craiganderton

Wow, that's very kind of you! My biggest reward is I love my gig :) I don't have anything like Patreon or post music on Bandcamp, I try to make what I do as affordable as possible. The best way to support me is to spread the word about what I do. You can hear my music at youtube.com/thecraiganderton. My new album ("Unconstrained") is going up within the next week, if you like it let people know about it. Participate in my forum at musicplayer.com (which also has an online shop with some of my products, and a dedicated support forum for my books), visit craiganderton.org, and buy my books and presets (there will be more at the Line 6 marketplace at some point)...that's pretty much everything. And of course, take anything you learn from me and make some great music, so we all can listen to it!

Poly Pitch uses a more complex algorithm because it can do slides. Poly Capo uses slightly less CPU. FYI I've sometimes had good results putting the Poly Capo between the Amp and Cab, as well as after the Cab. This is particularly the case with leads.

Yes, Poly block likes clean audio. But also consider inserting a High and Low Cut filter before the Poly Capo. If you're tuning down, trim the low frequencies. There's no reason to make Poly Capo transpose low frequencies into the subsonic rdange (this isn't just about notes, but artifacts below the range of the guitar's lowest pitch). For example, when I downtune -5 semitones, I'll usually set the Low Cut to around 80 Hz. But, just adjust it for the best sound with the least artifacts, given the part you're playing. Similarly when transposing up, I'll use the High Cut filter.

Did the data for DSP consumption come from Ben Vesco's site, or did you arrive at these figures independently? I was thinking of including DSP consumption stats in version 1.2 of The Big Book of Helix Tips and Tricks, but if I do, I'd want to know who to credit. Currently, the book includes a link to Vesco's web page.

If I don't use up all the available blocks in a preset, I'll use a separate Amp and Cab instead of an Amp+Cab. The miking is a big deal with the new Cabs, so when I find a setting that rocks my world, I save it as a Favorite. Then I can use it with other amps if appropriate, or at least try it and see if it gives the same magic results. I know, that's not exactly earth-shattering :) But I do find it useful to save selected new Cabs as Favorites.

I often use a High and Low Cut filter before the Poly Capo to condition the signal prior to processing. If you're doing low tunings, reduce some lows so Poly Capo doesn't try to transpose its input into the subsonic range. If transposing up, reduce some of the highs. This can improve the sound. The biamped Poly Capo preset below for low tunings (which wouldn't have been possible without the 3.50 cabs!) shows what I mean. It tunes down -5 semitones and still sounds pretty good. Also, not sure if this was mentioned before, but Poly block processors should go before most processors. The only exceptions are dynamics and some EQ blocks, if they're not doing anything too extreme.

With some gear you can just run a firmware update again to solve a problem, but other gear will get bricked if any error occurs. I HIGHLY recommend an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for your computer. Power glitches happen more frequently than most people realize. A UPS can usually deliver power for long enough to complete a firmware update if it's covering only your computer and a monitor. Also, if you have SSDs in your computer, they're very sensitive to power issues. Operating without a UPS is a gamble regarding the life of your SSDs.

