TC-Helicon VOICEPRISM PLUS Configuration guide

USER’S MANUAL
SUPPLEMENT
VOICEPRISM PLUS
VOCAL FORMANT PITCH PROCESSOR
FEATURING
VOICECRAFT
HUMAN VOICE
MODELING
CARD

THE LIGHTNING FLASH WITH ARROWHEAD SYMBOL, WITH-
IN AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE, IS INTENDED TO ALERT
THE USER TO THE PRESENCE OF UNINSULATED ‘DAN-
GEROUS VOLTAGE’ WITHIN THE PRODUCT’S ENCLO-
SURE THAT MAY BE OF SUFFICIENT MAGNITUDE TO
CONSTITUTE A RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK TO PERSONS.
THE EXCLAMATION POINT WITHIN AN EQUILATERAL TRI-
ANGLE IS INTENDED TO ALERT THE USER TO THE
PRESENCE OF IMPORTANT OPERATING AND MAINTE-
NANCE (SERVICING) INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LITERATURE
ACCOMPANYING THE PRODUCT.
INSTRUCTIONS PERTAINING TO A RISK OF FIRE,
ELECTRIC SHOCK, OR INJURY TO PERSON
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:
READ AND SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING - WHEN USING ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS,
BASIC PRECAUTIONS SHOULD ALWAYS BE TAKEN,
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:
1. READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING
THE PRODUCT.
2. DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT NEAR WATER - FOR
EXAMPLE NEAR A BATHTUB, WASHBOWL,
KITCHEN SINK, IN A WET BASEMENT, OR NEAR A
SWIMMING POOL.
3. THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE USED ONLY WITH A
CART OR STAND THAT IS RECOMMENDED BY
THE MANUFACTURER.
4. THIS PRODUCT, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINA-
TION WITH AN AMPLIFIER AND HEADPHONES
OR SPEAKERS, MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUC-
ING SOUND LEVELS THAT COULD CAUSE PER-
MANENT HEARING LOSS. DO NOT OPERATE FOR
LONG PERIOD OF TIME AT HIGH VOLUME OR AT
AN UNCOMFORTABLE LEVEL. IF YOU EXPERI-
ENCE ANY HEARING LOSS OR RINGING IN THE
EARS, CONSULT AN AUDIOLOGIST.
5. THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE LOCATED WITH SUF-
FICIENT AIR SPACE FOR PROPER VENTILATION.
6. THE PRODUCT SHOULD BE LOCATED AWAY
FROM HEAT SOURCES SUCH AS RADIATORS,
HEAT REGISTERS, OR OTHER HEAT PRODUCING
PRODUCTS.
7. CLEAN ONLY WITH A DAMP CLOTH. BEFORE
CLEANING THE UNIT, TURN OFF THE POWER
AND UNPLUG THE POWER CORD FROM THE
OUTLET.
8. THE POWER SUPPLY CORD OF THE PRODUCT
SHOULD BE UNPLUGGED FROM THE WALL OUT-
LET DURING LIGHTNING STORMS OR WHEN
LEFT UNUSED FOR A LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
9. DO NOT DEFEAT THE SAFETY PURPOSE OF THE
GROUNDING-TYPE PLUG. A GROUNDING TYPE
PLUG HAS TWO BLADES AND A THIRD GROUND-
ING PRONG. THE THIRD PRONG IS PROVIDED
FOR YOUR SAFETY. IF THE PROVIDED PLUG
DOES NOT FIT INTO YOUR OUTLET, CONSULT AN
ELECTRICIAN FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE
OBSOLETE OUTLET.
10. PROTECT THE POWER CORD FROM BEING
WALKED ON OR PINCHED PARTICULARLY AT
PLUGS, CONVENIENCE RECEPTACLES, AND THE
POINT WHERE THEY EXIT FROM THE APPLI-
ANCE.
11. USE ONLY WITH ATTACHMENTS/ACCESSORIES
SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER.
12. THE PRODUCT SHOULD BE SERVICED BY
QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL WHEN:
A. THE POWER SUPPLY CORD OR THE PLUG HAS
BEEN DAMAGED; OR
B. OBJECTS HAVE FALLEN, OR LIQUIDS HAS BEEN
SPILLED INTO THE PRODUCT; OR
C. THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO RAIN;
OR
D. THE PRODUCT DOES NOT APPEAR TO OPERATE
NORMALLY OR EXHIBITS A
MARKED CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE; OR
E. THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN DROPPED, OR THE
ENCLOSURE DAMAGED.
13. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SERVICE THE PRODUCT
BEYOND WHAT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE
USER MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS. ALL
OTHER SERVICING SHOULD BE REFERRED TO
QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.
IVL PART # SUP0129 R1.1
FOR PRODUCT SAFETY AND CONFORMITY, REFER TO VOICEPRISM PLUS USER MANUAL, APPENDIX F.

INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing the VoicePrism Plus! This remark-
able tool contains these exciting features:
·TC-Helicon Voice Modeling dedicated to the Lead
voice, with parameters such as Vibrato, Scooping, Warp,
Spectral Effects, Breath, Rasp and Growl.
· World Class Digital Effects and Signal Processing
from TC-Electronic of Denmark.
·Two Dynamics Banks, Four EQ Banks assignable to either
the Lead or Harmony voices.
· S/PDIF and AES/EBU Stereo Digital Inputs and Outputs.
·24 Bit Internal Processing.
If you already own a TC-Helicon VoicePrism, the VoiceCraft
upgrade expansion card containing all of the above special
features is also available. You can easily upgrade to the
VoicePrism Plus in a matter of minutes.
Only updated VoiceCraft features are included in this
supplementary manual: you may need to refer back
to your original VoicePrism User Manual for func-
tions that have been retained from the VoicePrism.
Text conventions:
Bold, all capitals: front panel BUTTON AND KNOB control names.
Underlines, all capitals: MENUS (accessed by the front panel buttons).
Italic, all capitals: CONFIGURABLE PARAMETERS (assigned to the
softknobs).
Underline, small capitals: PARAMETER SETTINGS (twist the softknobs
to modify).
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Introduction
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

TABLE
OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
USER INTERFACE 5
WHAT'S NEW 5
FRONT PANEL 5
REAR PANEL 6
PRESET SCREEN 7
VOCALS BUTTON 9
LEAD 9
VOICE MODELING EFFECT CATEGORIES 10
VM SPECTRAL 11
VM WARP 12
VM GLOTTAL 13
VM INFLECT 15
VM PITCH 16
EFFECTS BUTTON 17
COMPRESSOR/EQ BUTTON 18
ASSIGN 18
EQ1/EQ2, COMPRESSOR, NOISE GATE 18
MIX BUTTON 19
STEP BUTTON 19
BROWSER BUTTONS 19
UTILITY BUTTON 20
MIDI CONFIGURATION 20
DIGITAL I/O 20
ROUTING 21
VERSION 22
APPENDIX A: MIDI 23
APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY 30
APPENDIX C: INDEX 32
APPENDIX D: ABOUT DIGITAL I/O 34
ABOUT S/PDIF 34
ABOUT AES/EBU 34
ABOUT DITHERING 34
APPENDIX E: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 36
APPENDIX F: PRODUCT SAFETY AND CONFORMITY 38
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Table of Contents VoicePrism Plus User Manual

USER
INTERFACE
WHAT'S
NEW
FRONT
PANEL
Whether you are upgrading your original VoicePrism with the
new VoiceCraft card, or you have purchased a VoicePrism
Plus, the front panel controls are the same. All improvements
and new features are neatly contained within the internal
software, so you can avoid the hassle of learning new con-
trols. The LED’s of 44.1Kand 48Killuminate to indicate
Digital Signal status as follows:
Solid 41.1KOR 48K- means locked with either
internal or external frequency
Blinking 44.1KXOR 48K- means not locked but using
internal frequency
Blinking 44.1KAND 48K- means not locked but using
external frequency (which is unknown if we have
no lock).
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User Interface
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

REAR
PANEL
Behind the four-screw plate lies the new VoiceCraft Human
Voice Modeling Card, which provides the VoicePrism Plus
two additional connections for Digital I/O, S/PDIF and
AES/EBU. Digital signal configuration and routing are modi-
fied by pressing the UTILITY button on the front panel. You
can scroll to either the DIGITAL I/Opage or the ROUTING page to
edit these parameters, using the MENU TAB buttons.
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User Interface VoicePrism Plus User Manual
DODI
AES/EBU
VOICECRAFT EXPANSION CARD
S/PD IF

