Harmonics

  • It's got a lot of configuration options, so I can understand your frustration.


    You really just need to pick a key and the type of interval you're after. It works very well and sounds great.

  • Are you sure it's not a major/minor thing?


    I'm sure you already know this, but there are 2 options for the key of A in this situation. There's Am/Cmaj and F#m/Amaj. If the song is has a minor tonality then the major scale harmonies will be unpleasant.

  • Nope...I delved into this matter but it leads me nowhere. I don't understand the key of the song here. I just want two tones for playing a solo. IMHO this has nothing to do with the key of a song.


    I recorded this example, but had to do this twice: first solo one and on top of that the second one (3 tones lower!)

    I don't have a second guitar player on stage so I have to play this on my own. Can Kemper achieve this and if so: how?

    https://soundcloud.com/theplayer-3/two-tone-solo

  • Nope...I delved into this matter but it leads me nowhere. I don't understand the key of the song here. I just want two tones for playing a solo. IMHO this has nothing to do with the key of a song.


    I recorded this example, but had to do this twice: first solo one and on top of that the second one (3 tones lower!)

    I don't have a second guitar player on stage so I have to play this on my own. Can Kemper achieve this and if so: how?

    https://soundcloud.com/theplayer-3/two-tone-solo

    Yes the Kemper can absolutely do that with ease. However, it is definitely a key of the song issue. The dual guitar sound you are aiming for is not parallel 3rds so you need to set the key. In your example some of the thirds are major and some are minor. The key of the song determines which will be minor 3rds and which will be major 3rds. If you set the wrong key it will sound like both guitars are playing the song in different keys.

  • Harmonizers need to be told what key the other parts are in, otherwise you're just playing the same exact interval on each note, which isn't very musical sounding.


    The answer is yes, the KPA has an excellent harmonizer, but it requires some musical theory to be used right, as they all do.

  • The song is definitely in the key of A major (but there are some chords in minor in the song). So the milion $ question is: how do you achieve to sound like that with only one guitar like I showed? I tried with the chromatic pitch but can't find the combination.


    And about that important Key scale knob in Harmonic pitch...you can dial whatever you want with the Key knob but that changes nothing in the sound whatsoever. Really every dialing sounds alike.

  • Yes the key of A major has 3 minor chords Bmin, C#min and F#min plus G#dim along with A maj, Dmaj and E7. However, the scale for solos often isn’t a straight major scale. Sometimes you find A pentatonic or A Dorian or A Mixolodian being used for a solo in a Major key with the “wrong” notes giving it tensing or bluesyness. You just need to figure out what the harmonies are and choose the right scale. If you tell us the notes of the main line and the harmoy notes that correspond with them for the specific solo then one of us can probably tell you what scale to set in the harmoniser.


    I am a bit confused by your last comment though “nothing changes in the sound whatsoever. Really every dialling sounds alike.” Thath should not be the case so it sounds like there is something else wrong with your settings.

  • Harmonic Pitch:

    Voice 1 +3rd,

    voice 2 no matter (voice balance -50% in page 2),

    Key: A / F#m seems ok to me.

    ...as long as I stay in standard tuning : the Key has to be changed when i'm downtuned half tone for example.


    No need to program a user scale here i think.

  • Yes the key of A major has 3 minor chords Bmin, C#min and F#min plus G#dim along with A maj, Dmaj and E7. However, the scale for solos often isn’t a straight major scale. Sometimes you find A pentatonic or A Dorian or A Mixolodian being used for a solo in a Major key with the “wrong” notes giving it tensing or bluesyness. You just need to figure out what the harmonies are and choose the right scale.

    Wheresthedug: Your contribution is really great, but you're losing me at this point, unfortunately. I'm totally not familiar with this stuff. I'm just a listening by ear and autodidact playing guy....without theoretical knowledge in this matter. I only know chords and can't tell anything about scales .


    There is a really good thread on how to use user scales, you could see if that (User scale) could work for the minor / major chords in your case:


    Tutorial: Creating User Scales for the Harmonic Pitch effect


    Too early for me to start making noise but will check if the key scale knob really does not do anything for me either.

    ToneDeaf: I owe you also for your reply but I don't understand the matter (BTW it's all in English and that's an extra handicap in reading and understanding this technical stuff for someone like me from The Netherlands...)


    So I studied videos of demonstrating a Boss PS-6 Harmonist Pitch Shifter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzpXFHqujfY In this video it's clear to me that I indeed have to pick a key first and after that set for a minor or major scale.


