TC-Helicon - Voicelive3 Extreme - Guitar Notes
Press the Guitar button to enter the Guitar edit screen. For more information about editing Style, Level, Control and other parameters associated with each effect, see “Editing an Effect”.
Description
The Amp effect not only simulates physical amplifiers, but also provides controls for
- EQ (pre and post)
- Gain (pre and post)
- Tube/Transistor simulation and
- speaker emulation.
The level of EQ control in the Amp block is huge, providing controls for both the pre-gain and post-gain stage parametric EQ – something that most real-world amplifiers don’t offer.
There are multiple controls for each low, mid and high EQ including bandwidth (commonly known as “Q”) and frequency.
If you don’t like one or more of the factory Amp Styles, the EQ options allow you to change it to suit your particular taste and tone requirements.
Tips and tricks:
- On some amplifiers, what is called “PreGain” and “PostGain” in VL3X is called “Gain” and “Volume” respectively.
- More PreGain results in more distortion at high levels. If you want a crunchy or distorted sound, turn down the PostGain, adjust Pre-Gain until you reach the amount of distortion you like, then turn up PostGain until the output volume is similar to that of other guitar Presets. You can do this by ear.
- Styles that have “Clean”, “Crunch” etc. in their names can still be adjusted to have more, less or no distortion using the PreGain and Post Gain controls.
Links:
- Amp Style
- Pre Gain*
- Post Gain*
- Hit Control
- Low Post Gain*
- Mid Post Gain*
- High Post Gain*
- Pre Gain Stage Parametric EQ:
- Low Pre Gain
- Mid Pre Gain
- High Pre Gain
- Low Frequency Pre Gain
- Mid Frequency Pre Gain
- High Frequency Pre Gain
- Low Bandwidth Pre Gain
- Mid Bandwidth Pre Gain
- High Bandwidth Pre Gain
- Post Gain Stage Parametric EQ parameters:
- Low Post Gain*
- Mid Post Gain*
- High Post Gain*
- Low Frequency Post Gain
- Mid Frequency Post Gain
- High Frequency Post Gain
- Low Bandwidth Post Gain
- Mid Bandwidth Post Gain
- High Bandwidth Post Gain
- Speaker Gain
- Speaker Frequency
- Speaker Bandwidth
- Low Cut Frequency
- Global
* These parameters are displayed twice: First at the top of the menu to allow for quick access, then again in the respective section.
IN --> [Gate] --> [WahWah] --> [Comp] --> [3-band (Pre) EQ] --> [Tube Sim] --> [3 band EQ (Post)] --> [Speaker Emulator] --> [Trem] --> [Chorus] --> [Delay] --> [Reverb] --> OUT
Amp Models:
Acoustic | none |
Clean Brit | Marshal |
Cali Clean | Fender |
UK Clean | Vox |
Deep Clean | |
Bright Switch | |
Warm | boutique amp |
Little Thing | small amp |
Chicken Picker | |
Brit OD | |
AC Crunch | |
Chunky Brit | |
Lil Champion | |
Chime Drive | |
2×12 Combo | |
4×12 Crunch | |
Swamptone | |
Nasaltone | |
Brown | |
Scooped | |
Metallic | |
TC Electronic Dark Matter Pedal | |
OD Pedal | |
Dark OD Pedal | |
Distortion Pedal | |
BodyRez 1 (Acoustic - Flat) | |
BodyRez 2 (Acoustic - Shaped) | |
BodyRez 3 (?) | |
BodyRez 4 (?) | |
BodyRez 5 (?) |
PRE | POST | Speaker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low | Mid | High | Low | Mid | High | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Level | Freq | BW | Level | Freq | BW | Level | Freq | BW | Level | Freq | BW | Level | Freq | BW | Level | Freq | BW | Gain | Fc | BW | Lo-cut Fc | |||||||
5 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Setting | Acoustic | Clean Brit | Cali Clean | UK Clean | Deep Clean | Bright Switch | Warm | Range | |
Input Level* | -8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -9 to +60 dB | |||
Amp Gain* | +8 | -5 | 2 | 0 | -11 | -40 to 18 dB | |||
Mode | Tube | Tube | Tube | Tube | Tube | Tube vs Transistor | |||
AMP SAG | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 to 10 | |||
Pre EQ Level | Low | 0 | 0 | -10 | 5 | 0 | -18 to +18 dB | ||
Mid | 0 | 6 | -9 | -18 | -7 | ||||
High | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | ||||
Pre EQ Freq | Low | 98 | 160 | 207 | 160 | 138 | 20 to 20480 Hz | ||
Mid | 220 | 698 | 415 | 440 | 1244 | ||||
High | 5,915 | 3620 | 2416 | 3620 | 2712 | ||||
Pre EQ BW | Low | 0.25 | 1.00 | 2.68 | 1.00 | 2.04 | narrow (~0.1) to ~3 | ||
Mid | 0.25 | 0.74 | 1.00 | 0.14 | 0.74 | ||||
High | 1.18 | 1.00 | 3.09 | 3.09 | 2.34 | ||||
Post EQ Level | Low | 0 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 8 | -18 to +18 dB | ||
Mid | 0 | -4 | 0 | -12 | 0 | ||||
High | 0 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 12 | ||||
Post EQ Freq | Low F | 92 | 120 | 120 | 80 | 123 | 20 to 20480 Hz | ||
Mid | 1108 | 427 | 1016 | 1244 | 466 | ||||
High | 9390 | 3517 | 2416 | 3134 | 3620 | ||||
Post EQ BW | Low | .87 | 1.00 | 0.74 | 0.87 | 2.04 | narrow (~0.1) to ~3 | ||
Mid | .87 | 1.00 | 0.54 | 2.04 | 2.04 | ||||
High | 1.79 | 1.56 | 0.87 | 1.79 | 3.09 | ||||
Speaker | Gain | 0 | 0 | -6 | 0 | 0 | -20 to +20 dB | ||
FC | 20480 | 6451 | 4695 | 6451 | 4432 | 20 to 20480 Hz | |||
BW | .56 | 0.56 | 1.0 | 0.56 | 7.5 | narrow (~.1) to wide (~7) | |||
Lowcut FC | 20 | 45 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 20 to 160 Hz |
Description
VL3X’s Drive effect can act as a Boost, Drive or both.
