Happy Jack

My Zoom V3 hasn't arrived yet (due tomorrow) but I thought I should spend some advance time trawling YouTube for reviews, demonstrations, and 'how to' videos. What an absolute hoot. For most of the gear I've bought in the last few years I've done the same, and I've become used to slick, informative videos prepared by professionals ... I simply wasn't ready for the torrent of amateurish dreck that was waiting for me. Ignoring the occasional video clearly created & narrated entirely by AI (very easy to spot still, though that will change), the dozen or so videos I've checked fall into three main camps: I can't sing and I have very little idea of what I'm doing but hey, listen to the funny noises it makes; I don't have any musical gear to use alongside it so my demos are all pointless but hey, listen to the funny noises it makes; I am running my "channel" on such a tight budget that I'm having to route a vocal effects processor through a bass amp (srsly - I'm not making this up) but hey, listen to the funny noises it makes. None of these presenters seem to have any live performance experience or knowledge of what use a live performer might have for this sort of pedal. One guy representing a big music store in NYC genuinely suggested that people should buy this pedal because "it's kinda fun to have around". Not so much an Influencer as a Flatulencer.

That's a lovely thing. For some reason (God alone knows why) I assumed that this would be a cheap bass, so I looked them up. Oops.

Depends on how angry you are.

You haven't lived until you've heard Lovely Day sung in a robot voice ...

Yup. I'll continue to use the H1 with my rock'n'roll band where it's all The Jordanaires, but I was singing last night with my covers band where I find myself being forced to take on more lead vocals, and I wonder whether the V3 could have a part to play there.

My curiosity piqued by all the above, I've just bought a pre-owned Zoom V3.

Harmoniser pedals are a great example of Less Is More. I'm not a big fan of either the Critical Mass (owned one & used it live) or the TC Helicon VoiceLive (watched a lot of videos), but the H1 pedal is absolutely my sweet spot. I do 70 gigs a year using that pedal frequently during 3-hour gigs. It sounds great every time and draws a lot of positive comments.

Mairants occupied a site that was guaranteed to be part of a major redevelopment scheme ... the whole area around the old Rathbone Street sorting office is gradually being demolished and replaced by enormous mixed-use blocks. Given that they were off piste anyway, I was surprised they stayed in business (at that location) for as long as they did. My guess would be that (unusually) they owned the freehold of their building and were waiting for a staggeringly ginormous offer to sell.

OK, I have to admit that using one of these pedals with a trumpet was just not on my radar.

Do bear in mind that I always have my harmoniser pedal at waist height so that I can set it (accurately) before each song. I never have it on the floor as a stomp box. My go-to remains https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/TC-Helicon-VoiceTone-H1-Intelligent-Harmony-Vocal-Processor/FXN?origin=product-ads&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22236638134&gbraid=0AAAAAD_kjLSYoaPe6Vki0IoZkWZzVzzfh&gclid=Cj0KCQiA49XMBhDRARIsAOOKJHY-Tzg4DBE4he920WXLzBmRI_WU576QgGSrAn_FsciO1nnn4gCQ8SwaAgsdEALw_wcB I've used mine at hundreds of gigs, on every type of stage, and I am completely comfortable with it ... how it works, what it does. As previously mentioned, I have some pitch correction in front of it to avoid trainwrecks, which is particularly important when singing BVs (which is exclusively what I use it for) since a Cher-style warble would likely throw off the lead vox too. The TC Harmony Singer seems to be only operable by your guitar (?or bass) but costs the same as the TC Helicon VoiceTone H1, so that's an easy no-no for me. The key issue here is that I must be able to dictate to the pedal exactly what key to base its harmonies off, rather than relying on it to recognise the harmonies I want from my bassline. That's what the H1 delivers for me with no risk of suddently going off piste. I'm not familiar with the offerings from EHX and others so I really can't comment - though I will say that the EHX Intelligent Harmony Machine looks deeply scary. If you're talking lead vocals and need to add auto-BVs then you should probably take a look at the TC Helicon Voice Live series but please don't treat that as a recommendation ... personally I'm not a fan, and I think a lot of these pedals are obsessed with the number of silly noises they can make. Biggest surprise is probably the Mooer Harmonier. I have a lot of time for Mooer pedals and their sensible pricing strategy was most welcome when they emerged a few years back, but this pedal is just strange. It manages to combine maximum awkwardness in live use with a price double that of the TC Electronics equivalent. Go figure.

The last time I watched Eurovision it was being presented by Katie Boyle ...

Almost certainly Yes. The default (detente) position is at 12 o'clock which is "mild" pitch correction ... only someone with acute hearing will spot that it's even happening. I tend to keep mine set at 1 o'clock which is - obvs - a bit more aggressive, but then I'm using it in front of a harmoniser pedal. If you can find your way to Harrow, you're welcome to come and try out my selection.

