DigiTech VOCALISTWEX Manual
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DigiTech VOCALISTWEX Manual

DigiTech VOCALISTWEX Manual

Vocal harmony processor with reverb
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VERSION EX 1.2

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  • Page 1 VERSION EX 1.2...
  • Page 2 Canada V8M 1Z6 DigiTech Vocalist Performer February 19, 1997 Peter George, Vice President of Engineering conform to the following product specifications: European Contact: Your local DigiTech Sales and Service Office EMC: EN 55022 (1987): CISPR 22 (1993) Class B International Sales Office...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS Program List ............2 Introduction .
  • Page 4 Vocalist Workstation EX Program List Program Name Program Type Control Hints Silky Thickener Auto Doubling Sing or play a vocal track. No front panel or MIDI Stereo Doubler input required Mono Doubler Group Doubler Octave Down Octave Up Up and Down Blow Me Down Special Effects Sing or play a vocal track.
  • Page 5 Workstation EX. This product incorporates a high quality, editable rever- beration effect with the innovative vocal harmony technology that has made DigiTech a world leader in vocal harmony processing. We are con- fident you will be satisfied with its ease of use, elegant ergonomic design and sound quality whether your application is live performance or studio recording.
  • Page 6 AC & GROUNDING INFORMATION WARNING FOR YOUR PROTECTION, PLEASE The Vocalist Workstation EX is equipped with an AC adapter. READ THE FOLLOWING: Use only the 9.75V AC, 820mA adapter supplied with the Water and Moisture: Appliance should not be used near water Vocalist Workstation EX (Harmon Pro Group PS750).
  • Page 7 FCC COMPLIANCE This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the lim- its for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

  • Page 8: Front Panel

    SETUP Front Panel 1) LCD display Provides visual feedback of all operating modes including performance, edit- ing and utility modes. 2) LED displays The Input LED monitors the incoming signal from the Mic and Line inputs. The 0dB LED lights 3 dB before the onset of clipping. The MIDI LED indicates that the Vocalist Workstation EX is receiving MIDI.
  • Page 9 Song mode is for editing and performance of ÒsongsÓ which are sequences of chord changes, key types and variations triggered by MIDI, the front panel, or a footswitch. 4) Data Wheel In Factory, User and Song modes, the Data Wheel selects and loads pro- grams.

  • Page 10: Back Panel

    The MIDI Thru jack transmits an exact copy of any MIDI information received at the MIDI input. 4) Footswitch input This is for connection to a DigiTech FS-300 footswitch to provide remote control of Bypass, Program and Song functions. 5) Headphone output 1/4"...

  • Page 11: Audio Connection Examples

    FX Send FX Return or Line Input on the Lead and Harmony voices, i.e. EQ, compression, or an external mic preamp such as the DigiTech VTP-1. Connect as follows: ¥ Connect the microphone to an input channel of your mixer.

  • Page 12: Midi Connection Examples

    MIDI Connection Examples Basic MIDI Setup MIDI MIDI MIDI Vocalist This setup could be used for a live performance or live recording THRU Workstation situation. The Vocalist Workstation EX can recognize the chords MIDI you play and output the appropriate harmony or you could use a Jacks Vocoder preset to play the exact harmony notes you need.

  • Page 13: Setting Levels, Generating A Good Signal

    PERFORMANCE This chapter discusses the main operating features of the Vocalist Workstation EX. It begins with setting the correct levels and proceeds with discussions of the different harmony modes and their uses. We assume that you have connected your Vocalist Workstation EX according to the diagrams on the previous pages and that you are familiar with the other devices in your system.
  • Page 14 Loading Programs The Vocalist Workstation EX is shipped from the factory with the first factory program selected once it is powered up. Turn the Data Wheel knob to scroll through the different factory programs. Programs are loaded automatically as you turn the wheel. Programs can also be loaded via MIDI program change.

  • Page 15: Loading Programs From The Front Panel,The Lcd Display Window .12 The Harmony Controls, Understanding The Five Harmony Types

    Current Harmony Style Full Name This 12 character field shows the full name of the current Harmony Style. The style naming conventions are are described in the ÒUnderstanding the Five Harmony TypesÓ section. The Harmony Controls For musically correct harmonies to be generated automatically, you must provide the Vocalist Workstation EX with some musical information.

  • Page 16: Chordal, Scalic

    The Vocalist Workstation EXÕs five basic harmony types are: ¥ Chordal These three Harmony types need musical control from you as you are singing. ¥ Scalic ¥ Vocoder ¥ Chromatic These two Harmony types are for more specific uses. Chromatic doesn't require any special musical control.