PRESET
SCREEN
You will notice a slight change in the preset screen from the
original VoicePrism. On the original VoicePrism, if you incor-
porated the Thickening effect on the lead voice, a block
marked TH would appear in the signal path diagram after the
lead voice block. With VoicePrism Plus, when you incorpo-
rate Voice Modeling (VM) in your preset, this block appears
as VM, as Voice Modeling is used to create a Thickening
effect. For details on VM, refer to the VOCALS button section.
The original VoicePrism manual illustrated how you can
assign the softknobs in the PRESET screen to control different
parameters -- you can now access new libraries using these
same controls. The new parameters that can be assigned to
the softknobs are:
VM LIB: Selecting a VM LIB will automatically set the style and
amount of each of the VM effects to a predetermined setting
(designed by TC-Helicon), creating pleasing results that you
can quickly recall and implement in any of your presets. The
Thickening effect, a parameter in the original VoicePrism, can
be replicated using the controls on the LEAD menu page
under the VOCALS button on the VoicePrism Plus. In the
LEAD menu you can set the Detune amount of the Voice
Modeled (VM) voice and set the ratio between the dry and
VM voice with the DRY:VM MIX softknob. Pitch differences
between the two voices, along with the Pan settings, enables
the creation of a more configurable Thickening effect.
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Preset Screen
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

