Effects for live vocals

Effects for live vocals

With all the effects and devices that exists these days, it is really rather easy to change your voice as much as you want in the studio but also in real time. Correction of the tonal pitch, the intonation, harmonies, having the voice of a robot, a child or the devil, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

In this post we would like to give you an idea of how to use these vocal processors in practical situations and above all how it will sound when you are using these effects in a non studio setting and you also don’t have a sound technician available to adjust your sound for you.

To have control over your vocal sound during a live situation or other real time applications it is necessary that you are able to adjust the volume, the reverb and the delay, not in the least so you can avoid unwanted noise or any feedback as well as changing your sound. Many reputable manufacturers have introduced and added all kinds of gear for vocalists to their line-ups. This gear is intended for a wide range of uses, including the resolution of aforementioned issues; the three biggest brand within this segment are Boss, Digitech and TC Helicon. Below we feature one real stand out product by each of these manufacturers in order to give you a good first impression of what sounds and adjustments are possible, resulting in instant improvements and changes to your vocals.

 

TC Helicon VoiceLive 2

A lot of people consider this the ultimate vocal pedal! Reminiscent of a Swiss army knife for your voice, made by the famous Danish brand, this is a top notch product. We love the very complete connectivity (including for the guitar), the design and above all the quality of the effects, especially the harmony.

Female Pop Duo

Male Another Brick

Boss VE-20 Vocal Performer

This pedal has a multitude of effects (radio, robot, harmonies, reverb, delay) en will surely enrich your live-sound. We are fans of the size of this floorpedal, the harmonies, the integrated looper with 38 seconds of looptime, the ultra intuitive way in which this pedal is controlled as well as the good build quality.

Pitch Shifting

Female Distortion

 

Digitech Vocalist Live 3G

The Vocalist® Live 3 is a powerful but easy to use, intelligent vocal harmony processor that automatically generates live multi-part vocal harmony by analyzing guitar chord progressions. We are impressed with the option that allows you switch on and off the presets, simply by one foot- press of a button, the integrated tuner and the quality of the sound.

Female 1 lower

Female Cher

Author’s gravatar
Vincent started frequenting music shops at age eight. Picking up the Bass and Guitar followed not long after, as did bands. His love for music, from Sixties Pop and Soul to AnarchoPunk and Death Metal has only deepened with the years. He still regularly plays at Jam sessions, from Berlin to Cambodia.

4 comments

    According to me, the best one is the Voicelive Rack (TC Helicon).

    That is a nice one for sure Tony! 🙂

    Is the Voicelive ok for a one-man show for live gigs or is it overkill? I play acoustic and I just want a harmonizer to accompany me. If the Voicelive is too much, do you recommend the TC Helicon H1 as a decent harmonizer? The only review I could find is this https://guitarunited.com/tc-helicon-voicetone-h1-honest-review/ so I can’t decide. What do you think? Is it as great as the review says or should I get the Voicelive instead? Thanks!

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