Tame it ain’t, but if smart pitch warping with minimal hassle (and real estate) is your bag, Mike Matthews’ latest is a gem.
Recorded with a Royer R-121 and a Shure SM57 going into an Audient iD44 then into GarageBand with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
Clip 1: Curtis Novak Jag-V neck pickup into J. Rockett Audio Archer feeding the Pitch Fork + then an Ibanez Analog Delay Mini then a Sound City SC30 combo. First Pitch Fork + setting uses the right footswitch to ramp up a perfect fifth. Next, the left-hand footswitch is engaged so that when the right footswitch’s momentary function is engaged it ramps up both a perfect fifth and a minor third.
RatingsPros:Yields a plethora of pitch-shifting options in a modest, flexible, and expandable footprint. Cons: Tends to hype and mask your guitar’s voice, even at conservative settings. Chord tracking could be better. Street: $214 Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork + ehx.com | Tones: Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
Where EHX’s original Pitch Fork was essentially a shrunken, treadle-less DigiTech Whammy competitor, the new Pitch Fork + is like the kid with aspirations to become a board-friendly Eventide H3000 harmonizer. It proffers two independent harmonies, each programmable across a +/- three-octave range by scalar interval (major or minor, not modal), with independent volumes for each voice and the dry signal. You can also program 100 presets (10 are factory loaded), as well as myriad expression-pedal, auxiliary-output, and footswitch-functionality configurations for each preset. Meanwhile, the bypass footswitch can behave as a momentary switch, and the left-hand “user” footswitch can be used to engage add-on effects such as modulation or ring-modulator, or to link multiple presets in a set-friendly preset “jump chain.”
Whether the Pitchfork + is right for you will likely boil down to its strong voice. Players looking to subtly augment a core tone—by creating a simple faux 12-string sound, for instance—may find it difficult to tame that voice, because even at low harmony and generous dry-signal volumes it adds a somewhat artificial-feeling sheen. That said, if loud ’n’ proud harmonized effects are your game, the Pitch Fork +’s intervallic smarts, almost head-spinning array of programming options, and ability to mesh with other pedals, including fuzz, may well make it a favored secret weapon. Particularly as its minimal control complement so deftly walks the line between powerful and simple.
Test Gear: Squier Classic Vibe ’70s Jaguar with Curtis Novak pickups, Sound City SC30.
A closer look at EH''s new Voice Box Harmony Machine & Vocoder stompbox
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The Voice Box creates two- to four-part harmonies directly from your vocals, and in the same key as your accompaniment instrument. Simply plug your mic into the Voice Box’s mic preamp, plug in your instrument and you’re ready to go. It’s that easy. No setup, no menus to navigate. Studio-quality reverb lets you independently add depth to your dry vocals and harmony vocals. An octave setting will perfectly track your vocals even without an accompaniment instrument. The focused 256-band articulate vocoder, designed by the genius that made the vocoder popular for EMS, features adjustable harmonic enhancement and controllable formant shift. Use any synthesizer and you have the classic vocoder of the seventies and eighties. Plug in your guitar and mic and you have a talk box.
Features include:
• Harmonically matches any electric instrument you plug into it
• Professional quality pitch shifting algorithm produces realistic harmonies
• The Low & High Harmony independently produces two harmony notes: 3rd and 5th
• 9 accessible programmable presets
• Natural Glissando
• Gender Bender knob allows for male/ female formant modification
• Built-In Mic Pre with Phantom Power & Gain Switch
• Balanced XLR Line Output: Interface directly with any mixing board or A/D converter
• US96DC-200BI power supply included
Watch the demo:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/v/Qnj2oU8MYCI&hl=en&rel=0≈=%2526fmt%3D35 expand=1]
Hit page 2 for a more in-depth look at the Voice Box's features & modes...
FEATURES:
MODES:
Low Harmony
The Voice Box creates two harmony voices below the note you sing. The low voice is usually the lower 3rd below your note, but will sometimes be the lower 4th, depending on the most appropriate harmony for the chord your instrument plays and the note you sing. The high voice is usually the lower 5th below the note you sing, but will sometimes be the lower 6th, again depending on which harmony is the most appropriate.
High Harmony
The Voice Box creates two harmony voices above the note you sing. The low voice is usually the 3rd above your note, but will sometimes be the 4th, depending on the most appropriate harmony for the chord your instrument plays and the note you sing. The high voice is usually the 5th above the note you sing, but will sometimes be the 6th, again depending on the most appropriate harmony.
Low + High Harmony
The Voice Box creates two harmony voices, one above the note you sing and one below. The low voice is usually the lower 5th below the note you sing; the high voice is usually the upper 3rd above the note you sing.
Multi Harmony 1
Lower 3rd, Lower 5th and Upper 3rd. The Voice Box creates three harmonies: two lower harmonies and one upper harmony. The harmonies consist of the lower 3rd harmony, the lower 5th harmony and the upper 3rd harmony.
Multi Harmony 2
Lower 3rd, Lower 5th, Upper 3rd and Upper Octave. The Voice Box creates the same three harmonies as in Multi Harmony 1 and adds the upper octave. The harmonies consist of the lower 3rd harmony, the lower 5th harmony and the upper 3rd harmony. Added to the mix is the upper octave.
Multi Harmony 3
Lower Octave, Lower 5th, Upper 3rd and Upper 5th. The Voice Box creates three harmonies (one below, two above) plus an octave down. The harmonies consist of the lower 5th harmony, the upper 3rd harmony and the upper 5th harmony. Added to the mix is the lower octave.
Octaves Mode
Octaves mode pitch shifts your vocal up and down exactly one octave. Since the amount of pitch shift is preset to an octave, this mode does not require an instrument to be played along with your vocal.
Unison + Whistle Mode
Unison + Whistle mode is really like having two modes in one. Each function is separate from the other. Unison mode allows for formant shift without changing the pitch of your vocal. For example, you want to sound more female but without changing your pitch. Whistle mode synthesizes a whistle tone exactly two octaves above the note you sing.
Vocoder Mode
Vocoder mode turns the Voice Box into a 256-Band vocoder. Vocoding is an effect that allows a voice to modulate an instrument or sound source. The controls have been optimized so that the vocoder is very much plug, play and sing; the musician does not need to do much work to create fantastic sounding vocoder effects. As with most vocoders, both a vocal signal and an instrument signal are required to obtain the proper effect.
MSRP $286
Street $214.50
MORE:
- Enter to win a Voice Box
- Voice Box Product Page
- Watch the demo: