TC-Helicon Voicelive play User manual

USER’S MANUAL
v1.7

Table of Contents
HOW DO I USE THIS THING?. . . . . . . . 3
CONNECTION GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . 6
BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
SOFT BUTTONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
GENRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
FAVORITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
SETUP - INPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
SETUP - OUTPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
SEUP - GLOBAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
SETUP - LOOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
SETUP - SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
EFFECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
EFFECTS - UMOD (MICRO MOD) . . . . .20
EFFECTS - DELAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
EFFECTS - DELAY CONT. . . . . . . . . . .22
EFFECTS - REVERB. . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
EFFECTS - HARMONY. . . . . . . . . . . .24
EFFECTS - HARMONY CONT. . . . . . . .25
EFFECTS - DOUBLE . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
EFFECTS - HARDTUNE . . . . . . . . . . .27
EFFECTS - TRANSDUCER . . . . . . . . . .28
MIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
PRACTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . . . . .31

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How Do I Use This Thing?
The following section gives some examples of how you might use the VoiceLive Play. Of course, every
setup is different and you may nd another way of doing things that works better for you!
I’ve got nothing… just a VoiceLive Play and some headphones!
1. Press Setup and navigate to the INPUT page.
2. Choose VOICE from the ROOMSENSE menu.
3. Press BACK.
4. Plug in your headphones.
5. While singing, press MIX and adjust the HEADPHONE LEVEL until it’s as loud or soft as you
like it.
6. Press BACK.
7. Use the Control Knob to navigate through presets. Try HIT!
I’ve got a microphone, headphones and an acoustic guitar, electric
guitar with an amplifier, acoustic piano or electric piano with
speakers…
1. Press SETUP and navigate to the INPUT screen.
2. Choose your mic type from the INPUT menu.
3. Select AMBIENT/AUTO from the ROOMSENSE menu.
4. Press BACK.
5. Plug in your Mic
6. While singing, adjust the Mic Knob until the input LED lights GREEN (yellow is ok, but don’t let
it get red and angry)
7. Plug in your headphones.
8. Sing into your mic and play your guitar/piano.
9. Press MIX and adjust the ROOMSENSE and HEADPHONE level to get a nice blend between
your voice and instrument.
10. Press BACK.
11. Use the Control Knob to navigate through presets. Try some presets with harmony. The Room
Sense mics will pick up your instrument sounds and gure out which key the song is in!

4
I’ve got a mic, PA system and play with a band. I’d like the harmonies to be in
key automatically…
1. Follow steps 1-6 above.
2. With your PA output levels turned off or waaaay down, connect XLR cables from the OUT-
PUT of the VoiceLive Play to input(s) on your mixer.
3. Press MIX and turn the ROOMSENSE level all the way OFF.
4. Press BACK.
5. While singing, slowly raise the level of the PA system until it’s at a level that works well with
the rest of the band.
6. Use either the Control Knob or Up and Down footswitches to select presets. Try HardTune
or Harmony presets and the Play will gure out the key the band is playing in. If it’s having
trouble, try placing the Play closer to a chord based instrument or its’ amp, like guitar or key-
board… or keytar…epic!
I want to sing along, Karaoke style, with my mp3 player or through
my computer.
For an mp3 player, connect your device to the AUX input with a 1/8th inch cable.
For computer output, connect the VoiceLive Play to your computer with the supplied
USB cable.
a. Locate your Audio Control Panel.
b. Set VoiceLive Play as the default output device.
c. Hit Apply.
d. Since computer systems vary wildly from user to user, we suggest looking up information on
your particular operating system or computer manufacturer to get further assistance directly.
Forums are a good place to check, along with manufacturer knowledgebase systems.
1. If you want to use theVocal Cancel feature to remove the lead vocal:
2. Press Setup
3. Navigate to Page 2 (OUTPUT)
4. Press the blue “soft button” next to VOCAL CANCEL
5. Use the Control Knob to change the setting to ON
How Do I Use This Thing?

5
How Do I Use This Thing?
6. Press Back to exit.
7. Pick a preset you like.
8. Press play on your mp3 player or computer.
9. Sing your heart out!
Looping Tips
When it comes to looping, practice is the key. You might notice that your loops have a small gap be-
tween the end of the phrase and when the loop restarts.This happens when you mis-time pressing the
PLAY/REC/O-DUB button. Pay careful attention to co-ordinating your button press to the down beat,
so that the loop beginning and end is seamless.
Experiment with exiting LOOP MODE and picking a different vocal sound for the next O-DUB layer.
You can get some great results by simply varying the sounds that are part of the loop.
When adding an O-DUB layer, you can record multiple passes of O-DUB parts without starting and
stopping the looper. This allows you to add numerous parts, which can all be removed with a single
UNDO action. (they can also be brought back by repeating the UNDO action)
Using a Switch3 will give you permanent access to looping without pressing the Up and Down foot-
switches. It frees up those switches to be assigned for Key/Scale selection, plus you don’t have to go in
and out of loop mode to change presets. It times out automatically, so you can choose a new sound.
The Switch3 buttons are mapped as follows:
1. Rec/Play/O-Dub
2. Stop/Clear (Hold)
3. Undo
The benet of having undo on a separate button is the ability to perfectly time your undo, rather than
waiting a moment for a Hold to be registered.
Note:When a Switch3 is plugged in, Key/Scale selection is automatically assigned to UP/DN.When the
Switch3 is unplugged, UP/DN remains Key/Scale and will need to be changed in the setup menu if you
wish to assign UP/DN back to Looping.
For more info on Switch 3, check out:
www.tc-helicon.com/products/switch-3

