I'm considering purchasing one of these nifty little modules to improve vocals. With my Yamaha PSR-2000 connected to a Boss BR-864 Digital Recorder (no Midi connection) and my Mic directly connected to the BR-864, can I simply connect the Mic to the Harmony M and then connect it to the Digital Recorder and expect this unit to perform correctly? The tech description indicated that this unit is for Midi keyboards and I don't us the Midi feature for creating and recording my songs. I also don't use the 8 track feature of the digital recorder. I simply record and re-cut if needed until I come out with something that sounds okay to me. Then I port the resultant file over to my PC and do the volume edits, etc. in a free sound editor before saving the file as a WAV, MP3 or other format songfile.

Is there a better way? Doing tracks drives me nuts and seems to take more time. I realize I am giving up some flexibility but the time it takes to manipulate, re-record and then mix-down seems excessive to me.

Thanks for any constructive feedback.

Dave Rice
http://www/ShowCaseYourMusic.com/DaveRice

No, the Harmony M needs midi input to control the harmonies generated.

Just simply hookup a midi cable from the keyboard to the Harmony M, and you are away. From memory, the Yamahas default to transmit on channel 1, which is also the default for the Harmony M.

Dennis

Dave, download the demo program from www.acoustica.com

MixCraft5....It is the best $80 value software available..

You can use the full version for 14 days...that would allow enough time to evaluate it..

Thanks, Miden, Fran and Don Mason for your inputs. Having never used Midi, I naturally have a little concern about the learning curve but will be giving it a try as soon as the Harmony M arrives. Thank goodness, the PSR-2000 manual has what appears to be an excellent section covering Midi connection, etc.

The proof of the pudding will be the final result... hopefully outshining Yamaha's difficult to use and sometimes quirky vocal harmony features.

Fran, I looked at Mixcraft and it appears very interesting. I'll keep the option of the 14 day free download on hold until I've given the Harmony M a chance... since it appears to be the cleanest adaptation to my existing method of recording. (That opinion could change... LOL!)

Thanks again, guys. SynthZone is a great resource and it's all because of the fantastic folks who inhabit this space.

Dave

I had big compatibility problems with the Harmony M unit that were
unacceptable...it's midi chord recognition with my Psr900 was at best intermittent...make sure you install the newer Os update also....I couldn't take it after a month and promptly dumped it. I find the Digitech units more user friendly when I record harmony tracks...good luck with it.

Donny I would have to say you would probably be the only one

The chord recognition is even faster on the Harmony M, than on the module in the PA2Xpro.

Mind you, you probably did not have the left hand chord output and the Harmony M midi input channels matched.

Easy enough to do as the default input on the M is channel 1, and the output channel for the left hand chord engine notes on the Yammies is not. ( and ONLY when midi output of chords is turned on - it is off by default, as I remember)

It IS channel 1 for the right hand keyboard, or full keyboard mode though.

But anyhoo, you don't have one so it does not matter.

Digitech still, even now with their latest models, sounds like "robbie the robot" to me

Dennis

Dennis....believe me I had it hooked up correctly...but that water under the bridge ....to me and I have performed with most units out there they all sound a bit fake and lately I have weened myself totally off using a harmonizer at all....and feel better about it too. I still have a digitech VR at home for studio use sparingly as I rather just record each harmony track separately which is 10x better then a robotic sounding box like the harmony m etc, etc, ....aren't we faking the audience enough already using an automated arranger?....anyway enjoy whatever you use to make music....the harmony M just isn't for me or is the newer TC voicelive2 or voice live touch units....
http://www.tc-helicon.com/voicelive-touch.asp

Okay cool Donny...You know, that method of just recording your own harmony tracks is one I have been thinking of for a while. Now that I am using my own created MP3 backing tracks more and more than MIDI ones, it would be jsut as easy to drop in the recorded harmony track as well.

Not too mention, as you say, it DOES sound more realistic....coz it's real!!!

Dennis

Good luck with your project Dennis I know you'll do good!

btw whats your email I'll send you a track song I did with seperate harmonies..

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-30-2010).]

Hi Donny,

yeah that would be great to check out

You will have to add the missing bits, I do this to defeat email address crawler bots
jodenmi yahoo com au

Cheers,

Dennis