HELIX PITCH TUNE DOWN PROBLEMS

[NIRYON]

Hello, I have a HELIX LT. I use the PITCH WHAM or SUMPLE PITHCto change the tunning down or up (depends on which guitar I use) But it sounds bad. While the pitch change is good it does have a wavering sound like a tremolo. with distortion playing loudly it is little noticeable but in clean tones it is very annoying. 

 

Im using 2.83.0 version and my setting is:

Interval -2 

position 100

cents 0

delay 0

shift level 100

mix 100

 

[DarthHollis]

The Helix range of devices are not polyphonic.  That means that it cannot handle more than one note at a time.  Also, the further you change the pitch the more of a difference you will hear.  Your settings look OK for a full step drop.  If you want a more accurate reading you will want to get a Digitech Drop or other polyphonic pitch shifter.

I have a video that compares the Helix to the Drop pedal. 

 

[foxmeister]

Helix doesn't currently support polyphonic pitch shifting, which means that these effects work ok for single notes but will exhibit the sort of artifacts you describe if you use chords.

Polyphonic pitch shifting is apparently being looked at for a future update, but it is some way off and certainly won't be in the next release.

[karlic]

Really looking forward to an update on the Helix Pitch Wham. I bought a Digitech Drop to compensate in the meantime, but it doesn't match up to the Kemper Transpose effect. I guess the Digitech is quite old now. I think there is room for Line 6 to do something great with this.

[cruisinon2]

4 hours ago, NIRYON said:

Hello, I have a HELIX LT. I use the PITCH WHAM or SUMPLE PITHCto change the tunning down or up (depends on which guitar I use) But it sounds bad. While the pitch change is good it does have a wavering sound like a tremolo. with distortion playing loudly it is little noticeable but in clean tones it is very annoying.

 

 

As already mentioned, there is no polyphonic pitch shifting, but volume is also very likely part of your problem. At low volumes, you are also hearing the guitar acoustically... and before you say "couldn't be", I promise you, it happens...every time you play at low enough volumes.The acoustic sound of the instrument is easily ignored when it's the same pitch as the sound coming from your speakers, but when those pitches are no longer the same (and especially at close intervals) you will hear dissonance. This is a well known phenomenon to anyone familiar with either the Digitech drop pedal or Variax users. You gotta turn up loud enough so that you're not hearing the guitar itself anymore...it's not an option.

[koraydemirci]

I'm experiencing the same sound problems. In previous models, the HD500/500x and Pod HD Bean pedals were not polyphonic, but there was no confusion when soloing with a single string. When you adjust the Pitch of the Helix it will result in low noise mixing even if you don't press the other strings. This situation made me sad. I bought it expecting this feature to be better in the new pedal released by Line6, but the old pedal is better now.

 

 

Please give an update on this. This will make Helix invincible.

[theElevators]

Well there is polyphonic pitch shifting. The “along came poly” update. We now have “poly capo” which works pretty darn well if you run it first thing in the chain. 
 

This update was 3 years ago.  Helix is now up to version 3.7. 
 

 

[koraydemirci]

I have Poly Capo, but when playing alone the quality drops and I don't get real-time responses. There is no loss of quality or distortion of response when playing solo in Simple Pitch, but it tries to transpose the frequency given by the other vibrating strings of the guitar and confusion occurs.

I'd like you to try this too.

[theElevators]

On 12/25/2023 at 7:02 PM, koraydemirci said:

I have Poly Capo, but when playing alone the quality drops and I don't get real-time responses. There is no loss of quality or distortion of response when playing solo in Simple Pitch, but it tries to transpose the frequency given by the other vibrating strings of the guitar and confusion occurs.

I'd like you to try this too.

Yeah, there is a noticeable lag with poly capo.  You can try to play around with parameters to make it less hi-fi, but faster -- this is what I did.  Try these parameters values:

Interval: -2

Tracking: X Fast

Auto EQ: 7

Mix: 100%

Level 0.0 db

 

I place this in the very beginning of the signal chain.  And for regular rock n roll, it's good enough for me to play one song.  I wouldn't play the whole set on this preset, though.

 

 

 

Also depending on the guitar you have, you may want to boost the initial signal, or the opposite--cut the initial signal before it gets to the transposition block.  To boost/cut the signal, you can try a boost pedal (from distortion section), or a fixed volume pedal that sets the volume at for example 40%.  You can also try a compressor before/after it. 

 

 

 

 

You can also try legacy blocks as well to transpose your guitar.  I have used "Pitch Wham" in the past.  I simply removed the expression pedal assignment from it and left it fixed.  It was pretty decent for playing single lines and chords.  Give that one a try.  No parameters there to alter your sound, so just set it to have the correct interval and off you go. 

 

For octave down, I just use "Smart Harmony" and set the interval to be an octave lower.  I place it right before the amp block.  Shift -8th, Mix at 50%, Level at 0.0 db

[DunedinDragon]

On 12/25/2023 at 7:02 PM, koraydemirci said:

I have Poly Capo, but when playing alone the quality drops and I don't get real-time responses. There is no loss of quality or distortion of response when playing solo in Simple Pitch, but it tries to transpose the frequency given by the other vibrating strings of the guitar and confusion occurs.

I'd like you to try this too.

I use the Poly Capo all the time with no problems such as those you refer to.  I've used it both on acoustic as well as electric, but it's pretty much always at the very beginning of my signal chain before any amps or effects.  I never had much luck with Simple Pitch which just has too many audio artifacts.

[PierM]

Im also using the Capo and I cant get any of the problems above. Real time responses? Of course they are realtime, and latency is pretty good especially for small intervals. To me sounds like you are placing the pitch block in the wrong spot in the chain. 

[datacommando]

On 12/26/2023 at 12:02 AM, koraydemirci said:

I have Poly Capo, but when playing alone the quality drops and I don't get real-time responses. There is no loss of quality or distortion of response when playing solo in Simple Pitch, but it tries to transpose the frequency given by the other vibrating strings of the guitar and confusion occurs.

I'd like you to try this too.

Hi,

 

Forum contributor @craiganderton has just updated his e-publication - “The Big Book of Helix Tips & Tricks 1.4” which has a whole chapter dedicated to Poly Block Techniques. I don’t want to directly lift information provided in Chapter 4, but Craig does suggest that the poly option is better suited to strumming and chord work, and simple pitch is better for single-notes. My guess is that you might need to work on your technique, as it appears what you are describing is sympathetic vibration from undamped strings “causing confusion”.
 

You may wish to purchase a copy of “The Big Book of Helix Tips & Tricks 1.4”- available from Sweetwater.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AndertonHX-e--sweetwater-publishing-the-big-book-of-helix-tips-and-tricks

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[koraydemirci]

I play electric Baglama and you usually try what I say with Distortion sounds and these problems are not understood. What I said above, you should also add no distortion etc. with your guitar. I would like you to try it with a clean guitar sound without turning it on, then you will understand the problem.

[DunedinDragon]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:53 AM, koraydemirci said:

I play electric Baglama and you usually try what I say with Distortion sounds and these problems are not understood. What I said above, you should also add no distortion etc. with your guitar. I would like you to try it with a clean guitar sound without turning it on, then you will understand the problem.

As I said above, I use the Poly Capo all the time, but mostly on an acoustic guitar with no amp block.  You don't get any cleaner than that and I have no problems with it.