Here's the section on the Dynamix from my eBook, The Big Book of Helix Tips and Tricks (v1.1). FYI - For those who already have the book, the free update to v1.2 with the new goodies from 3.50 is [finally!] coming out this month. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dynamix Flanger This flexible flanger has three control options: LFO, Envelope, or Manual. This is a complex effect, particularly with Envelope control, so we’ll cover each control option as if it’s an individual effect. LFO Control Fig. 2.31 shows the controls that affect the LFO mode. Figure 2.31 The relevant controls for LFO mode. Speed (Rate), Depth, and Mix are standard LFO flanger controls. Phasing chooses two different flanging characters. Negative values produce in-phase flanging, which gives a more resonant sound. Positive values create out-of-phase flanging, for a more hollow sound. At 0, there’s no flanging effect. Also at this setting, there’s no audio with Mix set to 100%. Recycle adds feedback, which emphasizes the Phasing parameter’s effect. Max Delay sets the longest point of the flanging sweep, up to 100 ms. Chorusing and chorused echoes are available at longer delays, with low Depth settings. If the delay is long enough to give audible echoes, Recycle adds repeats to the echo effect. CV Tracking changes the sweep direction, so that it spends more time at the top part of the sweep. It’s more useful for Envelope control. Envelope Control With this control mode (fig. 2.32), the flanger’s sweep responds to the dynamics of your playing instead of an LFO. Hitting your string after a brief period of silence triggers (or re-triggers) the sweep. Until the next silence, the sweep tracks your dynamics. Mix, Phasing, Recycle, and Max Delay work as described above. Figure 2.32 The relevant controls for Envelope control mode. Note that the envelope controls interact. Referring to fig. 2.33, here’s how they work: CV Dynamics sets the sweep range, based on your dynamics. With low settings, playing dynamically covers a narrow sweep range. Higher settings cover a wider sweep range for similar dynamic changes. Env Input matches your playing’s dynamics to the sweep range. Set this so that hitting the strings hardest covers the highest part of the sweep set in CV Dynamics. When first triggered, CV Tracking determines whether the initial sweep goes from high to low (Normal), or low to high (Invert). CV Decay sets the initial sweep time, from X1 (barely noticeable) to X4 (still fairly fast, but obvious). It also smooths the envelope, so with chords, the envelope sweeps smoothly instead of jittering. Env Lag introduces a slight delay before the sweep starts. Note that when re-triggered from silence, the 0.0 ms setting seems to be the same duration as the 100 ms setting. For minimum Env Lag, choose a 0.1 ms setting. Fig. 2.33 shows the relationship of these parameters for a decaying guitar chord with maximum Env Lag, and a long CV Decay. Figure 2.33 How the CV Dynamics, Env Lag, and CV Decay parameters interact. Manual Control With manual control (fig. 2.34), no parameters are affected by the LFO or the Envelope. The remaining parameters work as described for LFO and Envelope control, and they are good candidates for use with the Expression Pedal. Figure 2.34 Parameters that are relevant to Manual control.

If you have a Helix Floor and HX Stomp, you can open both of them in HX Edit, and drag-and-drop blocks between them - no cut/paste required. Unfortunately, you can't drag and drop from Native into an HX Edit window.

The amount of improvement depends on several factors. With a clean amp or single-note leads with any amp, you probably won't hear a significant improvement because there's no intermodulation distortion. With tonic+5th power chords, the improvement will be noticeable, but not earth-shaking. You'll hear the biggest improvement with amps that have considerable distortion, when playing chords with 7ths, 13ths, 9ths, etc. that push more frequencies into the amps. The audio example I did in this later post shows what I think is a considerable improvement in terms of clarity and definition.

You can always split the amps in parallel, but then mix them and follow the mixer with a single cab. The new cabs do draw a lot less DSP, but using one cab instead of two might be enough to let you add some extra effects. As to metal, there's a sweet spot between "clean" and "filthy" amps where this technique is most effective. But it definitely does improve high-gain amps. Have fun!

Uninstalling before reinstalling might also help.

Thi is a little off-topic, but I was steadfast against stereo for live performance for, well, decades. However, I eventually realized I was going about it wrong. The object was not to use stereo to create a distinct left/right image, but to act more like using two different amps/cabs powered by different effects close to each other, which added together into a single, wide sound. The bi-amp thing works well for that.

Also consider setting a parametric stage to a narrow cut, with a sharp Q. Slowly vary the filter frequency, and see if a specific frequency reduces the harshness. With most amps, it's around 2 to 4 kHz.

Thank you for the comment, it's worth discussing. You're correct that large alternating changes with a non-linear-phase graphic EQ can cause phase shifts. However, I've tested the 10-Band EQ technique vs. the Crossover Split, and unfortunately the Crossover Split introduces more phase shift. If you want to check it out for yourself, split a guitar track into two buses. Insert the Helix in one of the buses, and enable the Crossover Split. Sum the split's outputs back to mono in the Helix. Set both buses to the same approximate volume. As you vary the crossover frequency, you'll hear significant, audible phase shifts going on between the Helix track and dry track. If you try the same setup using the 10-Band EQs, you'll hear virtually no difference when mixing the Helix and dry tracks together. If you mute one of the tracks, you won't hear much change either, except for level. The reason why we can get away with this is because as you said, the issues involve large alternating changes. There's no boosting happening, only cuts. You can reduce any possible phase shifts even further by cutting only -6 dB instead of -15 dB. However, the benefits of using -15 dB cuts outweighs any potential phase issues. The main problem I have with the Crossover Split is that it's not particularly useful for stereo because the highs are on one side, and the lows on the other. That doesn't mean it can't work, but using the dual graphic EQs gives a more even frequency distribution to the left and right channels. So, you can have wide stereo images, that also collapse well to mono. The other limitation is with traditional bi-amping, you're still feeding a continuous range of frequencies into each amp, which is more prone to producing intermodulation distortion. Having individual, separated frequency ranges is what reduces the intermodulation distortion, and provides the main benefit of this technique. Yes, I am a nerd :)

