How do I drop the tuning a half step?

boltrecords

boltrecords

Fractal Fanatic
Could someone help me out with how to use the pitch block or other effects to drop my tuning 1/2 step without changing the tone a ton.
Im not sure which effect to really use for this. Everything I try seems to make the tone horrible afterward.

My band plays one song that is down 1/2 step and it sucks to bring another guitar or retune just for that.

And playing it in standard tuning is not an option. I've tried already. Lol.

I would appreciate any help you all can offer.
Thanks
Anthony
 
There is a stock preset that does this. Look in there to see how its done. I can't recall the name of it but its an obvious one, like "One Step Down" or similar.
 
Keep in mind that while you can get acceptable tone using pitch shift, the guitar won't respond to feedback as it would normally - i.e., you hold an "E" note but it's "Eb" actually sounding.
 
Wow. Putting the pitch block first in the chain made a big difference. Can't believe I didn't think of that before.
The tone is pretty similar but it feels like I'm losing a tiny bit of gain and feel when I kick on the pitch block.
Anyways I can tweak this to make it a little better.
Besides just adding more gain. That's always an option I guess.
 
Yeah I did notice the feedback was a little difference. Its Pretty much cut out all together.
One part I can't quite get right is the tracking parameter. It just doesn't feel right. Always feels like there's a small amount of delay when I hit the strings.
I'm not sure where to set the tracking. Once I get it close it's hard to know which direction to move the settings.
 
Lower settings give you tighter feel. There will always be some latency since the unit is essentially transposing in real time. You'll get used to it after a while. My band does one song a whole step down and that's about as low as I'm willing to go with it with acceptable results.
 
boltrecords said:
The tone is pretty similar but it feels like I'm losing a tiny bit of gain and feel when I kick on the pitch block.
Click to expand...
That's always going to happen when you shift the pitch, as tubetonez said. Normally, if you play a low E, your amp sings out with a low E note, which excites your low E string into more vibration—that's part of the gain and feel of playing an electric guitar. But when you pitch-shift down a half step, your amp sings out with an Eb note. Your guitar doesn't have an Eb string, so there's no string to excite. There goes some of your gain and feel.
 
ive been playing around with this effect all day today. the fixed harmony pitch block parameters seem to be pretty basic. are there any other effects blocks or parameters that may help tighten up the pitch block when using it as a tuning change? right now the effect is very usable. but if theres any other suggestions as far as making it sound a little better...im all ears.

for now ill just keep playing around and tweeking. this pretty cool though. gonna save a lot of time on stage now that i dont have to switch tunings.
 
I won't say that there's nothing that will restore the bite an feel of a pitch-shifted tone, but I'm not aware of any. Besides the loss of feedback mentioned above, there's the fact that you're not just shifting the pitch of the note you're playing; you're also detuning your guitar's resonances, your pick attack, your fret noise—everything. It won't sound quite right, and the farther you pitch-shift, the less real it will sound.

You could recover that tone by shifting the pitch back up, but then you'd be right back where you started. I've never found an ideal substitute for retuning your guitar. You can get "usable," but not "perfect."
 
ive had many processors and pedals that ive tried to accomplish this effect with, and none of them sounded even close to being this good.
this is by far the most usable ive ever had.
 
You may want to experiment with adding an EQ block right after the pitch block, this can help the tone and gain. I add a little more gain in the amp block for detuned patches, and compare to a standard patch to get it close but it will always be a compromise.
 
tubetonez said:
You may want to experiment with adding an EQ block right after the pitch block, this can help the tone and gain. I add a little more gain in the amp block for detuned patches, and compare to a standard patch to get it close but it will always be a compromise.
Click to expand...

thats what im going to try next. i was trying to get away with using one patch and just kicking on and off the pitch block but i think i may have to use two separate patches so i dont screw up the original patch too much when trying to compensate for tone loss with the tuning drop. it will be easier to just compare two separate patches.

its coming along though
 
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