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Connection Guide
Out to P.A.
or DAW
Power In Mic In
Aux In
Switch3 InPhones
USB
Power In - Connect the included power supply
USB - Connect to your computer with the included cable. Use VoiceSupport to manage presets and up-
date Firmware. www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicesupport
Phones - Headphone output.
Le+Right - Main XLR outputs connect to your P.A. system or audio interface. Always use balanced
cables to avoid HUMMMMMMM.
Switch3 In - Use a TRS cable to connect a Switch 3, which can control looping. If you use the S3, you
have access to looping without pressing the Up and Down footswitches.
Aux In - Use a 1/8” cable to connect any music source you like, espcially the 8-Track from your 1974
Comet. When an input is detected here, Play will use the music to gure out Key/Scale info.
Mic In - is is where the magic happens. Plug your dynamic, condenser or MP-75 Mic in here. Re-
member to set the mic type and level, as described in the QuickStart Guide.
*WARNING: ALWAYS USE A TC-HELICON POWER SUPPLY. THE USE OF ANY OTHER POWER SUPPLY
MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE UNIT AND WILL NOT BE COVERED BY WARRANTY.

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Basics
Mic Gain Knob
Once you’ve connected your microphone and selected the Mic Type (pg. 12, Dynamic, Condenser,
MP-75), use the Mic Gain Knob to set the input level for your microphone.
As you increase the level, pay close attention to the LED on the top of the VoiceLive Play.You want
the input to light Green. It’s OK if the LED sometimes lights Yellow, but it should never turn Red. If it
does turn Red, reduce the level. Red means the input is overloading. You’ve got powerful lungs!

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LCD Display
1. Patch Name (Geddit Started)
2. Patch Number (27)
3. FAV – Shown if the current preset is tagged as a Favorite
4. NP – Shown when NaturalPlay key/scale information is being processed by the system
5. LOOP – Shown when a loop is playing in the background
6. GENRE – Displays the name of the genre selected in the genre screen. Not shown when the
genre is set to ALL.
Basics

9
Switches and Operation
1. The UP and DOWN switches allow you to navigate through presets. Press once for a single
preset change. Press and HOLD to quickly move through presets.
2. HIT/TALK – In normal operation, this button acts as a HIT button. When activated, a new
effect or effects will be added to the current patch. This feature is perfect for adding effects like
Harmony to a chorus section of a song, or even to a single line or word.
3. When you press and HOLD the HIT/TALK button, the VoiceLive Play enters TALK mode.
All effect output is muted and the mic input is passed directly to the output.This is especially
effective when a singer may want to speak to the crowd without any effects present on their
voice.
4. To enter LOOP mode, press and hold the UP and DOWN switches simultaneously. Once in
LOOP mode, the DOWN footswitch controls REC/PLAY/OVERDUB functions, the UP
footswitch controls the STOP/CLEAR functions and the HIT button exits LOOP mode. You
may exit loop mode while a loop is still playing.That means you can choose a new vocal sound
and then re-enter LOOP mode to add a new overdub to the loop. Press and hold the DOWN
footswitch after performing an OVERDUB to UNDO.
*LOOP mode is the default action when pressing the UP and DOWN buttons simultaneously. The al-
ternative mode, set on SYSTEM page 5 under UP/DN Function is KEY/SCALE mode, described below.
5. To access TAP TEMPO, press and hold the UP and HIT switches simultaneously. Once you
see the tempo on the LCD screen, tap the HIT button in time with your music. When you’re
nished, stop tapping and the screen will “time out” back to the preset screen. Voila!
6. To enter KEY/SCALE mode and select the KEY/SCALE to be used with Harmony and Hard
tune effects, press and hold the UP and DOWN switches simultaneously.To save your select-
ed KEY/SCALE, press EXIT.
*If you don’t know the KEY/SCALE that a particular song is in, try using the last chord of the song for
the KEY and Major 2 for the SCALE. It’s often correct, especially in popular music.
Basics

10
Control Knob and Arrow Buttons
The control knob is used to move through presets and to move through various settings when in Edit,
System or other menu areas.The Arrow Buttons act similarly, moving through presets, styles, Genres
etc..
Back
Exits the current screen or mode.
Store
When you have made a change to a preset, simply press STORE. The rst press will bring up the name/
location window, allowing you to re-name and/or relocate the preset. Pressing STORE again will save
the preset, along with its new name or location.
To change the NAME of a preset, press the STORE button once, then press the Left Blue Soft Button
to modify the letters/numbers. Press STORE again to complete the process.
To save the current preset in a different LOCATION press the STORE button once, then press the
Right Blue Soft Button and use the control knob to select the destination number for the preset. Press
STORE again to complete the process.
If you change your mind and don’t want to save the changes, simply press BACK.
Soft Buttons and their operation are described in more detail on the next page.
Basics