Test of TC Play Acoustic Vocal pedal FX (in chorus 1:25, 2:30, 3:25)

[des0free]

I'm testing the TC Helicon "Play Acoustic" pedal to supply vocal and acoustic guitar FX while playing "live in the living room" to a backing track. Here I test the "doubler" (actually set to be a tripler) and "microMod - Wide" effects to beef up the chorus (first chorus starts at 1:25) - which I think is pretty cool, but I want to fiddle with the settings some more. While playing, I hit the pedal with my foot to activate the FX only during the chorus. I also used pedal's acoustic guitar FX (reverb + "body rez"). I also tried the pedals vocal harmony FX, which seem neat, but didn't seem to fit this song as well as just the doubler.

By the way, it is tricky at first to learn to press the pedal at the right times while also playing guitar and singing!

The setup is:
-Epiphone DR-500M acoustic with Amumu SP60 magnetic pickup
-CAD D90 dynamic mic
-These go into the Play Acoustic pedal and then out (separately) into a Zoom R24 recorder
-The Zoom R24 plays the backing track (wav file) while the guitar and vocal gets recorded
-The Zoom output goes to PA speakers to monitor the live performance
-Tracks are taken off the R24 and mixed and mastered in Reaper

[des0free]

I did some more testing, and think I now like having doubling (1 voice loose setting) plus a lower level of "low harmony", and skip the microMod effect. If you put on too many FX or put them at too high-level, it quickly starts to sound artificial.  I will record a demo and post it soon.  What sounds even better, if you're using a backing track and singing the song tight the same way every time, is that just have backing vocals in the backing track.  But the doubling/harmony on the effects pedal may be more useful when you're performing without a backing track, or if you're performing with a backing track and don't want to bother adding backing vocals to the backing track.

[TPB]

I found using my setup to do the vocals and then add the double effect on a different track that way you blend the two together a little better. Good luck with the new setup always nice to have something new to play around with
Tim

[des0free]

Here is a demo using the doubler set to "1 voice, loose" and harmony "low" (i.e. lower pitch) FX - kicked on in the choruses.

[StephenM]

I really like the fact that you are playing this live....  cool... and the more you do that you will find it will also help your recording!  each of these sounds great! 
the effects are solid...
I would love to hear you do "The One I Love".... this sound really fits you Doug!  REM was a great band...

[Jean Pierre]

very interesting, thank you Doug for sharing your sound research with us TC Helicon is a specialist in voice dubbing and harmony.
how do you make the lead guitar sound like it does in the finale, like around 4'23"?

[Ted]

"1 voice, loose"

Does this mean that the generated voice is "loosely" in time with the original voice signal? It does sound very natural – like two separately recorded vocal tracks. I have a Digitech Vocalist Live 2 (currently in storage in the USA) that I've used on a few tracks. The tech is a little older. And, although I liked the results, the close synch between the original and the harmony tracks always sounded more like an artificial vocal effect than a second or doubled singer. (Examples 1, 2, 3)