Harmonisers/pitch shifters - classic or dud?

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I recently acquired a multi-effects box and I can't stop playing with the harmoniser settings. It makes everything I play sound like Robin Guthrie is playing it, which is fine, but also a bit like travelling back in time. So I like it... I just wonder if others think that having every note you play doubled by the one five frets up or seven frets down just sounds wrong, wrong, wrong.

― Deluxe (Damian), Sunday, 11 September 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

Some of them are absolutely amazing! My ex had a bog standard Boss pitch-shifter which he used to shift notes down a fifth to get rhythmic harmonic resonance patterns - I tried using it to shift notes up an octave, and ended up first with an astonishing 12-string sound, and then with a weird, floaty Spacemen 3 phasey organ tone. A lot of fun.

― Luminiferous Aether (kate), Monday, 12 September 2005 07:19 (twenty years ago)

Get one of these -

http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F01%5FNew%5FProducts%2F15%5FThe%5FPog

We just sold one, and it is incredible. Also, the claims of tracking multiple notes are, for the first time, completely legit.

By the way, it does cost a shit-ton of money, so brace yourself.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Monday, 12 September 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

Electroharmonics is based in LIC now? Blimey! Why couldn't they have been there when I was? It was all coming out of Russian then.

That looks lovely. I really am heading towards an all EH pedal lineup, though.

― Smug and Pious (kate), Tuesday, 13 September 2005 07:24 (twenty years ago)

I just use a Zoom 505II, cheap and cheerful - I prefer the fifths to the octave doubling, though, as the sound of a guitar lead crackling in octave harmony gives me a slight case of the heebie-jeebies.

― Deluxe (Damian), Wednesday, 14 September 2005 08:03 (twenty years ago)

How much does a Zoom 505 cost?

**It makes everything I play sound like Robin Guthrie is playing it, which is fine**

Au contraire! I just can't listen to most Cocteaus stuff, other than in short bursts. It's so gauzy and diffuse. His productions are largely horrible too.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

I hate his production, but I love his guitar playing. It's so gauzy and diffuse! ;-)

― The Brocade Fire (kate), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 07:19 (twenty years ago)

Ha ha! I thought you would! I bet you've even got a pair of effects pedals called 'gauzy' and 'diffuse'!!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

No. But I did once have a pedals called THE ETHERIALISER!!!

(not really. I painted it in with nail varnish.)

― The Brocade Fire (kate), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:26 (twenty years ago)

A zoom 505 II should cost $59.00 USD. They're one of the coolest sounding disposable multi-effects out there.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I paid about NZ$120 for it at Cash Converters, which would be in the region of 50 quid. Ah, Cash Converters...

― Deluxe (Damian), Thursday, 22 September 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

"the etherialiser" = Alesis quadaverb GT - set to resonator/reverb algorithm, set mix so the resonators, but not dry guitar sound feeds into reverb, use long hall reverb decay time, mix at output shd be reverb only. tune resonators to whatever sounds nice. Enjoy yer "sonic cathedral", now! Catch the breeze!

I don't think I have anything w/a harmoniser in it. I had a digitech studio quad,which I liked, and that had the intelligent harmoniser, as well as a multi pitch shifter, but I flogged it for some reason. Why did In sell it? It was a good box!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 22 September 2005 08:43 (twenty years ago)

We used to call that the HisNameIsAliveAFier, Pash. ;-)

No, the Etherialiser was a weird early multi-effects unity made by Peavy of all people. I've only ever seen one other - I thought mine was a display model or something until then.

― The Brocade Fire (kate), Friday, 23 September 2005 06:50 (twenty years ago)

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