Harmonizer in the Axe FX 2

pablito

Inspired
Hello Axe FX 2 lovers and users.
I need some kind of assistance. I have not managed to get a good harmonizer effect on the Axe FX 2 for my rock solos. I am looking into buying an Eventide H9 or Pitchfactor. Any advise? What am I missing in the Axe FX2?
I must admit that I am not good at making my own patches. Most of my patches are Yek's and Fremen's ones.
BTW Cliff, Fractal is the best unit I have owned for years. I wished I had more time to use it.
 
the axe harmoniser smokes. even better than the eventide eclipse, if you ask me. if you're not getting good results, then you're doing it wrong. explain what you need and we'll explain how you set it up

I'll be looking forward to this thread and your answers! I'm also stumped by the Axe's harmonizer, and all my feeble attempts to use it have led to toy-quality, unnatural sounds (not blaming the Axe, but rather blaming myself for beeing a poor tweaker).

I tried the harmonizer in front of the amp block, in front of two *different* amp blocks (where my instinct told me it would sound best), I've tried it between the amp and cab blocks (where it was recommended by some forumites), and I've tried it after the cab... all I managed to do was make it sound like I was mixing special sound effects from the movie Tron (the original!) with my guitar tone. Not good, that!

So any replies to the original poster will be appreciated by others too! Thanks...
 
yes, you'll hear a lot of different opinions on where the pitch block should go, but for me it sounds best after the amp and cabs. here's a quick preset with the harmoniser set to E Aeolian. sounds great to me...
 

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I find the harmonizer better between amp and cab blocks. Like simeon said, I think it's a matter of taste.
 
Hello Axe FX 2 lovers and users.
I need some kind of assistance. I have not managed to get a good harmonizer effect on the Axe FX 2 for my rock solos. I am looking into buying an Eventide H9 or Pitchfactor. Any advise? What am I missing in the Axe FX2?
I must admit that I am not good at making my own patches. Most of my patches are Yek's and Fremen's ones.
BTW Cliff, Fractal is the best unit I have owned for years. I wished I had more time to use it.

I have the Eventide H-9 and the AXE II, In my opinion if you can't get a harmonizer sound to your liking with the AXE, forget about the Eventide, AXE is way way better, Eventide H-9 is ok for a little pedal, but the pitch tracking isn't even close, when bending notes etc.
 
I'll just quickly add that it's common for people to prefer adding the harmony below the line they're playing - ie, instead of playing the line and having the harmoniser double you a 3rd above, try playing the line a 3rd higher and having the harmoniser play "underneath" you, or a 3rd below.

(Where E-F#-G would be what you play and the kit plays G-A-B, try playing the latter and having it harmonise 6ths and below, so it plays E-F#-G.)

I think it's because it masks the "pitch shifting" effect a little more, and it's generally more "realistic" to digitally slow/lower a pitch than it is to speed up/raise it.

I hope this makes sense, and either way you're $0.02 richer now :)
 
yes, you'll hear a lot of different opinions on where the pitch block should go, but for me it sounds best after the amp and cabs. here's a quick preset with the harmoniser set to E Aeolian. sounds great to me...
Yup the patch sounds great, however if I change the key to Ab ionian all h breaks loose and it doesn't track. Been messing with this thing for hours and can't get it. How do I post a patch and maybe then someone can see what I'm doing wrong. thanks
 
Yup the patch sounds great, however if I change the key to Ab ionian all h breaks loose and it doesn't track. Been messing with this thing for hours and can't get it. How do I post a patch and maybe then someone can see what I'm doing wrong. thanks

Are you playing in Ab Ionian?
 
The harmonizer is one of those things that I just thought I'd use to death, but reality kicked in and I realized that I'm overmatched for understanding how to use it properly. Partly because of my utterly pathetic music theory, but also because I just don't know how to set the damn thing up right. That's not a complexity issue, it's a lack of knowledge and application on my part.

