Vocal harmony - poly blocks

[themetallikid]

If I wanted to experiment with the poly blocks to liven up some chorus' or parts of songs.....what block and what settings would you recommend?  I'm a noob when choosing intervals for the harmonies.  

[DunedinDragon]

The vast majority of the time harmonies (other than oriental genres) tend to revolve around the basics of the 1 (tonic), 3, 5 and 7th in the key you're playing in.  Where you place them might vary depending on the sound you want to achieve.  For example if you're playing in the key of C and your tonic note is C, your basic harmonies will be E (3rd), G (5th), and B (7th).  However the sound of that harmony can have a different sonic feel if instead of going UP the scale, you go down the scale on some notes.  So the sound of a 1, 3, 5 will be different if you play it 1 (C), 5 (G) below the C, and 3 (E) above the C.  This often makes a harmony that feels tighter because all of the notes are closer in timbre.

 

That's just the very basics of harmonies which is a very complex study when you get into it deeper.  The main thing is that the harmony intervals usually need some minor adjustment out of the basic 1, 3, 5, 7 key of the song depending on the chord progression just as they do when you're playing lead.

[themetallikid]

Right, I barely know much regarding theory (on guitar much less vocals) when it comes to harmonies.  I follow what your saying, but I'm really just looking for something to add some 'spice' to my solo performances.  I dont want to sound like a full chorus' of myself, so thought some subtle added depth to my voice in parts would accent certain things.  

 

I know there is the doubler blocks (2 of them), however I dont run stereo and think I'd run into weird phasing issues.  

[silverhead]

Other than trying to apply the basic theory outlined above, you're really just left with trial and error. Throw stuff against the wall and see if anything sticks. Just like 'spices' when cooking, you either know what you're doing or you throw random stuff in and see how it tastes. You speak of soloing. When learning to solo did you learn scales and even intervals or did you just fly at it? Same choice here.

 

It might be worth studying the above a bit, and experiment. It matters whether you are in a major or minor key.

[PierM]

I wouldnt hold my breath on this experiment as when I tried, the result was a warble fest. I believe tracking and pitch algo arent fully suitable for voice.

[craiganderton]

On 6/21/2023 at 4:39 PM, themetallikid said:

If I wanted to experiment with the poly blocks to liven up some chorus' or parts of songs.....what block and what settings would you recommend?  I'm a noob when choosing intervals for the harmonies.  

 

Is there a reason you don't want to use the Twin Harmony? If you just want a major harmony, specify the Key, Major, and the amount of Shift (for a major harmony, it would be a 3rd). The voice quality isn't great, but if you slather some reverb and/or chorus to thicken it, and trim the high frequencies to remove the Mickey Mouse effect, it can give decent vocal support. The caveat is that you need to mix it as low as possible behind the main voice, consistent with hearing at least a little of it. Just don't expect miracles