United States

Read the guy's post will you? He's not the problem! His band members suck at harmonizing. THEY want the harmonizer for themselves, not him.
I think it's a great idea. I'm looking into one for myself. I'm a guitarist doing harmonies, but I'm midrange and we don't have a high range backup singer..so I'm thinking a harmonizer would provide the high end over my midrange. Combined with the vocalists main sound, it probably won't sound that fake, depending of course on the model.

However, I play with a lot of overdrive and distortion which, I've heard, confuses a harmonizer.

And you people who suggest that the band members need to practice more don't get it. They probably have low voices and can't physically hit the high notes needed for harmony. That's the problem with my band. The bass player, drummer and I all have baritone voices..not good for doing high end harmonies.

And if you don't think that singers weren't doing similar stuff on albums as far back as the 50's, you know nothing about the recording industry.
Listen to old recordings of Peggy Lee or Connie Francis. They were doubling and harmonizing using overdubs. True, it wasn't digitizing, but it was "cheating" just the same. And every vocalist today uses compression and delay to give depth to their voice. If you heard what most vocalists sound like "dry" you'd cringe.

There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with using technology to make up for your limitations. And the listeners don't care as long as it sounds good., except for tight-assed purists.

Hey, Branes, this is an old thread you revived. THe TC Helicon is pretty good for what it does and works especially well for a solo performer with a clean instrument plugged into it (have to remember to tune the insturment to the TCH, too, not use the built-in tuner or anothe rtuner pedal). If you want to use any distortion or high gain on the guitar, you would do best to add it after the TCH on the instrument ouput channel.

If the singers in your band can't sing the high stuff, consider replacing them! Or changing the songs you do.

Here's the skinny on vocal harmonizers IMO...And I stress IMO

I got fed up with the band situation due to never ending drama years ago,and knowing MIDI as well as I did,it made sense to go solo by using MIDI files I would program myself,or download and edit(with my skills)the sequences to my preference...A big part of going solo was making sure I had enough voices to fill in those songs so they would not sound so empty vocally. A harmonizer was my choice..I understand music theory and harmony structure,and can sing lead and harmony without the unit...But being solo means I could have 4 more voices in addition to mine,so it was a no brainer.

The thing I learned about harmonizers and why they sound so damn fake to so many people is simply because people are not using them the correct way...They pick a predetermined patch on the harmonizer whether it's 3 above 1 below....2 above,2 below....etc...you get the picture...and you are stuck with those harmonies...I on the other hand depending upon the song and how the harmony voices are laid out in that recording,play on the keyboard EXACTLY what I want my harmonies to be...in other words what I play on the keyboard is my harmonies! This is incredibly powerful because you can choose exactly what you want to hear by what you play...I took it a step further by programming/recording these harmonies in what I play as a midi track into the sequencer,and now I can have the harmonies automatically shift in and out as the song sequence progresses with no action on my part other than to simply sing the song. The harmony track is a midi track with all the harmony changes as I play them on the keyboard and record it. It's worked out really well for some songs,and then some of them are just ok...If the song sucks,I don't do it period. You can check out all my solo stuff with the harmonizer I use(TC Helicon Voiceworks) search for "Manik Groove" on facebook,here,and also reverbnation.com....Everything you hear on that site is just me using sequences,playing live along with the backing tracks,and vocally any harmonies you hear are indeed the harmonizer ONLY...no overdubbing....I think it works out well

Been a long time since I revisited this thread. I have been solo for many years and use my tc helicon. I have recorded and released my own music and I sing all the parts myself, but live I use the harmonizer... people love the harmonies. It's a tool to keep me working. I am a full time musician and I don't have to deal with egos. The last band I played with the bass player didn't learn his vocal parts but whined about me using a capo... you know tools are tools. but fighting to get people to learn their parts is real, and I am much happier doing my solo gigs and making a living and having fun playing music...

I have 2 tc helicon voicelive touch harmonizers now (1 and 2). I don't need autotune because I can sing but I like the ability to add a harmony to parts. far too many people say they can sing a harmony but need to actually learn doubling isn't a harmony. I guess the purists will be floored to know I use compression, reverb and sometimes chorus on my acoustic guitar was well, but hey... we all use some fx..

1/2/2019 Hi I did NOT realize this was such an older question. I'll answer it anyway because I have owned a "TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor" fro some 3 years after having that other rack mount by Digital ___I forgot.
The God's Honest truth: TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor blows it away. Eventide, sure, if you win the Lotto you can afford it.
Once you get ALL that the TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor can do--you may be overwhelmed.
I'm a keyboardist: I set the TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor right on my upper music stand & control it w/ my RIGHT HAND as my left hand controls the Harmonies LIVE thru the MiDi cable. TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor is built like a TANK. i'VE NEVER 'STOMPED' ON IT NOR WILL I EVER. I paid $399.99 thru Guitarcenter.com & picked it up OR they will send you most anything---F R E E. My favorite price. The guitarcenter.com ALMOST ALWAYS has a lower price than any store. In fact when I picked up my TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 Vocal Effects Processor, the store manager said to me, w a sarcastic tone "do you know you are getting this for LESS than what we paid for it ??!!!" I said of course, then again, your company has capital $-better than sitting on your shelf. well HAPPY NEW YEAR, DON

I have always enjoyed the ease of use and pitch transposition of the old school Eventides, H3000, 4000 etc. The programmable hot keys are a breeze for live applications. Peace