Pitch shifting/harmonizer for vocals - always a bad idea?

[neonblack]

My bandmate has a vocal harmonizer pedal, I cant remember what kind, but we play in a noise rock band and I'm considering using it in some way. Is there any way to do it that isn't cheesy? Or is it always going to sound like dumb garbage?

[BoatRich]

I’ve definitely gotten some really creepy sounds running vocals through octave pedals/a pitchfactor. You could always run some reverb after it?

[neonblack]

Yeah, I've definitely thought about getting a vocal reverb or maybe one of those DBA echo masters but every time I have money for toys I end up buying a guitar pedal.

I think the one he has is a TC electronic. I'm sure they make a cheap enough vocal reverb

[ognoy]

Listen to the first Battles record.

[odontophobia]

Listen to the first Battles record.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpGp-22t0lU[/youtube]

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

I'm not a fan of 100% wet pitch shifting, but reverse reverb or delay with increasingly brighter/darker repeats is pretty cool. And I think that holds for any instrument, including vocals.

[lordgalvar]

G.I.S.M. M.A.N.

[crochambeau]

Does it have multiple outputs that you can assign different harmony parts to?

I think with enough erosion in your signal path you can make anything sound wonderful.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

yea just abuse it and it should be great. throw some fx before so it tracks wild or after so it sounds different
dont just use it to "make harmonies" basically. get creative

i have the boss vocal dude and its got the whole range of fx in one. pitch, harmony, preamp, eq, delay, distortion, reverb. its a lot of fun to muck around w.

[BoatRich]

Yeah, I've definitely thought about getting a vocal reverb or maybe one of those DBA echo masters but every time I have money for toys I end up buying a guitar pedal.

I think the one he has is a TC electronic. I'm sure they make a cheap enough vocal reverb

The sickest thing about the Echo Master is honestly the effects loop. Being able to put a bunch Of Pedals on your board in the feedback path is so sweet. I really want one.

[resincum]

I actually recorded vocals yesterday and the engineer slapped an octaver on all the vox and it made everything sound hella fat. trick was to dial the mix back or else it was super cheesy for sure..but into some reverb and I sounded like a monster

[neonblack]

I know they use an octave down on some of the vocals on the new Daughters, and St Vincent has used it on some things to pretty good effect.

I just need to save it for the extra noisy parts probably. We haven't gone super noisy yet, it's mostly just weird riffs so I don't wanna get too wacky with the vocals over fairly tame music

[Jwar]

It depends on the song and it depends on how much you are using. It can be used well for sure and has been. I used some very light octave recently in a song I did a cover of as well and it's all about the mix as stated above. I think the same applies to any effect with vocals.

[Chankgeez]

Maybe trying singin' through a Green Ringer?

[neonblack]

That actually sounds like a great idea Chank!