LEQ1 LIB, LEQ2 LIB, HEQ1 LIB, HEQ2 LIB, LCMP/NG, HCMP/NG: In
each of these acronyms, Lstands for Lead, Hstands for
Harmony, EQ stands for Equalizer, CMP stands for
Compressor, NG stands for Noise Gate, and LIB stands for
Library. There are now separate Lead and Harmony library
settings, in addition to two banks of EQ for the Lead voice,
and two banks for the Harmony voices. These libraries recall
standard settings for quick preset construction. With an
increased number of effects and dynamics parameters, we
have created a greater number of library categories, enabling
you to fine-tune your presets without delving into subter-
ranean edit parameters.
For further details, refer to the COMP/EQ and EFFECTS sec-
tions of the VoicePrism and VoicePrism Plus User Manuals.
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Preset Screen VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VOCALS
BUTTON
This accesses the new VoicePrism Plus Voice Modeling (VM)
features, enabling you to manipulate the Lead voice using
our Voice Modeling effects. You access the following menus
by pressing the VOCALS button and paging left and right with
the MENU TAB buttons, just like on the original VoicePrism.
LEAD
The LEAD menu provides the tools necessary to produce a
Thickening effect by designating different characteristics for
the Dry Lead and VM Lead voice and controlling the Lead
voice mix. The control parameters are as follows:
DRY:VM MIX (0-100% MODELED): sets the balance
between the Dry Lead voice, and the VM
Lead voice. 100% is undiluted VM voice, and
0% is Dry voice.
DRY PAN (100% LEFT - 100% RIGHT): sets the posi-
tion in the stereo field of the Dry voice.
VM PAN (100% LEFT - 100% RIGHT): sets the position in the stereo
field of the VM voice.
VM DETUNE (0- +/- 50 CENTS): detunes or offsets the pitch of the
VM voice from the Dry voice to create an fuller overall Lead
voice.
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Vocals Button
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VOICE
MODELING EFFECT
CATEGORIES
There are two basic parameters in each of the Voice
Modeling (VM) menus: AMOUNT and STYLE.
The AMOUNT softknob controls whether the VM effect is subtle
or intense. When initially dialing in a sound we recommend
an AMOUNT setting of 50%.
STYLES are created for each voice modeling effect to provide
a diverse range of vocal possibilities to incorporate into your
presets -- feel free to scroll and explore.
The last few styles in each effect are often special effects,
novelty sounds or something else out of the ordinary. Any
combinations of these styles may be stored in a preset, along
with the other effects available in the VoicePrism Plus, as
described in the original VoicePrism User Manual.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VM
SPECTRAL
The Spectral control is a set of equalizer response curves
intended to complement the VM WARP selections. This equal-
ization is different than those controlled via COMP/EQ and
applied to the output signal. The VM SPECTRAL styles reflect
the natural equalization equivalent to the native control a
singer has over his or her own voice, and
apply this equalization to the Voice Modeling
(VM) voice. These styles may be used in con-
junction with the resonances, or purely as
additional tonal control over the VM voice.
* Special Note: Each VM effect menu has an AMOUNT control
to 'dial in' the amount of effect desired. Remember that there
is also a DRY:VM MIX control in the LEAD menu that determines
how much of the input vocal is left Dry and how much is
passed through VM. The setting of this ratio can determine
the effectiveness of your other parameter settings, as it is
essentially a master mix control for the Dry and VM Lead
voice.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VM
WARP
Warping is how we model different vocal tract dimensions,
and apply them to incoming vocals. Your favorite vocalists all
have unique pitch and glottal characteristics. Warp changes
the tonal makeup of the sound by moving vocal formants, so
that the Voice Modeled (VM) Lead voice sounds quite differ-
ent than the original. Formants are the harmonic combina-
tions that help make our voices unique.
The styles have been given names that are
easily identified when assembling presets.
The names may be associated with a particu-
lar genre of music or sound. This way, you
can associate a certain modification with a
name, similar to how we describe colors in a
picture with names.
Some of the Warp styles contain a built-in octave shift, either
up or down. This is to accommodate a male singing in the
female register, with a feminine timbre, or for a female to
simulate a male singing voice. These Warp styles enable you
to sing in a natural range and still hit the notes of your oppo-
site gender comfortably; they are STYLE settings F2M(Female-
to-Male) and M2F(Male-to-Female).
The AMOUNT knob allows you to dial in the relative strength of
this effect on your VM voice; 0% for no effect, 100% for pure
Warping.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VM
GLOTTAL
Glottal refers to the combination of complex sounds the
human voice can make to change non-pitched aspects of the
vocal sound. Consider these examples: the cool breathy
sound of a Jazz or Folk singer, the legendary warm grumble
of Blues from the Mississippi Delta, the brazen sizzle of Rock
and Alternative Rock or the growl of 60's Soul.
The Glottal STYLE settings contain three types
of effects: BREATHINESS, RASP, and GROWL,
arranged in various combinations in the style
library. All of these are set to create percus-
sive and expressive textures in addition to
the sung note. Experimentation is the key to
finding styles that work in your scenario, or are difficult to
create in your scenario. The last few entries contain extreme
and unreal Glottal styles -- no longer need you burn out your
throat night after night. Glottal styles are created using the
following parameters:
BREATHINESS factors in 'virtual air' that gives the effect of being
close to a sensitive condenser microphone. This intimate
sound may be used in some Jazz styles or for pop ballads,
although its application is not limited to these. BREATHINESS
may also be used to give a 'tired' or 'strained' sound, where
the singer may be pushing a lot of air. You can also dial in
'whisper' or like textures to simulate a specific singer’s style.
RASP is an effect where the breath pushed through the throat
cavity goes beyond mere breathiness, into a harsh sizzle or
grind. These sounds are a combination of hard breath and
friction in the larynx, which are difficult for many singers to
reproduce and are very damaging on the vocal cords. You
can use RASP on your normal voice and achieve a grittier,
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

rough delivery, sending a clean voice into an overdriven fren-
zy. In many forms of heavy rock music, this is an expressive
and elusive performance component.
GROWL describes another way that we can achieve Blues,
Rock, or Rhythm & Blues sounds with our normal voice.
GROWL refers to a type of grind or friction of the larynx and
epiglottis, usually heard in Soul, R&B, and Blues music.
Some of the styles are sensitive to the dynamics of the lead
voice, meaning that when you raise the volume of a syllable,
the VoicePrism Plus 'growls' on that syllable.
As with the other Voice Modeling effects, the AMOUNT knob
controls the level of effect incorporated into the signal.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VM
INFLECT
The VM INFLECT styles allow the singer to adjust the character-
istics of 'scooping' to the sung note. This is a stylistic effect in
singing where a singer sweeps up a variable range of pitch to
rest on the intended note. The VM INFLECT STYLE settings use
the following nomenclature:
UP-FAST-OFTEN
UP is the direction of Inflection - UP to a note,
or DOWN to a note.
FAST is the Speed at which the inflection
'scoops', either SLOW, MEDIUM or FAST.
OFTEN is how regularly the Inflection occurs. The VoicePrism
Plus listens for an Onset period before applying Inflection to
the beginning of the next phrase. To have a longer Onset
time, you can turn the effect off and back on later with MIDI
control change commands. See the MIDI section for CC
numbers.
These settings are selected with the STYLE softknob.
The AMOUNT or depth of the Inflection is controlled by the
AMOUNT softknob. This control varies between 0and 100%. A
setting of zero turns the effect style off, 100% provides inflec-
tion of an octave. There are some specialty styles included
which have depths variable to two octaves, for extreme
inflection possibilities.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories
VoicePrism Plus User Manual