Essentially, the Drive block has its own set of PreGain and PostGain parameters, which are independent from the Amp simulation block. When Boost is active, these settings replace the currently active Amp settings, changing your sound. There are a few preconfigured Drive styles – make sure you give them a try.
Parameters
The Drive effect block has the following parameters that allow you to adjust the effect:
- Drive Style
- Pre Gain
- Post Gain
- Hit Control
- Global
Tips and tricks
- Since the Amp settings are replaced by the Boost settings when Boost is active, it’s possible to make your amp quieter or less distorted when Boost is active.
- You should probably avoid setting PreGain and PostGain for the Amp and Boost blocks to wildly different values. You may encounter unwanted feedback or drastic volume changes. Test settings in rehearsal before trying them out at a gig.
- Boost can be used when playing acoustic guitar, simply to raise the level slightly for a solo etc.
Description
The Guitar Delay block works in the same manner as the Vocal Delay block. Please see “Vocal Delay effect block / tab” for an overview of the Vocal Delay block.
Parameters
The Guitar Delay effect block has the following parameters that allow you to adjust the effect:
- Delay Style
- Feedback
- Level
- Hit Control
- Source
- Tempo
- Filter Style
- Ducking
- Division Left
- Delay Left
- Division Right
- Delay Right
- Modulation Depth
- Modulation Speed
- Ducking Threshold
- Ducking Amount
- Ducking Time
- Feedback Left
- Feedback Left to Right
- Feedback Right
- Feedback Right to Left
- Low Cut Frequency
- High Cut Frequency
- Width
- Trails
- Global
Tips and tricks for working with the Guitar Delay effect
- There are benefits to using the same Delay division for both guitar and vocal effects. You can sync up the “taps” of the echoes on both signals and create some very interesting effects.
- With the above in mind, using similar – but different – Delay divisions can also be very effective. For example, try ¼ note on your Vocal and 1/8 note on the Guitar.
- “Slap” echo is a very common guitar setting for classic country music sounds.
- Using Delay effectively can make a very simply played guitar passage sound much more complex. “The Edge” from U2 makes heavy use of Delay.
- Using Delay briefly can highlight a portion of a song quite effectively. Listen to “Tangerine” by Moist. In the verses, they use a brief “Ping Pong” type delay to expand a mono guitar to the stereo field. (0:42 into the video) youtube.com/watch?v=6tkY81YGB44 (Sorry for the less-than-awesome video quality on this one.)
Description
The Guitar Reverb block works in the same manner as the Vocal Reverb block. Please see “Vocal Reverb effect block / tab” for an overview of the Vocal Reverb block.
Using surgical skills that would make Victor Frankenstein green with envy, we have transplanted TC-Electronic’s popular Hall of Fame Reverb pedal into VL3X’s Guitar Layer. Now you can enjoy the classic HoF sound alongside your vocal effects!
Parameters
The Guitar Reverb effect block has the following parameters that allow you to adjust the effect:
- Guitar Reverb Style
- Decay
- Level
- Hit Control
- Early Reflections
- Reverb Tail Level
- Predelay
- Ducking
- Low Color
- High Color
- High Factor
- Diffuse
- Global
- Modulation Speed
- Modulation Depth
- Ducking Threshold
- Ducking Amount
- Ducking Time
- Width
- Global
Tips and tricks for working with the Guitar Reverb effect
- Try using same style of Reverb for both Vocal and Guitar. This helps “glue” the two sounds together into a shared physical space.
- Using a very obvious Reverb during a solo section can help differentiate the solo from the rest of the song.
- If you are playing very fast, heavy music you may be tempted to use no Reverb at all. Typically, if you listen to a recording of this type of guitar sound, there will be a small amount of Reverb used. Try one of the “Cozy Corner” or “Wool” type Reverbs for a very subtle addition of the effect.
Description
Compression is used across almost all modern music production styles, from studio to live. In a nutshell, Compression “brings the loudest bits and quietest bits” of the music closer together in apparent volume, creating a more even sound.
For guitar, using compression can
- enhance sustain or attack,
- limit levels and/or
- smooth out your overall sound.
For acoustic guitar, it is common to use some compression full-time, while compression is often used during solos and boosted sections for electric guitar. That being said: Like with any other effect, there are really no rules. Use what sounds good to you!
In studio recording, Compression is common on almost every track or group of tracks.
Compression can raise the output level of your guitar – so be aware that it can also contribute to feedback.
Parameters
- Compression Style
- Threshold
- Ratio
- Hit Control
- Attack
- Release
- Makeup Gain
- Global
Tips and Tricks
- “Threshold” is the level at which the Compressor begins to affect the sound. The lower the Threshold (-30 dB is lower than -20 dB), the sooner the Compressor will engage.
- “Ratio” determines “how much” Compression takes place. Ratio is typically defined as “1:X ratio” where “X” is the number of decibels (dB) of reduction in level for every 1 dB over the “Threshold” value. This can sound confusing, but simply try to think of “lower Threshold and higher Ratio” as “more Compression”.
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