Pitch Shifter on Ax8

Smittefar said:
For the down-tuning stuff, @Moke has a great Eruption preset including a halfstep downtune that works really well. He uses a trick, where the initial attack is not pitch shifted but only the sustaining note.

http://www.custompresets.com/store/p107/'Van_Halen'_-_'Eruption/You_Really_Got_Me'_'Rev_2'_(AX8).html

I recorded a soundclip using it (I cannot play anything remotely like Eruption). First, the riff from You really got me and then a fast (in my book) single note line, changing the pitch back and forth while playing.
I cannot share the specifics of the pitch block, it is Mokes to share, if he wants to, but I can say that it is inspired by this old thread by @simeon http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/how-to-reduce-latency-on-down-shifted-patches.57165/
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This 'trick' is part of my preset I made for a C tuning. However, it doesn't eliminate the perceived lag, it just hides it somewhat from the audience.
 
Woland said:
Intelligent harmony is particulary buggy... it's like having a drunk guitarist behind you ;)
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I use the custom scales option. Seems to work better than the intelligent harmony. One thing I noticed is to set a harmony note for all notes in the custom scale. This will prevent dramatic changes in shift when doing bends and slides.
 
IM not looking for harmony pitch shifting but just being able to play a gig with a band that tunes to E flat. Im currently using Digitech's "DROP" Pedal which is polyphonic... handles chord perfectly, and it can drop your pitch up to 7 1/2 steps. Can the AX8 do the same? Im very new at the Fractal thing... should be here in a couple of days. I would love to get rid of the Digitech pedal..
 
I just tried to play along to a few GnR tunes with the Brit 800 #34 and used the pitch shifter to tune down half a step. I cannot get it to work properly. It doesn't work for me :(
 
Smittefar said:
I just tried to play along to a few GnR tunes with the Brit 800 #34 and used the pitch shifter to tune down half a step. I cannot get it to work properly. It doesn't work for me :(
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What does it do wrong?
 
It just tracks too slow, the transients seem to be behind all the time - I know there is the trick, where you turn down the mix knob for the transient, since no-one can hear the tonality of the transient anyway, but it should not be necessary. Either way, I perceive it as latency, and it throws me off completely.
 
Hans C said:
IM not looking for harmony pitch shifting but just being able to play a gig with a band that tunes to E flat. Im currently using Digitech's "DROP" Pedal which is polyphonic... handles chord perfectly, and it can drop your pitch up to 7 1/2 steps. Can the AX8 do the same? Im very new at the Fractal thing... should be here in a couple of days. I would love to get rid of the Digitech pedal..
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There's already a thread in here about the Drop. I own it and find it so awful sounding that I can't use for anything except a footrest when playing acoustic!

We need something much, much better than that.
 
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I don't know if this really has much priority in Cliff's book but I would like to mention a reason for better pitch that may not be even considered: If I could drop a full step in a quality that was undetectable in the mix, I could write songs in A which is lower than what I can tune on any scale lengths that my short stature allows me to play comfortably.
My low B is by now 070 and even at Bb it's already too flappy for my taste.
 
Winther said:
I don't know if this really has much priority in Cliff's book but I would like to mention a reason for better pitch that may not be even considered: If I could drop a full step in a quality that was undetectable in the mix, I could write songs in A which is lower than what I can tune on any scale lengths that my short stature allows me to play comfortably.
My low B is by now 070 and even at Bb it's already too flappy for my taste.
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Good point. But remember that you can never get a completely undetectable pitch shift. Pitch-shifting the whole guitar—body resonances and all—will never be the same as down-tuning just the strings.
 
Winther said:
TC were always strong in pitch type effects. They had suberb rack types already in the 90's so with the hardware evolution it's not too difficult to toss those same algorithms into a cheap pedal.
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Not sure what racks you are thinking of, but the $75 Mooer Tender Octaver (clone of the EHX POG) tracks a lot better than the AX8, so does the the $200 Digitech Whammy 5. Fractal has had 10+ years to work on this, so it should be in there by now too.
 
Rex said:
Good point. But remember that you can never get a completely undetectable pitch shift. Pitch-shifting the whole guitar—body resonances and all—will never be the same as down-tuning just the strings.
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I don't disagree at all Rex, but there are pitch shifters available that can do it. I'd much prefer to just drop the tuning as I find it almost vulgar to feel the body resonate at different frequencies but on the other hand baritone scales simply limit my abilities.
 
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chrisjnyc said:
Not sure what racks you are thinking of, but the $75 Mooer Tender Octaver (clone of the EHX POG) tracks a lot better than the AX8, so does the the $200 Digitech Whammy 5. Fractal has had 10+ years to work on this, so it should be in there by now too.
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I am referring to units like the TC G-major but plenty others too.
 
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