Here's a demo that shows the difference better, because it uses more complex chords that send more frequencies into the amps. The first section uses this technique with two Grammatico Jump amps (and FWIW the inherent stereo is summed to mono). The second section uses a single Grammatico Jump amp. The difference is most noticeable toward the end of each section. Higher-Def Helix Amp.mp3

I'm happy to say your request has already been covered :) The first sample and the third sample are identical, except for spreading the outputs of the amps in the third one. So, the first one actually is the mono sum of what's in the third sample. One of the reasons I came up with this was to have easy stereo/mono compatibilty for studio and stage. There's no delay or phase-based processing involved, so mono summing works extremely well. The 10-Band Graphic EQ has some minor phase shifts because it models analog EQ, but the audible results are of no real consequence. If it used a linear-phase design it would be perfect, but I don't think most Helix owners would be able to cope with the latency, or DSP power, that linear-phase EQ would require. Maybe I'll do another audio example with complex chords, where the difference is more obvious between the processed and unprocessed sounds. But stereo summed to mono would still sound the same as mono.

I've learned a lot about multiband techniques since writing the original book, and doing the multiband preset pack - it's a continuous process of refinement. This approach was one of those "what if...?" experiments that I stumbled on, and worked beyond my expectations. There's always something new to discover in Helix!

Cool! The amount of improvement depends on what you play and how you play it. For example, you probably won't notice any difference with single-note solos. But you'll hear a major difference with big, full chords that include 7ths, 9ths, etc. Basically, the more frequencies coming out of the guitar, the more youi'll hear a difference.

For me, mic placement is helpful. But what really boosted Helix for me compared to the original was when the engine went to higher internal resolution.

I came up with this technique for the upcoming Helix book 1.2 update, but I wanted to share the concept with the forum prior to publication because I'm pretty excited about it. I haven't seen this kind of approach done before. My sonic holy grail is "clean distortion," which is why I like multiband presets. They reduce intermodulation distortion, which can create a splattery, undefined sound quality. This technique is about a simpler option that nonetheless increases definition, especially for high-gain amps. Place the same amp in parallel, and precede each one with a 10-band graphic EQ. Send alternate bands into the two amps. Sending frequencies that are further apart into each amp keeps the frequencies from interfering as much with each other. This interference is what creates intermodulation distortion. Note that the EQ's output levels are up +6 dB to compensate for less signal going into the amp. The improvement is most obvious when you're playing, but these three audio examples should help get the point across. With each example, the first part uses this technique with the Fullerton Jump. The second part uses one instance of the Fullerton Jump amp with the same settings. Both parts are level-matched to create the same LUFS (perceived level) reading. With Chords, you'll hear how there's more splatter with the single instance. Strums shows how strums are less defined with a single instance. Stereo takes advantage of the two amps to create a stereo spread. The difference isn't as big as using 3 or 4 frequency bands of distortion, but this technique does lead to a more defined sound quality (especially for amps with heavy saturation) and leaves enough DSP power to add other effects. I hope you find it useful! Chords.mp3 Strums.mp3 Stereo.mp3

Ha! It took me a while too. I guess Native is like an actor who gets typecast :)

In multiband presets, I often trim the cab filters to keep out frequencies that aren't needed. For example, in a high-frequency band, setting the low cut to around 400 Hz can clean up the overall sound. In a low-frequency band, I'll trim the highs.

Don't overlook what it can do with vocals and drums. Also, a lot of the synched effects do incredible feats with EDM/synth material. Helix Native is a fantastic plugin by any standards, not just as an amp sim. Truth!

Perhaps my favorite part about 3.50 is how much more efficient the cabs are. You can create much more evolved presets because there's enough CPU left over.