
MIDI IMPLEMENTATION - PITCH SHIFTING CATEGORY Pitch Shift (SHI) Pitch Shift CC DATA RANGE DESCRIPTION 14 0-127 0-63 off 0-127 on Shift Amount (Scale Mode Only) 3 0-127 0-40 = down 24 notes 41= down 23 notes ... 63 = down 1 note 64 = no shift 65 = up one note ... 87 = up 23 notes 88-127 = up 24 notes Shift Amount (Chromatic Mode) 98 NRPN LSB 99 NRPN MSB 6,38 Data Entry MSB 00 40 7F *Use the full range of NRPN 0 to control the shift and +2400 cents.
MIDI IMPLEMENTATION - VOICE MODELING CATEGORY Voice Modeling Inflection (INF) Inflection On/Off CC DATA RANGE 15 Inflection Amount Inflection Style Inflection Retrigger Inflection Length Inflection Pitch Randomization Inflection Time Randomization Inflection Time Delay Inflection Time Buffer Voice Modeling Vibrato (VIB) Vibrato On/Off 55 54 31 35 41 44 45 85 0-63 off 64-127 on 0-127 0-#of Styles 0-127 0-127 0-127 0-127 0-127 0-127 17 0-127 Vibrato Amount Vibrato Style Vibrato Onset Time Vibrato Ons
MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CATEGORY Bypass All CC 62 DATA RANGE 0-63 64-127 DESCRIPTION bypass active Tuning Reference 101 RPN MSB 100 RPN LSB 6,38 Data Entry 00 01 0-3FFFh MSB 00 40 7F -100 cents 0 cents +99.99 cents LSB 00h 00h 7Fh The table below shows how to set the MSB and LSB to achieve various cents offsets as per the standard MIDI specification, and how they translate into the frequency in Hz (VoiceOne specifies Tuner Reference in Hz).
MIDI IMPLEMENTATION - NRPN MIDI NRPN Table The VoiceOne can be primed to receive NRPN (Non-Registered Parameter Number) messages by first opening the appropriate "NRPN gate". This is done by sending the appropriate NRPN# using the MSB and LSB NRPN CCs (CC99 and CC98 respectively). Once the gate is open, use the MSB and LSB Data Entry CCs (CC6 and CC38) respectively to change the value of the selected parameter.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Digital Inputs and Output Connectors: Formats: Output Dither: Sample Rates: Frequency Response DIO: RCA Phono (S/PDIF) S/PDIF (24 bit), EIAJ CP-340, IEC 958 HPF/TPDF dither 24/20/16/8 bit 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz DC to 23.9 kHz ± 0.01 dB @ 48 kHz Analog Input Connectors: Impedance, Bal / Unbal: Max. Input Level: Min.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE Presets - Factory 14 Shift +5th Note: The designation 'VM' in the preset name means that some Voice Modeling effects are included in the preset. 15 Shift +8veInflect With Inflection parameters 1 VoiceModel Teen A young voice without the high maintenance singer. AKA the fountain of youth preset. Build your 'Boy Band' tracks here as well. 2 VoiceModel Older A more mature vocal tract sound. 3 VoiceModelWhisper The TC-Helicon whisper effect.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 32 MIDI Portamento MIDI control of pitch shifting, with smooth portamento transitions between notes triggered on a MIDI device or in a sequencer. 33 MIDI Pitcher MIDI Pitch shifting with no formant alterations 34 MIDI Pitcher Big MIDI Pitch shifting with formants corrected to give a full, deep sound. 35 MIDI Pitch Small MIDI Pitch Shifting with formants corrected to give a smaller, youthful sound. 36 Corr Smooth Major Pitch correction to a major scale as a reference.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 62 VM Dirty Breath A breath preset more akin to rock and alternative rock styles. Lots of harmonic content. 63 VM Leaky Pipes Noisy breath sound. 64 VM A LittlePhlegm A very noisy sound from the Growl styles. 65 VM Raspy Throat Great for rock vocals. 66 VM Fire Breather Human or dragon? Perhaps both in this glottal ensemble. 67 VM Rock Throat Get the energy, don't do the damage. A combo of rasp from the breath section, and a light Growl.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 94 SFX Mice 98 SFX Breakdown A strange hybrid of pitch and breath. 95 SFX Tarzan The classic ape-man. 99 Quickstart Preset The tour preset as described in the VoiceOne Quick Start Manual. 96 SFX Wham Bam 97 SFX Witching Hour A spooky voice. 100 Blank Template A blank canvas with which to paint your vocals. You can begin here, then save your creation to a user location.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Crooner - The classic sound of the Las Vegas entertainers. DeepJazz - Reminescent of the great jazz singers of the 1950s. Discreet - A very light vibrato. Folk - A nice, warm and pleasant vibrato. Funk - An energetic sound from the 70s. HeadVoice - A very resonant vibrato, using pitch and amplitude modulation. HiEnergy - A fast vibrato. LiteJazz - A lighter jazz sound.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 DeHonk3 - A third midrange reduction on those frequencies that can give a nasal sound. Honk - A midrange boost for a nasal or congested sound. Whump - A midrange boost that packs a lot of punch. MidBoost1 - A midrange frequency boost. MidBoost2 - A variation on a midrange frequency boost. MidBoost3 - Another variation on a midrange frequency boost. MdHiBoost - Boosts the midrange and high frequencies.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE 27 28 Whisper1 - Reduces a full on singing voice to a whispering tone. Whisper2 - A variation on the whisper sound with differend frequency response. Growl MIDI CCs: On/Off: Style: 20 56 Abbreviation definitions: Adapt=Adaptive - The algorithm listens for extremes in amplitude from the vocal, and applies the effect upon detection.
PRESET/STYLE/APPLICATIONS GUIDE Resonance MIDI CCs: On/Off: 51 Style: 58 Note: Each Resonance style will sound different with each input vocal. Some styles may have little effect on the voice, while others may be affected substantially. Style Value and Name 0 SlinkyPop - A resonance sound that thins out the voice to sound similar to a youthful pop singer. 1 Narrow - Resonance that thins the voice. 2 PalateUp - The sound of a singer resonating primarily in the soft palate area.
PITCH CORRECTION (COR) SCALE DEFINITIONS Number system is based on semi-tones above the root. Scale Name Major Minor (natural) Minor (harmonic) Minor (asc melodic) Chromatic Ionian (Major) Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian (nat. min.
VOICEONE TIPS Setup Tip - Inputs (MIDI/UTIL) You can connect two separate sources to feed VoiceOne, and select between them in the MIDI/UTIL menu. You can have the output from a preamp or compressor connected to one input, while a separate source from another device is connected to the other input. This might save repatching devices when you want to preview signals from two different sources. Setup Tip - Outputs You can use both sets of outputs simultaneously in VoiceOne.
VOICEONE TIPS Pitch Corrected Harmony If you turn on Pitch Correction while in Scale Mode, your output ‘harmony’ voice will be pitch corrrected as well. Thanks for exploring VoiceOne's unique technology with us! We invite you to watch our website for updates, user stories, news, support and other activities involving TCHelicon and Voice Processing technology. Join us at: http://www.tc-helicon.
