Digitech HarmonyMan Multi-Part Guitar Harmony

DIGITECH HARMONY MAN

PRODUCT: DIGITECH HARMONY MAN
REVIEWER: MARCEL YAMMOUNI
2244

DigiTech is a company which specialises in effects pedals and consoles for guitars and basses. One notable success of many under DigiTech's belt is the Whammy pedal, a pitch shifting pedal with a variety of modes; octave down, octave up, and various harmonizing abilities. The original Whammy pedal was popularised by Tom Morello ('Killing In The Name Of' solo at the end of the song), and Steve Vai ('Passion and Warfare' etc). DigiTech has always been ahead of the game in the world of digital effects. In this issue I�m reviewing the Harmony man pedal. Following up on the success of the Vocalist products, DigiTech decided to make a pedal with the same features, but this time specifically designed for the guitarist. With DigiTech's own exclusive musIQ technology, they were able to combine the lightning-fast natural sounding harmony generation made famous by the Vocalist pedals, and tailor it to guitar.
The DigiTech Harmony Man is the world�s first guitar pedal that generates harmonies based on chord progressions in real time. It lets you combine up to two distinct voices in any combination to accompany your solo part. It features four types of pitch shifting: Triad-Cantered Shifting, which creates harmonies based on root, 3rd, 5th, and inversions; Scale shifting to create harmonies in the current key; Fixed Chromatic Shifting, which applies the same shift to a note regardless of key; and Detune Shifting, which applies a small amount of pitch shifting (up or down) to produce a thicker sound. So if you�re a Thin Lizzy or Brian May fan, this pedal may be the answer to your prayers. In fact I�d be surprised if Brian May wasn�t already using one, it�s a hell of a lot easier to set up than what he would have used in the past.
Harmony Man has the solid build-quality of a boutique stomp box.
It possesses rugged and attractive casing finished in metallic maroon. It also features the intelligent harmony-generating algorithm that has made DigiTechs new line of vocal processors so popular. The top of the unit has two pedals, a �Circle of Fifths� key signature display (major and relative minor) with LED indicators, musIQ and preset store switches, plus a rotary mix knob for blending voices. The pedal includes true analogue bypass too, so your signal remains clean and pure.
The left pedal is the Harmony on/off switch and holding it down grants access to the onboard tuner. There are two knobs over to the left of the pedal labelled Voice 1 and Voice 2. These let you dial through the pitch-shifting options to create your presets, which you can store in up to four memory locations. The right footswitch steps between presets in its normal operating mode, and lets you set the key signature. Above the right pedal are the musIQ and Store buttons, plus a Mix knob that lets you blend voices. Back-panel I/O is all 1/4" and includes Clean Input, Distortion Send/Return, Sidechain In/Thru, and L/R stereo outputs.
Holding down the right pedal and strumming a chord or progression will set the key signature and you can begin to wail away. Or your rhythm guitarist can connect to the Sidechain input for realtime chord recognition and use the Thru output to send signal back to his amp. The Harmony Man will read the chord changes and select the appropriate harmonies while you play. So no discussion of music theory needs to happen. Pretty cool hey?
There are loads of options for you to explore with the Harmony man which can keep your interest level for quite some time, whether you�re in a cover band playing Boston�s �More Than A Feeling� or Queens �You�re My Best Friend � and everything in between. If you�ve always wanted to do cool harmonies on guitar but are the band�s only guitar player. or are a little short on music theory, your day has come. With a Harmony Man, classic rock bands with two guitarists can add songs to their repertoire that they might normally shy away from�and without spending countless hours rehearsing or trying to figure out harmonies.
Anyone who knows me well can tell I�m a tragic when it comes to justifying purchasing a new pedal, it doesn�t take a lot. I had a lot of fun with this one and am hoping the distributors forget that I have it. There�s a huge chance that you�ll hear this pedal at my next trio gig. I�m now thinking about how I'm going to fit this on my already full pedal board!

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Digitech HarmonyMan Multi-Part Guitar Harmony

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