And of course you don't actually need to build off the root. In major keys, you can get some very interesting harmonies by building off the 3rd or 5th of the chord, and in minor keys you'll find you have to build off the root of the relative chord or you'll get some horrendous clashes. It's important to treat a harmoniser pedal like an instrument (a keyboard would be a good comparison) rather than a pedal. You need to understand how it works, and then experiment with it to find the settings you need. To make that happen, either record your singing so that you can play it back and listen properly, or find a collaborator prepared to fiddle with the settings while you sing.

Hi Kevin, first up there's nowt wrong with a single harmonising BV ... it seemed to work pretty well for Simon & Garfunkel. 🤣 On harmoniser pedals, though, the only limiter is your own imagination. The one I use offers eight different settings in each key, so straight away that's a lot of options. If the song is in A and that's the root note being played then yes, it's likely that LV will be singing an A and your harmonies will be built off that same root. No action is needed though, since the harmoniser will probably be generating three notes (A, C and E perhaps) with a combined volume equal to a single voice. Plus the BVs will be set lower in the mix. The A that you contribute will likely be about 1/5th as strong as the LV's A.

Unisex? UNISEX???

That's a 'Farnham conversion' by Abbott's of Farnham, a famous coach-builders who spotted a gap in the market when Ford failed to offer an estate version of the Zephyr & Zodiac. AI Overview: Zodiac Farnham conversions were estate car, or station wagon, variants of the Ford Zephyr and Zodiac (MkII, MkIII, and MkIV) saloons, coachbuilt by E.D. Abbott Ltd in Farnham, Surrey, between the mid-1950s and early 1970s. These rare, high-quality conversions featured extended roofs, unique rear tailgates, and sometimes bespoke GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) components. Abbotts sourced brand-new cars direct from Dagenham, then did the conversion to Ford standard, re-using as many components as they could. That tailgate looks odd because it's actually built around the original rear windscreen. The completed vehicles were then sold through official Ford dealers. I had to buy a Farnham simply because it was the only classic car that would accept a 7/8 DB.

I've had two Powersoft units for a long time; the one I bought from @Acebassmusic was a replacement for one I sold in a fit of absent-mindedness during Covid. Wonderfully light (in context!), totally reliable.

Yup, fun to be there, and of course I got put with a "character" as well which is why we ended up playing Move It On Over as a 13-bar, a novel approach and one with many advantages. 🙄 Nice jam that. Decent venue, loads of free parking over the road, good selection of beers, above all a very friendly bunch. Made a nice change from "Slow Blues in G" and foot-on-the-monitor, braindead Dadrock ... What's that you say, Sooty? Would I like another extended guitar solo? Oh well ... if you insist ... https://www.facebook.com/groups/772330602298385

Always surprises me when eBayers (and others) put "Location = London". Big place, London. Very big. Really very big indeed. In terms of travel times, it's the equivalent of giving your location as "somewhere in the Midlands". I'm in Harrow, NW London, and I can get to Birmingham faster than I can get to Catford or Dagenham. Not really a rant, as such, more a vague musing about how inept some sellers are.

Well I'm real, you can trust me on this ... I know exactly which squares contain traffic lights. Meanwhile, my rig has spent the last 18 months in constant evolution and for tonight's gig will comprise TWO of these CK61s on an uber-lightweight 2-tier ally stand. Both signals go through a Zoom L6 micro-mixer which then feeds my wired in-ears and the FoH PA. The L6 attaches to the lower keyboard with velcro, and the 6-way gang attaches to the ally stand with velcro & cable ties. I sold the Korg Kross (despite the brass sounds being just brilliant) and the Hammond SK1 rarely gets a run-out ... which is a shame because it's a lovely piece of kit. My CK61s are set up to be absolutely identical; I can switch from keyboard to keyboard on the fly should I need to, knowing exactly what sounds I have where, and should one CK61 ever die during the gig then I have a replacement right in front of me. I use no Midi, no controllers, no triggered sounds. Everything I play is deliberately bog-standard sounds that come with the keyboards (with the usual tweaks, natch) generated live on stage. I'm immune from wi-fi interference, Windows updates, and re-booting DAWs. Both CK61s fit in a single case which is a 1-man carry from the car, and the IEMs mean that I don't need to bring backline or monitoring to gigs where @Silvia Bluejay is running the PA. I'm not claiming that these things have the quality or the functionality of a ModX or a Nord or whatever, but what they have (in spades) is practicality, simplicity, ease of use. I might not want to use a CK61 at the O2 London or Newcastle (offer me a gig there and you'll find out) but it's a perfect keyboard for pub'n'club gigs around the Home Counties.

I thought Martin had finished writing Game Of Thrones?

In truth, not as bad as I feared. For a first attempt we deliberately used far more glue than we probably needed, because my main concern was having the whole kludge fall apart the first time I took it out of my ears. Next time, we'll be a lot neater.

So, three months later, did this work for you?