  • Page 17: Vocoder

    Programs based on Scalic harmony have a selection of different scales you Note: Scalic har- can choose from by pressing the softkeys. For example, the ÒEverlysÓ pro- mony programs gram (#36) has 3 different major scales and two minors as do many of the that generate a other Scalic-based programs.
  • Page 18 Chromatic Chromatic mode does not require the Vocalist Workstation EXÕs intelli- gent harmony because the harmony notes always remain a fixed interval away from the input note. This harmony type is used in programs that fea- ture unison, octave, or fifth interval harmonies. You do not need to enter key information when you load Chromatic harmony programs.

  • Page 19: Using Styles

    EDITING This chapter describes the general principles of editing in the Vocalist Workstation EX and the individual editing modes in detail. To reduce the amount of redundant information, the general procedures, menu system and controls are described at the beginning of the chapter followed by detailed discussions of each of the edit parameters.
  • Page 20 The Edit Button When pressed from Factoryor User Programs mode, the Edit button pre- sents the Parameter/Style Select screen. Once a parameter is selected, another press of the Edit button enters the Style Modify screens. When pressed from Songs mode, the Edit button presents the Arrangement screen.

  • Page 21: Gender

    The Left and Right Arrow Buttons These buttons are active only when you see the characters dis- played in the upper corners of the LCD. They allow you to access the various editing screens in Factory, User, Songs and Utilities modes. Pressing the arrow buttons presents the next or previous edit screen.

  • Page 22: Detune

    style or, to create a new Gender style from scratch, load one of the blank styles (BlnkGend #) and then press the Edit button. 4. Press the softkeys below the LCD to select which voice you want to modify. 5. Turn the Data Wheel to change the Gender assignment for the select- ed voice.

  • Page 23: Vibrato

    4. To modify the amount of Detune effect on the first voice, turn the Data Wheel. Press the softkeys below the other voices to select them for editing. The softkeys can also be used to change values. 5. To edit the Randomness parameter, press the Right Arrow button to move to the next edit screen.

  • Page 24: Scoop

    3. Select a different style preset using the Data Wheel. If you are satis- fied with loading a different style, refer to the ÒStoring your EditsÓ section on page 30. Press the Edit button again to modify the cur- rent Vibrato style or, to create a new Vibrato style from scratch, load one of the blank styles (BlnkVibr #) and then press the Edit button.

  • Page 25: Reverb

    Vocoder Scoop Threshold (Vocoder styles only) With a Vocoder style currently loaded, this parameter allows you to pro- duce a scooped harmony note only when you hit a keyboard note (or notes) above a certain velocity. The MIDI velocity range can be set from 0 to 127 although you will most likely be using the higher velocities.

  • Page 26: Mix

    Room Type There are 5 room types available: Studio, Chamber, Club, Hall and Arena. The difference between them is the timing of the reflections. Decay Time This determines the amount of time it takes the particular room you have chosen to stop reverberating. Each room type has a slightly different range of decay times: Studio: .1-1 seconds, Chamber: .2-2 seconds, Club: .5-2.5 seconds, Hall: 1.5-4 seconds, Arena: 2-20 seconds.
  • Page 27 Harmony/Lead Mix This parameter varies the mix between your uneffected input voice and the sum of the harmony voices. Both settings are interactive, that is, set- ting either sets both. The relative levels are displayed in percent. Harmony Voice Levels The volume of each of the four voices are adjusted independently.

  • Page 28: Harmony Editing, Changing Softkey Assignments

    5. To change the panning of the lead voice, press the Right Arrow but- ton to move to the Dry Pan screen. Turn the Data Wheel to change the pan position as described in the individual pans. To change the Harmony Reverb Wet/Dry mix, press the Right Arrow button to move to the Harmony Reverb Mix screen.

  • Page 29: Editing Individual Harmony Styles

    mented 7th chord assigned to any of the softkeys, you could change its assignment from something you donÕt need such as a diminished 7th. Changing the Style Assigned to a Softkey: 1. Use the Data Wheel to select the program you want to edit and press the Edit button.
  • Page 30 Chordal harmonies allow you to choose intervals that belong to the current chord type only. The range is plus or minus 2 octaves with a separate bass voicing. The Bass voicing stays on the chord root and does not move with your voice like the other voicings.
  • Page 31 ered modes create thickening on single or two part harmonies. The 4 MIDI Channel mode allows individual control of each of the four harmony voic- es for complete pan position stability and independent pitch bend. Transpose (Vocoder and Pitch Correct only) In Vocoder mode, this feature allows you to transpose your harmonies +/Ð...