    But how to determine that? I would love to learn this. So we're talking about the song If you can't give me love from Suzie Quattro. This song is in the key of A major (right?) I start with my solo: B15 to17 then B14 to again 15-17 The second harmony

    is B12-14 then B10 and again B12 -14

    The interval is 3 semitones (right?)

    How to set this in Kemper's Harmony stomp?

  • OK. Firstly, i have total respect for anyone who can correspond on a forum like this about fairly technical matter in their second language. There is no way I could contribute in Dutch.


    Lack of music theory is going to be a bit of a handicap for stuff like this but with a bit of trial and error you can get there - it just takes a lot more effort.


    In your example B15 and B 12 played togeher are the notes B and D and as you say they are 3 semitones appart. However, the notes B10 and B14 are A and C# which are 4 semi tones appart. The forst is a minor 3rd the second os a major 3rd. That is why the key matters.


    If we take all of the notes in your example (including the bent notes) we can figure out the scale.


    A B C# D E other notes in the scale would probably be F# and either G# or G. The first would be the A major scale and the second A mixolydian mode (just the D Major scale starting an A). Try seting the key to A Major or D Major and play your riff. Gicen that it’s a Suzi Quattro Rock’n’Roll song I would suggedt D Major is more likely to fit better but as your example doesn’t include playing the G or G# note either should work.

  • I should have said in my last post that you need to set the Voice 1 interval to -3rd.


    These setting should get you pretty close to your example.



    If the line goes to the 1st string same frets on the next chord you will need to set the scale as D major instead of A Major. Either work on your example but it depends on the rest of the song which is more appropriate.

  • I commend him as well, but all the Dutch I have talked with could speak better English than me. :D


    OP: You'll get there, I don't have a very good grasp on theory at all. But with trial and error, you do learn.


    I am learning to create artificial vocal harmonies within Melodyne. The software has several tools that really help, and directly relate to the music theory concepts that you're talking about here. I am not sure if there is other software out there where you could do similar things, but it has been very helpful for me so far.

    Disclaimer: When I post demo clips for profiles, there will be some minimal post-processing, unless stated otherwise. I normally double-track hard L/R, and add to the main buss a small amount of EQ and a limiter/comp set pretty light as well. Sometimes I get test profiles in advance of release, though 90% of my clips will be from packs I have purchased.

  • Firstly....thank you all for your kind words about my English. Learning and having interest do the trick.

    But our Kemper friends in Germany are even better than me. They not only write the best in the English language but are also masters in understanding Kemper. So I still have a lot to learn..!


    Wheresthug and Locrain, thank you so much for your explanations and examples. I appreciate very much. I'll figure this out on my Kemper and get back to you for the results. I guess with this I can contribute to people who also struggle with this matter, like me.

    To be continued...

  • First, let me say that I think the Netherlands has the world's best language education system. An old Dutch buddy of mine could read/write/speak Dutch, German, English, French and Spanish and he could also read and understand Italian. Enough said. :)


    I would recommend looking into some intros to scales. Like it was said above understanding major / minor scales will be a huge help and you can go a long way with just those 2.


    Just tested the Kemper Harmonic pitch effect (post amp/stack), it all works as expected.


    It may be easier to first just set it to an octave. Page one of the effect (look at the screenshot above). That's very easy to hear.


    Then I would set it to power chords - those are also very easy to hear, just set the Voice 1 interval to +5th. In E (major or minor) you strum an open E and it will give you a B also.


    The thing to remember that in order to harmonize you have to stay in scale (major or minor) as opposed to have a semitone offset (which would be a chromatic scale). What you set in the interval is NOT semitones but the number of notes in the given scale. Hence for power chords you set +5th not +7, which would be number of semitones up.

  • Thanks ToneDeaf. English, German and French are always standard school subjects here, as you probably know. I'm a Dutch teacher in grammar and a teacher in juridical language proficiency at the Police Academy. Writing in English is just a matter of interest and remember what you hear and read (and I read and hear a lot..) and always look up what you're still missing in your vocabulary and then use it in talking or writing.

    I definitely will experiment with the Kemper Harmonic pitch effect and see what I can achieve with it. And I will follow your tip about reading simple explanations about scales. This kind of stuff is a big gap in my musical performance, a kind of abracadabra...which I always tried to avoid...

    CU soon again