TC Helion Voice Prism Plus Modeling

[Maruuk]

I'm very interested in this new technology which (like the new guitar amp modelers) actually allows you to model a vocal performance on different basic timbre and quality attributes, essentially turning a voice into someone else's. Has anyone tried this device, or know of any plug-ins which have this capability such that you don't have to buy all the harmonizing hardware?

[purpleshorts]

VoicePrism does a pretty good job at fake harmonies. They'd probably sound better live (with lots of noise over them) than in a recording. If you put them in a recording, they won't really sound like the Beach Boys or the Eagles are backing you up, it'll sound like VoicePrism... but that may be just what you want.

I read all the reviews, and people say it's basically the best harmony generator out there, but it has a way to go. At Guitar Center, they loaned me a mic and headphones, and I spent a few hours playing with it. It's pretty cool. I like the octave voices and the thickeners.

I have an old digitech vocalist I got on ebay cheap. It allows you to control the pitches of harmonies with your midi keyboard. I use it to work out a harmony on my sequencer, and then (since it sounds so fakey) I re-record it with my own voice.

The Prism may do the same trick, I'm not sure.

I also use Digital Performer's built-in audio tools to change the formants and pitch of certain voices. I did a whole cartoon with just my voice modified in DP. I tried the plug ins from Waves and TC that try to adjust formants and pitch real time. Even though I have a top-of-the-line Pro Tools Mix Plus system running on a G4 Mac, the plug ins cannot do it. Digital Performers tools do a much better job, but they involve processing time.

The VoicePrism does the best job of this, although perhaps not as good as the three ultra-expensive Eventide Harmonizers (the surround sound orville, the stereo 7000, or the new single rack space eclipse). I have even had the opportunity to test one of those for a whole week in my studio. At the time, I was not looking for pitch or formant shifting, just reverb. I ended up with a TC M3000. (And not a plug in.)

So let me summarize. If you have endless dollars, you could get an Eventide. Otherwise, the Voice Prism is a great gadget, assuming realism is not your main goal. Plug-ins are not an option for voice formant and pitch stuff, they just do not have the power, even on a powerful system. If you only dabble in this, and you use Digital Performer, check out their built in tools. You select the sound and go under a menu called "Spectral Effects." It is highly effective.

[Maruuk]

I was really just interested in the VoicePrism+ aspect of modeling via which you could add growl, breath, rasp and such thereby giving a thin voice a lot more resonance and thickness (read: pop music appeal) without the cartoony efx from pitch-shifting, etc.

TC-Helicon has a demo on their site and it sounds promising. But I guess it's strictly a hardware deal for now.