  • Page 32: Customizing A Harmony, Naming Programs And Styles

    When you are satisfied, press Store once or Exit twice to save your changes. See ÒStoring Your EditsÓ at the end of this chapter for more details on saving. Level 3: Customizing A Harmony Customizing allows you to determine exactly which notes are produced for any given input note.
  • Page 33 4. Press the Left Arrow button twice to locate the Ò[Edit] to Note: If you want to ref- CustomizeÓ screen. Press the Edit button. This presents the Custom erence your harmonies Harmony Voicing screen showing the note assignments for the har- to any other key than C, mony style you have chosen.

  • Page 34: Storing Your Edits

    Storing your Edits There are two ways to save your edits using the Store function: 1. Program Store - This is the term for saving any change you make such as attaching a different humanizing style to a program, loading different harmony styles or changing the mix.

  • Page 35: Midi

    UTILITIES Overview The Utilities mode allows you to make global (affecting all programs) configuration changes to the Vocalist Workstation EX, including MIDI channel assignments, audio configurations, program, song and style ini- tialization and user preferences. To enter and exit Utilities mode: Press the Utilities button in any of the other operating modes includ- ing Programs, Edit, and Songs modes.
  • Page 36 The Key & Harmony channel allows you to select different keys or Note: If you decide to chords (depending on the harmony type) and any of the eight different use the option of access- harmony styles assigned to a program via MIDI. ing styles by MIDI pro- gram changes , the key The 4 MIDI Channel Vocoder setting allows each of the four individual...

  • Page 37: Midi Selection Of Key And Harmony

    MIDI Selection of Key & Harmony Controlling your harmonies can be done through MIDI as an alternative to using the front panel. You have the option of independently selecting key or chord root and style. There are several ways in which this can be done to provide you the most flexibility in live performance or sequenc- ing.
  • Page 38 Controller 16 is a MIDI continuous controller that can be used to select key and harmony together. The Vocalist Workstation EXÕs front panel keyboard and softkeys transmit this information over MIDI when you press them and can be recorded and played back from a sequencer. Each button has its own CC16 value and is shown in the following graphic: MIDI Notes give you another way to combine program changes and key and harmony changes into one MIDI channel.
  • Page 39 Program Change messages can also be used to select key and harmony simultaneously. The following table shows how they are assigned. The top row represents the softkeys, the keyboard represents the chord root or key and the table shows the resulting program change number. To choose MIDI Key &...
  • Page 40 blow into a breath control device. It is with CCÕs that you introduce dynamics and emotion into your harmony performance. Vocalist Workstation EX parameters you can modify by continuous con- Note: All CC’s except trol and their default MIDI mappings: Volume (CC7) reset to their default values ¥...
  • Page 41 This utility can also control the reception and transmission of program changes. This is handy if you want the Vocalist Workstation EX to retransmit any program remappings you have created. These messages are sent from the MIDI Output jack The program change receive and transmit options are: ¥...

  • Page 42: Midi Keyboard Split Point, Midi Song Utilities

    To set the Vocoder mode split point: 1. Press the Utilities button from any mode; this presents the Note: The split UTILITIES main menu. point is only available for the 2. Press the MIDI softkey; this presents the MIDI Utilities sub-menu. single channel Vocoder modes.
  • Page 43 Any incoming Song Select command can be: ¥ Mapped to the same song number in the Vocalist Workstation EX ¥ Mapped to any other song number ¥ Ignored by the Vocalist Workstation EX (no change from previously loaded song) To edit the MIDI Song mapping: 1.

  • Page 44: Midi Program Dump Utilities

    The Vocalist Workstation EXÕs MIDI Dump Utilities allow you transmit Note - Supporting earlier programs, songs, and utility settings as MIDI system exclusive messages DigiTech Harmony prod- to other Vocalist Workstation EXs, or computer-based sysex (system ucts: To maintain compati- exclusive) librarian programs for future retrieval.
  • Page 45 To dump a single program to another Studio Vocalist : Press the Utilities button from any mode; this presents the UTILITIES main menu. Press the MIDI softkey; this presents the MIDI Utilities sub-menu. If you are dumping all programs to a sysex librarian, ensure that the librarian is ready to receive a sysex dump.

  • Page 46: Initialization Utilities

    Press the Store button to dump the song; the unit will display ÒDumping...completedÓ after about one second to indicate that the dump is finished. Press the Utilities button once again to exit; this will return you to the mode from which you entered. To dump all songs to another Vocalist Workstation EX or a sysex librarian: Press the Utilities button from any mode;...
  • Page 47 or a sysex librarian program for later retrieval. (Refer to the MIDI Dump Utilities section above for help.) An easy way to free up memory in your Vocalist Workstation EX is to occasionally initialize all unused user styles. This procedure will initial- ize only the styles which are currently not used by any program, so there is no danger of changing the sound of existing programs.

