Here are some things that would improve the pitch block, I think.
1. Smooth pitch quantize setting in Custom Shifter type
Currently when you bend between notes that have different shift values, the harmony interval jumps instantly as you cross 50 cents. For example, shifts of B = +3 and C = +4 won't produce a smooth bend from D to E as you bend from B to C, because it jumps from D +50c to E♭ +50c once you reach B +50c. (I posted about this in the Axe-FX II wish list about 10 years ago.) It's also impossible to have a harmony pitch hold steady when you bend. This would be the key to recreating chordal harmony schemes like the DigiTech IPS units were able to do, Satriani's "Why" being one example. Dual/Quad harmony types can already do this type of bend so I imagine this could be added to custom shifter type.
2. More options for non-scale notes in Dual/Quad Harmony types
a. Intelligent harmony types use a generic logic for non-scale notes where the harmony is moved up along with your note until you get closer to the next higher scale tone (last bit only applicable for scale intervals of 3 semitones or more). This tends to work fine when a part stays entirely within some scale, and allows vibrato on scale notes to always produce vibrato in the harmony, which is generally good. However when non-scale notes are played, the harmonies usually don't fit common examples of modal interchange. For example, if you're set for a third up or down in C major and play E♭ or B♭, the most likely harmony notes in some random song that did this would probably be C & G (for E♭) or G & D (for B♭). In other words, a temporary Dorian or Mixolydian sound. The current scheme would sound C & G♭ (for E♭) and G♭ & D♭ (for B♭), which aren't as common.
So here's an idea: It would often be more useful to treat non-scale notes as a raised or lowered scale tone, keeping the harmony in the chosen scale as if you played the non-altered scale note. For C major and most of its relative modes I think it would work best to consider non scale notes like this. The note spelling indicates whether it should be considered raised or lowered, e.g. C♯ means use temporary scale C♯ D E F G A B, not C D♭ E F G A B.
C♯, E♭, F♯, A♭, B♭
The two main exceptions I can think of for modes of the major scale would be E Phrygian or A Aeolian/minor, where the A♭ would be better treated as G♯.
b. "Scale notes only" pitch mapping: Instead of non-scale notes getting an in-tune harmony note using some kind of logic described above (2a), this would match any bend between scale tones with a continuous bend between other scale tones. In C major again for example, a C-D bend through a +3 harmony would bend E-F in the same time, instead of reaching F when you reach D♭ then holding like it does now. For parts where non-scale notes are only passed through during bends, this would sound better. You can hear the good version by bending E-F with a -3 shift, but the point here is that it's not always ideal to be playing the part with the smaller bend interval at all times.
3. Smooth fixed/diatonic bending option via voice shift/harmony modifiers
This would allow pedal-steel type bending with an expression pedal or switch w/ damping. Suppose the modifier range was set to min = 3 and max = 4. In C major when you play a C, the pedal/switch would bend the harmony from E to F. Play a D, harmony bends from F to G. Similarly in fixed harmony types, there's the master pitch which affects every voice and isn't always very useful with two or more voices. If the voice shift parameters could change pitch smoothly you could do a lot more things like glide between two (or three with proper modifier setup) different chord voicings.
4. Pitch Quantize = Stepped option for Custom Shifter type
This pretty much explains itself. Harmony notes will hold steady even if your note varies by as much as ±50 cents, as in dual/quad harmony types when using this setting.
5. Quad Custom Shifter
There are quad fixed and intelligent harmony types already. How about a 4-voice custom shifter to avoid needing two pitch blocks for 3 or 4 custom shift voices?
6. Linear (not exponential) damping for glide parameter in Diatonic/Arpeggiator/Custom Shift types
This would sound better. Currently with glide time high enough to be noticeable, the note spends too much time going from almost-in-tune to in-tune. For parts that don't need notes immediately in tune on fast lines, you could get a subtle pedal-steel sound, or slower diatonic glides on drones with controllers altering harmony values. Compare linear vs. exponential damping on a master pitch modifier with dual chromatic type to get an idea of the difference.