Anyway, this is one of those things that would be great to ask Cory to expand upon in his upcoming webinar if you ask me.

But in the meantime I'm really interested to see what the effect experts like Simeon have to say here.
 
I have a Pitchfactor that I haven't used since I got the Axe FX 2. It doesn't really do anything the Axe can't replicate and tracking is no better.
 
Are you playing in Ab Ionian?
yes I am playing an Ab ionian. Just a starting point to get some harmony guitar up a running. I tune down a half step that's why it's an Ab. instead of A. I downloaded a patch a guy posted on here and it worked fine until I tried to change the key . He asked me to post my patch but i don't know how to do that.
 
The harmonizer is one of those things that I just thought I'd use to death, but reality kicked in and I realized that I'm overmatched for understanding how to use it properly...

+1.

It would help for someone to lay out a specific solo, and if there are custom scales and/or a key that makes it fairly simple, it would be nice for those who do not use this effect to it's full potential.

I suggest something simple like 'Two Tickets'. Eddie Money, harmonized 1st solo intro.

IMO.

R
 
yes I am playing an Ab ionian. Just a starting point to get some harmony guitar up a running. I tune down a half step that's why it's an Ab. instead of A. I downloaded a patch a guy posted on here and it worked fine until I tried to change the key . He asked me to post my patch but i don't know how to do that.
I have it. Now to get into custom harmonies which I am running into with two songs. Two Tickets to Paradise and The Boys are Back in Town. I can't find any instruction on custom harmonies. lost:)
 
for the boys are back in town, you can use the intel harmoniser. set the key to Ab if you're a half step down and set scale to custom. set the number of notes to 6 and make them C, D, E, F, G, A. the voices need to be set to +3 or -3 (depending which part you play).

this works for the main riff, but doesn't work for the solo section, because two different harmonies are used there.

for the solo section, you need to use the intel harmoniser set to mixolydian. voice 1 = -3 and voice 2 = -4. you play the top line (that starts on E) and use -3 for the first two notes and -4 for the next 3 notes and then back to -3. i use a cc pedal to change between the voices.
 
I'll be looking forward to this thread and your answers! I'm also stumped by the Axe's harmonizer, and all my feeble attempts to use it have led to toy-quality, unnatural sounds (not blaming the Axe, but rather blaming myself for beeing a poor tweaker).

I tried the harmonizer in front of the amp block, in front of two *different* amp blocks (where my instinct told me it would sound best), I've tried it between the amp and cab blocks (where it was recommended by some forumites), and I've tried it after the cab... all I managed to do was make it sound like I was mixing special sound effects from the movie Tron (the original!) with my guitar tone. Not good, that!

So any replies to the original poster will be appreciated by others too! Thanks...

I think ideal position has something to do with formants. Putting the harmoniser after the cab block means you're shifting not just the raw guitar sound but *also* the cab's formants. This can make things sound unnatural and "effected". If you put it before the cab, it gets summed to mono (unless you are using two cabs/stereo cabs and panned correctly).

For the most natural harmoniser I like to take the amp into the harmoniser, pan the voices hard left and right, then go out into two separate cabs and use that to get as much/little separation as I need. Still never the same as two separate tracks, but it works for me.

Used that effect in this track at the chorus.


http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/when-7-ate-11/s-T4xVn
 
for the boys are back in town, you can use the intel harmoniser. set the key to Ab if you're a half step down and set scale to custom. set the number of notes to 6 and make them C, D, E, F, G, A. the voices need to be set to +3 or -3 (depending which part you play).

this works for the main riff, but doesn't work for the solo section, because two different harmonies are used there.

for the solo section, you need to use the intel harmoniser set to mixolydian. voice 1 = -3 and voice 2 = -4. you play the top line (that starts on E) and use -3 for the first two notes and -4 for the next 3 notes and then back to -3. i use a cc pedal to change between the voices.

He's good isn't he..?
wink.gif
 
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