  • Page 48: Footswitch Utilities

    Footswitch Utilities The Vocalist Workstation EX Footswitch Utilities allow you to reconfig- ure the functions of the DigiTech FS300 3-button footswitch to meet your personal preferences. Any button on the FS300 can be configured to control: ¥...

  • Page 49: User Utilities

    ¥ Song up (Sng ) ¥ Song down (Sng ) ¥ Song Step up (Stp ) ¥ Song Step down (Stp ) ¥ Data up (Dat ) Note: The Data up and down parame- ¥ Data down (Dat ) ters allow you to duplicate the Data The default switch assignment for the FS300, from left to right, is Wheel using your...

  • Page 50: Synthesizer Mode

    To enable or disable voice editing of intervals: 1. Press the Utilities button from any mode; this presents the UTILITIES main menu. 2. Press the User softkey. 3. Press the Right Arrow button. 4. Use the Data Wheel to toggle voice editing of intervals on or off as desired.

  • Page 51: Audio Utilities

    4. Use the Data Wheel to set the desired synthesizer volume level. 5. Press the Utilities button once again to exit; this will return you to the mode from which you entered. Audio Utilities There are several important audio parameters that you can adjust to opti- mize the performance of the Vocalist Workstation EX.
  • Page 52 4. Use the Data Wheel to increase or decrease the Bass Rejection Threshold as desired. 5. Press the Utilities button once again to exit; this will return you to the mode from which you entered. Anti-feedback Control The Anti-feedback Control is useful for reducing high frequency feed- back in live or other high volume applications.

  • Page 53: Playing, Creating, Editing, Naming, Arranging Songs

    Òon the flyÓ. Song mode also pro- vides a convenient way to select key or chord change sequences from a Digitech FS300 footswitch. Choose different Styles, scales or special effects by entering them into a list that can be stepped through, almost like a manual sequencer.
  • Page 54 you step through the songs, you will hear and see the step number incre- ment and the current chord names and styles change. Depending on which demo song you have chosen, you may see the program change also. Creating Your Own Songs The arrangement and section editing screens in Song mode make it easy to create your own songs for non-MIDI performance.
  • Page 55 Section Letter Key or Chord Step Number Program Number Program Name Step Insert/Delete Name Editor 6. Press the Insert softkey to add a new step to your section. This pre- sents the Step Insert screen. In this screen you can choose a different chord root or key, harmony style and program for each step in this section.
  • Page 56 4. Use the Data Wheel, softkeys and keyboard to enter the new infor- mation. The Arrow buttons are still active so you can make changes to additional steps. 5. Press the Exit button twice to exit and store your changes if you decide to keep them.
  • Page 57 If, however, you have other parts of your song you would like harmonies in, you will probably want to create some more sections and then piece them together in the Arrangement editing screen. To create more sections: 1. Repeat steps 1 to 4 above. Make sure to load the song you have just started even though it may still be called ÒBlank song #Ó.
  • Page 58 Changing Song Keys (Transposing) If you want to change the key of your song to accommodate a different singer or a sore throat, you can do so with the Song Transpose feature. All of the chords in your songs will automatically shift to the new key and you can decide whether to temporarily change the key or make the change permanent.
  • Page 59 BASIC HARMONY CONCEPTS Overview A well-crafted vocal harmony can do a great deal towards enhancing a musical selection. The contrast between a lone singing voice and a group of voices signing together makes the music that much more interesting. But harmonies can be somewhat difficult to understand, so in this chap- ter, we will try and demystify this process.
  • Page 60 The opposite of a diatonic harmony is chromatic. A chromatic scale is defined as: a scale type that uses all 12 semitones. Notice that the previous scale example had 8 notes. The chromatic scale uses all the sharp and flat notes in between as well. There are 12 of each of the major, minor, etc.
  • Page 61 a group of notes within one octave that falls in one of the following scale types; Chromatic, Major, Minor, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Wholetone, Diminished, Dorian and ÒBluesÓ. In the previous example showing the principle of diatonic harmony, we were showing a scalic harmony. That is, one whose harmony notes only fall within the notes that belong to that particular scale.