VM
PITCH
Vibrato is a pitch effect that singers often use in their delivery
of a piece of music. This effect is achieved by repeatedly
altering the size of the mouth and vocal tract in a pattern that
varies above and below a central pitch in an oscillating fash-
ion.
The Vibrato STYLES are based on real vocal-
ist's vibratos. We have analyzed a large set of
parameters from a voice database and creat-
ed various vibrato models. The Vibrato set-
ting names reflect the style of the vocals from
which they were extracted. However, a vibrato modeled from
a style or gender different from yours can sound very good
when applied to your voice. Experimentation is the key to
finding a STYLE setting that best suits your application. You
might begin incorporating Vibrato into your sound by setting
the AMOUNT control to 50%. This setting matches the depth
level that we analyzed in our modeling subjects. You can
then vary the effect from this middle range up or down to suit
your taste.
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Voice Modeling Effect Categories VoicePrism Plus User Manual

EFFECTS
BUTTON
The layouts of the EFFECTS button menus are the same as in
the original VoicePrism. TC Electronic of Denmark has spe-
cially designed the effects in the VoicePrism Plus.
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VoicePrism Plus User Manual Effects Button

COMPRESSOR/EQ BUTTON
ASSIGN
Like the original VoicePrism, the Lead and Harmony voices
can be assigned to a Compressor and/or Noise Gate. The dif-
ference in the VoicePrism Plus is that you
can independently modify parameters for the
Lead and Harmony voices. With VoicePrism
Plus, you are now able to assign two
Equalizers to the Lead and two separate
EQ's to the Harmony voices.
EQ1/EQ2,
COMPRESSOR, NOISE GATE
The parameters for setting the EQ's, Compressors, and Noise
Gates follow a similar layout as in the original VoicePrism.
The assignments to Lead and Harmony voices have
changed, allowing for greater flexibility. You now have EQ 1
and 2 LEAD, and EQ 1 and 2 HARMONY settings in the
COMP/EQ menu tabs. There is also a separate COMPRES-
SOR and NOISE GATE for each of the Lead and Harmony
voices.
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VoicePrism Plus User ManualCompressor/EQ Button

MIX
BUTTON
The MIX button and its menu controls remain consistent with
VoicePrism.
STEP
BUTTON
The STEP functions and its menu controls also remain consis-
tent with VoicePrism.
BROWSER
BUTTONS
See your original VoicePrism User Manual for a description
of the browser buttons and their functions.
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VoicePrism Plus User Manual Mix/Step/Browser Buttons

UTILITY BUTTON
MIDI
CONFIGURATION
The MIDI FILTER parameter, under the MIDI menu, has been
updated so that you can filter out incoming System Exclusive
messages and MIDI Program Change messages. This param-
eter can be set to an 'OFF' position, where no filtering takes
place, or you can have both filters 'ON' at the same time.
DIGITAL
I/O
DIGITAL I/Ois a new menu, used for setting the SAMPLE RATE of
the digital signal, and the type of dithering employed in the
digital domain. You can choose from 44.1KHZ, or 48 KHZsam-
ple rates, or EXT for an external sample rate, either 44.1KHZor
48KHZ. On the front panel lens, if you are synchronized at 44.1
KHZ, a 44.1K indicator will light. If you are synchronized at
48KHZ, a 48K indicator will light. If you are
not linked to a digital signal properly, both
indicators will flash.
DITHERING can be set to 8, 16 or 20 bits, or an
'OFF' position.
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VoicePrism Plus User ManualUtility Button