7. Increased detune range or separate 'semitone detune' parameter in Diatonic/Custom types
One application for this: You're using the virtual capo and there's a harmony part in a song. (Let's assume switching the VC off isn't an option due to open string use, or you just don't want to think in a different key for that part.) Normally you'd have to send the VC signal through another pitch block set for local tracking to get the proper harmony. This adds latency and mangles the signal a second time. Ideally if you had a second amp block available, the harmony would use your unshifted signal and its own amp in a separate path and sound better. That would require setting the key to the one you're really playing in (not the transposed key output by VC) along with a fixed detune/offset equal to the VC shift amount. Custom shift mode can cover this now in a pinch but that uses up custom scales and has its own issues with bends (see wish #1 above). Or you could get the VC shift plus one or three harmonies all from one pitch block in dual or quad diatonic mode. (However without a way to split input channels to 1 & 3 voices, this would mean having all shifts post-amp in the quad diatonic example.)
Another scenario: one diatonic and one fixed voice in a 3-part harmony. The most likely example of this in songs is probably triad-based 3-part harmonies that stay in one scale except for avoiding a diminished chord, so diatonic thirds plus a fixed fifth.
Having a "just make this note x semitones higher/lower" control would also help with misc. harmony things where a part briefly goes outside the scale/intervals happening otherwise.
8. Adjustable pitch correction range
This would allow harmonies to be more in tune when the shift intervals of adjacent notes vary greatly. That could happen with the proposed smooth bending option in wish #1, or with custom scales in dual/quad diatonic types. A perfect version of this might allow separate values for flat/sharp since it's easier to bend or pluck a note sharp. (A range of 0 to ±50 cents would actually make the pitch quantize parameter and wish #4 redundant.) Here's a visual example:
9. Arpeggiator: Pause & Step controls
Like the sequencer in the Controllers menu, but for the one in the pitch block itself.
1. Smooth pitch quantize setting in Custom Shifter type
Currently when you bend between notes that have different shift values, the harmony interval jumps instantly as you cross 50 cents. For example, shifts of B = +3 and C = +4 won't produce a smooth bend from D to E as you bend from B to C, because it jumps from D +50c to E♭ +50c once you reach B +50c. (I posted about this in the Axe-FX II wish list about 10 years ago.) It's also impossible to have a harmony pitch hold steady when you bend. This would be the key to recreating chordal harmony schemes like the DigiTech IPS units were able to do, Satriani's "Why" being one example. Dual/Quad harmony types can already do this type of bend so I imagine this could be added to custom shifter type.
2. More options for non-scale notes in Dual/Quad Harmony types
a. Intelligent harmony types use a generic logic for non-scale notes where the harmony is moved up along with your note until you get closer to the next higher scale tone (last bit only applicable for scale intervals of 3 semitones or more). This tends to work fine when a part stays entirely within some scale, and allows vibrato on scale notes to always produce vibrato in the harmony, which is generally good. However when non-scale notes are played, the harmonies usually don't fit common examples of modal interchange. For example, if you're set for a third up or down in C major and play E♭ or B♭, the most likely harmony notes in some random song that did this would probably be C & G (for E♭) or G & D (for B♭). In other words, a temporary Dorian or Mixolydian sound. The current scheme would sound C & G♭ (for E♭) and G♭ & D♭ (for B♭), which aren't as common.
So here's an idea: It would often be more useful to treat non-scale notes as a raised or lowered scale tone, keeping the harmony in the chosen scale as if you played the non-altered scale note. For C major and most of its relative modes I think it would work best to consider non scale notes like this. The note spelling indicates whether it should be considered raised or lowered, e.g. C♯ means use temporary scale C♯ D E F G A B, not C D♭ E F G A B.
C♯, E♭, F♯, A♭, B♭
The two main exceptions I can think of for modes of the major scale would be E Phrygian or A Aeolian/minor, where the A♭ would be better treated as G♯.
b. "Scale notes only" pitch mapping: Instead of non-scale notes getting an in-tune harmony note using some kind of logic described above (2a), this would match any bend between scale tones with a continuous bend between other scale tones. In C major again for example, a C-D bend through a +3 harmony would bend E-F in the same time, instead of reaching F when you reach D♭ then holding like it does now. For parts where non-scale notes are only passed through during bends, this would sound better. You can hear the good version by bending E-F with a -3 shift, but the point here is that it's not always ideal to be playing the part with the smaller bend interval at all times.
3. Smooth fixed/diatonic bending option via voice shift/harmony modifiers
This would allow pedal-steel type bending with an expression pedal or switch w/ damping. Suppose the modifier range was set to min = 3 and max = 4. In C major when you play a C, the pedal/switch would bend the harmony from E to F. Play a D, harmony bends from F to G. Similarly in fixed harmony types, there's the master pitch which affects every voice and isn't always very useful with two or more voices. If the voice shift parameters could change pitch smoothly you could do a lot more things like glide between two (or three with proper modifier setup) different chord voicings.
4. Pitch Quantize = Stepped option for Custom Shifter type
This pretty much explains itself. Harmony notes will hold steady even if your note varies by as much as ±50 cents, as in dual/quad harmony types when using this setting.
5. Quad Custom Shifter
There are quad fixed and intelligent harmony types already. How about a 4-voice custom shifter to avoid needing two pitch blocks for 3 or 4 custom shift voices?
6. Linear (not exponential) damping for glide parameter in Diatonic/Arpeggiator/Custom Shift types
This would sound better. Currently with glide time high enough to be noticeable, the note spends too much time going from almost-in-tune to in-tune. For parts that don't need notes immediately in tune on fast lines, you could get a subtle pedal-steel sound, or slower diatonic glides on drones with controllers altering harmony values. Compare linear vs. exponential damping on a master pitch modifier with dual chromatic type to get an idea of the difference.
7. Increased detune range or separate 'semitone detune' parameter in Diatonic/Custom types
One application for this: You're using the virtual capo and there's a harmony part in a song. (Let's assume switching the VC off isn't an option due to open string use, or you just don't want to think in a different key for that part.) Normally you'd have to send the VC signal through another pitch block set for local tracking to get the proper harmony. This adds latency and mangles the signal a second time. Ideally if you had a second amp block available, the harmony would use your unshifted signal and its own amp in a separate path and sound better. That would require setting the key to the one you're really playing in (not the transposed key output by VC) along with a fixed detune/offset equal to the VC shift amount. Custom shift mode can cover this now in a pinch but that uses up custom scales and has its own issues with bends (see wish #1 above). Or you could get the VC shift plus one or three harmonies all from one pitch block in dual or quad diatonic mode. (However without a way to split input channels to 1 & 3 voices, this would mean having all shifts post-amp in the quad diatonic example.)
Another scenario: one diatonic and one fixed voice in a 3-part harmony. The most likely example of this in songs is probably triad-based 3-part harmonies that stay in one scale except for avoiding a diminished chord, so diatonic thirds plus a fixed fifth.
Having a "just make this note x semitones higher/lower" control would also help with misc. harmony things where a part briefly goes outside the scale/intervals happening otherwise.
8. Adjustable pitch correction range
This would allow harmonies to be more in tune when the shift intervals of adjacent notes vary greatly. That could happen with the proposed smooth bending option in wish #1, or with custom scales in dual/quad diatonic types. A perfect version of this might allow separate values for flat/sharp since it's easier to bend or pluck a note sharp. (A range of 0 to ±50 cents would actually make the pitch quantize parameter and wish #4 redundant.) Here's a visual example:
9. Arpeggiator: Pause & Step controls
Like the sequencer in the Controllers menu, but for the one in the pitch block itself.
Last edited:
