The Virtual Capo is truly Amazing - but be extra careful how you program it when using Scene Ignore!

[BCy2k]

I guess this post is part cautionary tale, with a side of praise for the folks at Fractal at how truly great the virtual capo works. I did a show last Thursday where I only needed one or two presets to get through the whole gig. I had set up channel A on the pitch block to give me an Eb tuning - which I wasn't going to need for this particular gig.

I thought I had checked each of my scenes carefully to make sure the virtual capo wasn't going to be engaged unless I went to a FC layer I set up to physically and specifically select channel A (via a Per Preset switch) on the pitch block channel for such a need. I also set that channel to scene ignore so I could freely roam through any scene from there and remain in Eb tuning.

Well guess what happened? LOL - Yep.

Turned out 3 of my 5 scenes had the pitch block turned off - but set to channel A, where I have the virtual capo set a half step down. Which I did not realize. Somewhere along the way I turned on what I thought was channel B of the pitch block - which has my preferred detune setting for chorus. Suddenly I'm wondering why everyone is a half step higher than I am. I'm checking my tuning - it's spot on. So I just transpose what I'm playing and carry on, wondering WTF is going on? I started wondering if I missed a memo on a key change or something. We finish the tune and the next tune up is one I start. And I'm still in Eb. After the intro (which is just me and our vocalist) the rest of the band comes in - but they're a half step higher than I am. Now it was their turn to have a WTF moment.

It was an odd mix terror and hilarity. We're all looking at each other with that desperate twilight zone face - what is happening?!? Anyway at this point it's finally dawned upon me - oh shit - I must have turned on the virtual capo by accident somehow. My bandmates, being the accomplished pros that they are, immediately transpose their parts as needed and we get through the tune fine after that. Then I select a toggle to a different preset to reset that scene ignore and all is right with the world once again. From there we finish the show, with no visible scars at least, but man that was a wild moment I don't want to repeat again! Fortunately for me, the band thought it was kind of funny once I explained what had happened.

The next day I discovered and fixed the 3 scenes that led to this and corrected them. Pleased to report no such thing occurred at my gigs on Friday & Saturday, but let this be a lesson to all you kids. Don't be like me, be very careful when using the virtual capo and scene ignore. It really does work that good !! That is all, carry on.

Also, a 2nd pitch block really would be cool to have. If there is a way to make it "adult proof," all the better.

 

[chris]

With great power comes great oops moments.

 

[HarrySound]

I tried using it thinking it would be great but even with headphones on I can hear a lot of my guitar and so of course it sounded awful

 

[bleujazz3]

If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. Give a man an FM9 and the potential for messing up, he'll meet your expectations. Congratulations. We've all had those moments.

 

[Roadrunner]

I tried using it thinking it would be great but even with headphones on I can hear a lot of my guitar and so of course it sounded awful

Well.......replace your headphones OR.......turn the volume higher.
The V.C works amazing and it is a great thing specifically for live application, it saves you from carrying few guitars if your are using drop tuning etc.
I used it in many cases, always works as it should.

 

[jazzgtrl4]

I tried using it thinking it would be great but even with headphones on I can hear a lot of my guitar and so of course it sounded awful

i must suck at using it too, cant get it to work either..just looking to go down 1/2 step and its out of tune..is it really that im "hearing" my guitar? and not the FM9 or both so it sounds out.

 

[Roadrunner]

i must suck at using it too, cant get it to work either..just looking to go down 1/2 step and its out of tune..is it really that im "hearing" my guitar? and not the FM9 or both so it sounds out.

Try it in either live gig volume or headphones or simply record a track and than run it and see if you still hear it out of tune.

 

[bdrepko]

I guess this post is part cautionary tale, with a side of praise for the folks at Fractal at how truly great the virtual capo works. I did a show last Thursday where I only needed one or two presets to get through the whole gig. I had set up channel A on the pitch block to give me an Eb tuning - which I wasn't going to need for this particular gig.

I thought I had checked each of my scenes carefully to make sure the virtual capo wasn't going to be engaged unless I went to a FC layer I set up to physically and specifically select channel A (via a Per Preset switch) on the pitch block channel for such a need. I also set that channel to scene ignore so I could freely roam through any scene from there and remain in Eb tuning.

Well guess what happened? LOL - Yep.

Turned out 3 of my 5 scenes had the pitch block turned off - but set to channel A, where I have the virtual capo set a half step down. Which I did not realize. Somewhere along the way I turned on what I thought was channel B of the pitch block - which has my preferred detune setting for chorus. Suddenly I'm wondering why everyone is a half step higher than I am. I'm checking my tuning - it's spot on. So I just transpose what I'm playing and carry on, wondering WTF is going on? I started wondering if I missed a memo on a key change or something. We finish the tune and the next tune up is one I start. And I'm still in Eb. After the intro (which is just me and our vocalist) the rest of the band comes in - but they're a half step higher than I am. Now it was their turn to have a WTF moment.

It was an odd mix terror and hilarity. We're all looking at each other with that desperate twilight zone face - what is happening?!? Anyway at this point it's finally dawned upon me - oh shit - I must have turned on the virtual capo by accident somehow. My bandmates, being the accomplished pros that they are, immediately transpose their parts as needed and we get through the tune fine after that. Then I select a toggle to a different preset to reset that scene ignore and all is right with the world once again. From there we finish the show, with no visible scars at least, but man that was a wild moment I don't want to repeat again! Fortunately for me, the band thought it was kind of funny once I explained what had happened.

The next day I discovered and fixed the 3 scenes that led to this and corrected them. Pleased to report no such thing occurred at my gigs on Friday & Saturday, but let this be a lesson to all you kids. Don't be like me, be very careful when using the virtual capo and scene ignore. It really does work that good !! That is all, carry on.

Also, a 2nd pitch block really would be cool to have. If there is a way to make it "adult proof," all the better.

We had a similar experience, but using the Drop pedals. We had a guest band come up to play a couple songs which was a last minute thing. The other guitarist left his Drop pedal on from the previous song and me and the bassist turned ours off since the next song was in standard tuning. Needless to say the band started playing and it was pandemonium. So I go to quickly go to change mine thinking it would help but the bass was still standard. At this point the other guitarist turns his off and still a hot mess since mine was on. It was like an episode of Three Stooges. The band finally just stopped playing and we finally got things figured out.