  • Page 62: Specifications

    Workstation is turned off, this may be due to a dead battery. Take the Workstation to a DigiTech dealer or service centre to have the battery replaced. In normal use, a battery should last three to five years.
  • Page 63 IVL Technologies MIDI Implementation Chart Date: February 1998 Vocalist Workstation EX Version: 1.10 Function... Transmitted Recognized Remarks Basic Default Channel Channel 1-16 1-16 Memorized Default Mode 3 Messages Mode Altered ******** Key&Harmony Select, Vocoder Note 0-127 0-127 & Pitch Correct, Song Step Number True Voice 24-102...
  • Page 64 .6=edit MIDI MESSAGES MIDI PARAMETER EDIT format (edit buffer) : format: Example: procedure number 5Dh procedure number 60h PACKED { effect number query type (1=edit buffer) style number data size hi parm number data size lo value MSB (0,0,0,0,0,0,value lo.7,value hi.7) data value hi (6-0 bits) value lo (6-0 bits)
  • Page 65 byte 2 : data 1 byte (6-0 bits) MIDI EDIT BUFFER EDIT byte 3 : data 2 byte (6-0 bits) format: byte 4 : data 3 byte (6-0 bits) procedure number 5Ch byte 5 : data 4 byte (6-0 bits) PACKED { byte 6 : data 5 byte (6-0 bits) edit buffer data...
  • Page 66 MIDI SYSEX Dump 1 Vocalist Workstation EX Program Formats F0h - Beginning of SYSEX Message 00h 00h 10h - DigiTech Product Identifier SYSEX Header xxh - Channel # (7 bytes) 36h - Vocalist Workstation EX Device ID 42h - Procedure number (Dump 1 Program)
  • Page 67 MIDI SYSEX Dump 1 Vocalist Workstation (non-EX version) Program Formats F0h - Beginning of SYSEX Message 00h 00h 10h - DigiTech Product Identifier SYSEX Header xxh - Channel # (7 bytes) 35h - Vocalist Workstation 1.0 Device ID 42h - Procedure number (Dump 1 Program)
  • Page 68 MIDI SYSEX Dump All Vocalist Workstation EX Program Formats F0h - Beginning of SYSEX Message 00h 00h 10h - DigiTech Product Identifier SYSEX Header xxh - Channel # (7 bytes) 36h - Vocalist Workstation EX Device ID 42h - Procedure number (Dump 1 Program)
  • Page 69 MIDI SYSEX Dump 1 Studio Vocalist Program Formats F0h - Beginning of SYSEX Message 00h 00h 10h - DigiTech Product Identifier SYSEX Header xxh - Channel # (7 bytes) 24h - Studio Vocalist Device ID 42h - Procedure number (Dump 1 Program)
  • Page 70 13 delay 0 0 to 250 (for 0 to 2.50) MIDI Sysex Parameters 14 delay 1 0 to 250 (for 0 to 2.50) PARAMETER EDITS 15 delay 2 0 to 250 (for 0 to 2.50) 16 delay 3 0 to 250 (for 0 to 2.50) PROGRAM EFFECT STYLE: (EFFECT: 1 STYLE: 0) 17 random 0 0 to 10...
  • Page 71 VARIATION STYLE: (EFFECT: 1 STYLES: 7-14) 6 protected Style 7 = Variation 0 Style 8 = Variation 2 7 bypass (off) 0=ON, 1=OFF and so on up to Style 14 = Variation 7 protected protected 9 interval display type 0=Notes, 1= SemiTones 1 harmony type 0=Chromatic, 1=Scalic, 2=Chordal, 10 protected...
  • Page 72 47 AUDIO synthmode 0=OFF, 1=ON CONTROLLER SWITCHES AVAILABLE THRU MIDI 48 AUDIO synthvolume -24 to 0 SYSEX protected 1 NOTE KEY use controller absolute and note key values 50 USER uservoiceedit 0=OFF, 1=ON 2 ARROW controller increment (right arrow) 51 USER footsw1 0=BypL, 1=BypM, controller decrement (left arrow) 2=Pgm down,...
  • Page 73 Decimal / Hexadecimal /Binary Decimal / Hexadecimal /Packed Table Bytes Table Decimal Hexadecimal Binary Decimal Hexadecimal Packed 0000 -100 FF9C 03 7F 1C 0001 FFCE 03 7F 4E 0010 FFE7 03 7F 67 0011 FFF6 03 7F 76 0100 FFFB 03 7F 7B 0101 FFFE...
  • Page 74 Sandy, Utah, 84070 Telephone (801) 566-8800 Fax (801) 566-7005 International Distribution: 7 Farmington Road Amherst, New Hampshire 03031 U.S.A. Fax (603) 672-4246 DigiTech is a registered trademark of DOD Electronics Corporation Copyright 1998 DOD Electronics Corporation Vocalist Workstation EX 1.2 18-2193-B...

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