How to make melodic metal style lead harmonies?

O

O1111

Member
Hey guys,

I've been toying around with the pitch shifter and I was looking for advice on settings to get good harmonies for melodic metal guitars (cheesy power metal type stuff, or like stuff on Christian Muenzner's solo album). I'm assuming they should be in 3rds? I was just curious as to what other settings I should use in the pitch shifter to get a good lead guitar melody.
 
If you are playing below the 12th fret I like a third up. You can also experiment with adding a little bit of a second voice with an octave. Fifths are okay too but I prefer thirds
 
Octave down (-12) or octave up (+12) can sound good. You have to be careful with 3rds as that determines major/minor, as @Tahoebrian5 suggests. He is right that it yields some interesting sounds. You also need to decide if you want to use intelligent harmony or just a fixed interval. I suggest you try different intervals and play a bit to see if you like the sound. You may want to play through different scales to see if you have any problems with the intervals.
 
Pitch block after Amp block, before Cab block, in series, set to 'Intelligent' type, pick your key and scale, set Voice 1 Harmony to '3' (3rd above), set Voice 2 level to '0.0', Tracking to '3.50', High Cut to taste at '3000' to '5000', Mix to taste at 35 to 45%.

Option..... Set Voice 2 Harmony also to '3', set voice 2 level to '100.0%', Set Voice 1 Detune to '-8.0 ct' and Voice 2 Detune to '+8.0 ct'
 
Last edited:
Another option only available to Axe-Fx II users is.........

Put the Pitch block before a second Amp block in parallel with the first one. Set the Mix to '100.0%'. Now you can use a different amp model, and/or adjust that amp differently than the first. A different tone on the harmony part can help add some more realism to the preset.

You can use two Cab blocks with some slight panning for even more realism. Also a Chorus, Phaser, or Flanger on only one of the paths can be cool too.
 
Moke said:
Pitch block after Amp block, before Cab block, in parallel, set to 'Intelligent' type, pick your key and scale, set Voice 1 Harmony to '3' (3rd above), set Voice 2 level to '0.0', Tracking to '3.50', High Cut to taste at '3000' to '5000', Mix to taste at 35 to 45%.

Option..... Set Voice 2 Harmony also to '3', set voice 2 level to '100.0%', Set Voice 1 Detune to '-8.0 ct' and Voice 2 Detune to '+8.0 ct'
Click to expand...

Sorry for the noob question, but my parallel do you mean I have it where it's inbetween the amp and cab, but the amp goes directly into cab and the pitch shifter is essentially connected to both of them in the middle?

I'm having a hard time doing it, because I don't have a USB cable and my town is completely snowed in, so i'm stuck using the front panel :(
 
thirds above or 6th below higher notes. I actually prefer harmonies that use the occasional chord tones and tension/resolution as opposed to the straight intervals
 
O1111 said:
Sorry for the noob question, but my parallel do you mean I have it where it's inbetween the amp and cab, but the amp goes directly into cab and the pitch shifter is essentially connected to both of them in the middle?

I'm having a hard time doing it, because I don't have a USB cable and my town is completely snowed in, so i'm stuck using the front panel :(
Click to expand...
No. A parallel chain would look something like this.....
parallel harmony.png
 
Moke said:
No. A parallel chain would look something like this.....
View attachment 43687
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I'm a little confused by how I would put the pitch shifter "after amp, before cabinet" in parallel if it isn't going to go in between the two, since it's my only effect in parallel. A picture would be very appreciated!
 
I actually prefer to use Custom Global harmonies most of the time. It allows me 'resolve' the harmony when I am playing a 5th. A stock scale set to 3rds will play a 7th over that. In most cases, a 4th above (an 8th) sounds better.
 
O1111 said:
Thank you very much. I'm a little confused by how I would put the pitch shifter "after amp, before cabinet" in parallel if it isn't going to go in between the two, since it's my only effect in parallel. A picture would be very appreciated!
Click to expand...
My bad.......that was supposed to read 'series'......... I have corrected the post.
 
Some melodic harmonies are also not just fixed diatonic intervals. They often can change from note to note. In other words it might be a 3rd on some notes, a 4th on others, etc. You can assign the shift interval to an expression pedal and choose the note on the fly to create some really interesting sounds. Use min and max in the modifier to set the available range for the pedal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom