TC HELICON VOICELIVE PLAY REVIEW
Posted on Mon 12 March 2012 in entries
You can read more reviews like this, along with Tony’s productions at his personal site ->Tony Long Music.
VOICELIVE PLAY - INTRODUCTION
In my last review, I looked at a great vocal product from TC Helicon - The VoiceLive 2 vocal stomp-box. However, TC Helicon have obviously decided to also market a new product for those on a budget, by producing the VoiceLive Play, which was announced at NAMM 2012 and is available immediately, which makes a very pleasant change from having to wait months!
TC Helicon seem to have approached the VoiceLive Play from a slightly different angle by stating that the "VoiceLive Play gives you two hundred plus song & artist presets to choose from, helping you create amazing vocals. Plug in your MP3 player and sing along with your favourite tracks or create instant HIT effects for your own songs".
Well, if it still has that professional sound and allows you to get the same effects as used by your favourite artists, all at a third of the cost of VoiceLive 2, then I think I need to give this pedal a look!
VOICELIVE PLAY - OUT OF THE BOX
Compared to the VoiceLive 2, we are dealing with a much smaller and lighter unit, but it is also a more up to date product. Size-wise it is 200mm wide x 156 mm deep x 45mm high, which equates to 7.9 inches x 6.1 inches x 1.8 inches and it only weighs 2.1 lb. (0.95 kg). As you take it out of the box you will see that it is a bright retro-blue (dual die-cast clamshell design) metal floor pedal with just three footswitches for Preset Up/Down and a HIT switch. It appears to have a clear but simple LCD, but as of yet I am not sure about the colouring of the 6 soft buttons (3 either side of the LCD) as to how well you will be able to see them on a poorly-lit stage. Under the LCD is the main data knob and either side of this knob are forward and back arrow buttons and a 'Back' and 'Store' button.
So the VoiceLive Play has considerably less controls than the VoiceLive 2with just 10 buttons, 3 Switches and 1 knob as well as the LCD, but how will it shape-up in use?
VOICELIVE PLAY - MAKING CONNECTIONS
Connections are very simple and obviously there are not as many as on the VoiveLive 2. From left to right you have the 12V DC (0.4A max) power connection, a small USB-B port (for control, MIDI and audio I/O data exchange with a PC/Mac, managing presets and up-dating Firmware), a Headphone Out 1/8" mini stereo jack, 'Main' balanced Left and Right XLR outputs, a 1/4" pedal input (which allows you to connect a * TC Helicon Switch 3 pedal for control of looping, etc.), an Auxiliary 1/8" stereo mini jack socket for you to connect things like an MP3 player (the VoiceLive Play will even try to figure out the key or scale of the music from the source*- very clever, and lastly there is a singular XLR Mic Input. It is also worth noting that as you set up your microphone, the VoiceLive Play provides you with an indication of the mic input level by way of a small LED to the left of the LCD, labelled 'IN', which changes from green to red and is controlled by a small knob on the left-hand side.
VOICELIVE PLAY - TURNING HER ON
As soon as you switch the VoiceLive Play on, you realise that you will never have trouble seeing the button names because they are very brightly backlit in white, making them very clear. I thought that, before I go any further, I should have a look at the manual, which doesn't seem too intimidating with only 30 pages. TC have also been a little inventive when it comes to the manual as near the start, they have three pages that are each headed up: 'How do I use this thing?', and this section is then divided into the following sub-categories:
1. I've got nothing - just a VoiceLive Play and some headphones!
- I've got a microphone, headphones and an acoustic guitar, electric guitar with an amplifier, acoustic piano or electric piano with speakers.
- I've got a mic , PA system and play with a band. I'd like the harmonies to be in key automatically.
- I want to sing along, Karaoke style, with my mp3 player or through my computer.
I think that this way of trying to guess the most common methods of use is very handy, but I suppose that there are many more possible scenarios. Although I think that they have done a good job with the manual, I think that they should have included one for recording in your studio as well.
Ok, so we are all powered up and I am ready to try out the many presets, but I think one of the first questions that comes to mind is: 'What is the 'Hit' button and how does it work?' Sorry for the pun but it doesn't immediately 'hit' me. After all, it is the main button on the unit and it goes off and on, but I am unsure what this means.
Apparently every preset has an effect that you can build upon by pressing the 'Hit' button. Each time you press the Hit button, a new effect or set of effects are added to the current displayed patch. If you press and hold it, it will go into 'Talk' mode so that you can talk to your audience with no effects. I will explain later how you add specific effects to the 'Hit' button.
Ok, back to the presets and I immediately like some of the names I am seeing, such as Jagger Moves, Kanye Lockdown, Jaylo on Floor, Edge of Gaga, American Grnday, Taylor Sparks, Pink Money, How to Love Lil, Hold On Corn, Summer 1969, Want U2 Want Me, In My Coldplace, Cali Hotel, Bring Me 2 Life, Rollin Deep, Smile Avrill, FeelGd Gorillas, Soldier Dixies, Blue Rhimes, Easy Flatts, 50 Cent Candy, Don't Tread 311, Tru Faith, Baby Bieber, Fix U, Pokerface, Living on Prayr, Dog Days Rover, Party Anthem, Apologize Tland, Viol Hill, Go Yr Own Way, Running on MT, U Give Love B-N, Like TN Spirit, I still haven't, Dire Str8z Walk, Evenflow Jam, Off Spring Job, California Katy, Come 2Gether, Enter Metallica, Paradise Rose, November Guns, Don't Stand So and Beastie Shout.
With this list of examples, I have hopefully given you an idea of the range of songs and artists that have inspired presets on the VoiceLive Play. I would not be too worried if your favourite song or artist has not been included here though, as what you need to think about is using one of these patches as a starting point and tweaking it to your own requirements. You could even change it totally and discover the next 'Hit' effect.
The VoiceLive Play has a 'Genre' button, which allows you to easily browse the many presets so that you can quickly choose a suitable style. If you just press the 'BACK' button, it will return you to the main window where you will be able to navigate through the presets of your selected Genre. It is also worth noting that the presets can be associated with multiple genres. Another great idea from TC is that you can also download new, free(!) artist presets every month from VoiceSupport - how cool is that?
As well as the Genre Button, the VoiceLive Play also has a 'Favourite' button, which seemed to become more and more useful, the more I used the Play unit. Here, you can simply add the current patch as a 'Favourite' and the word 'FAV' will appear in the top right of the LCD. Once you have done this, you will be able to view and list your favourite presets from the 'Genre' screen, which can act as a Set List.
Also included inside the box is a region-specific power supply, a USB cable, the User guide, a TC-Helicon Sticker and a 1 year warranty for parts and labour.
VOICELIVE PLAY - NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
The VoiceLive Play has eight effect blocks, which are: µMod, Echo and Delay, Reverb, Harmony, Double, Transducer, Hard Tune/Correction and Tone. These effect blocks can be either 'Off', 'On', or assigned to the 'Hit' Switch or the Mic switch on TC's own * MP-75 Microphone *. To assign these effects, you need to use the 'Control' option, which you will see when you press the soft 'Effects' button.
• µMOD gives you effects to modulate the sound with 24 styles covering Flange, Chorus, Pan and Phase.
• For ECHO and DELAY, you have 18 styles and 13 filters to select from. The styles have pingpongs, multitaps, dots and slaps, whilst the filters give you tape, analogue, digital, radio, low fi, megaphone, and high and low cuts.
• REVERB has 28 Styles to choose from, giving you the usual spring, plates, halls, rooms, chambers, clubs and arena reverbs.
• HARMONY has four Key modes: Auto, Room Sense, Shift and Key. If you select 'Auto', it will get the key from either the AUX input (if you have something connected), or from the currently set key if there is nothing connected.
'Room Sense' is an interesting option as there are two mics that pickup sound from two slits in the blue chassis of the VoiceLive Play. These mics seem to listen to what is around and attempt to work out the key from what it hears. I tried this out next to my keyboard that I was playing and it found my key of G minor so this option is great for if you are practicing with a band.
'Shift' very cleverly measures the pitch from the note you are singing and works out the harmonies to prevent them ' jumping' from note to note.
Lastly, 'Key' simply gives you the choice to select any of the 12 keys. It is also worth noting that the Room Sense mics could be used for headphone practice without a mic connected and/or add ambience to your headphone mix as some singers like to have some Reverb in their headphone mix to assist their singing.
• DOUBLE uses TC Helicon's intelligent harmonising and provides you with small differences in timing of two voices. I really like this effect as it gives my own voice a 'thicker' sound. In fact, I am such a fan of this effect that I thought it was a shame that there were only four types of it included in the VoiceLive Play; '1 Voice Tight', 'Voice Loose', '2 Voices Wide' and 'Shout'.
• HARDTUNE gives you that well known Cher or Kanye West auto-tune effect and there are three parameters for you to adjust - Shift, Gender and Style. 'Shift' can take the note you are singing and shift it up or down in semi-tone steps, up to an octave in each direction. 'Gender' does what it says on the can and makes you sound more masculine or more feminine. 'Style' applies one of seven styles- Pop, Country Gliss, Robot, Natural Correction, Chromatic Correction, Drone or Gender Bender to the sound.
• TRANSDUCER adds filters and overdrive components to your sound. It has three parameters - Drive, Filter and Style and there are 8 styles to choose from - Megaphone, Radio, On the Phone, Overdrive, Buzz Cut, Stack, Tweed and Combo.
• MIX has 6 parameters - 'Voices' to control the level of all voice generated effects, 'USB Level' to adjust the incoming USB signal, 'Out Level' to control the overall output level, 'Delay/Reverb' to alter the level of any Delay and Reverb effects simultaneously, 'Room Sense' to control the level of the Room Sense mics and 'Headphone Level' to adjust the volume of the headphone output.
VOICELIVE PLAY - PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE
The VoiceLive Play provides you with two great features to assist with practicing your vocal lines. Whatever your singing ability, everyone needs to rehearse to ensure that they can sing their part in key, are able to phrase it properly and get the timing right, know where and how to breath, learn new melodies, or work out harmonies or different phrasing parts. It is however, always more productive if you can have some fun so that you enjoy your practice.
TC Helicon have made a 'Practice' mode feature, which very cleverly analyses your singing in real-time and you can actually see how the pitch correction is working. For this, I would recommend that you take it off the floor and put it at a suitable reading height so that you can watch it as you are singing, without straining your eyes! This has just given me an idea for DAWs. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have your DAW with a vocal recording mode so that you could see this on a large screen as you are doing your vocal takes?
The practice mode gives you six pieces of information - the Range, covering the lowest and Highest notes that you sing, your Longest note held (displayed in seconds), your accuracy, which is displayed as a percentage, how sharp or flat you are singing on average and 'problem notes sharp' and 'problem notes flat', which are lists of the notes that you have missed the most.
The other feature is called 'Sing Along with Vocal Cancel'. With this feature you can plug in your MP3 player via the AUX In connector to play the song you wish to learn and then use a clever feature called 'Vocal Cancel', which lowers the level of the vocals on your MP3 track so that your own voice stands out. As well as this, you can also record and play back your performance using the USB connection to your PC or MAC.
VOICELIVE PLAY - LOOP THE LOOP
One other function that is certainly great for creative fun is the real-time Vloop performance looper, which allows you to have complex layers of vocals all looping around, giving you a complete and individual performance whilst you are turning effects off and on. This could also be used as a practice tool or song-writing aid as it certainly gets your brain thinking as to what you should be singing over the top of your first vocal loop and so on. There is also an 'Undo' and 'Redo' function and if you are lucky enough to have TC Helicon's * MP-75 microphone *, you can use the Mic Control button as a looping remote control.
VOICELIVE PLAY - CONCLUSION
The VoiceLive Play provides you with a selection of fantastic vocal effects, for playing live or for use in the studio. It is not complicated and will instantly appeal to some people, simply because it is not as intimidating as other professional vocal products such as the VoiceLive 2.
The main thing that I discovered about the VoiceLive Play was how easy it felt to use whilst you are singing. At first, I wasn't too sure what to expect when I saw that it only had three switches, but in use its simplicity means that you can fully concentrate on your vocal performance and that to me is what it should be about.
With many of the features found in their flagship vocal processors and a few great new ideas on top, all at an incredible price, I am sure that the VoiceLive Play is going to be a 'Hit'!
For more information on the TC Helicon VoiceLive Play or VoiceLive 2, click the links below. There is even a special combined guitar/vocal edition of the VoiceLive Play, called the VoiceLive Play GTX...
TC Helicon VoiceLive Play - More Info/Buy