TC Helicon H1 Intelligent Harmony pedal - OVERVIEW

Here's my demo of the fantastic TC Electronics Helicon H1 vocal harmony pedal: a truly useful and sophisticated way of getting good quality backing vocals from one voice!
This one has a knob to access any key instantly, as well as a guitar input, that generates backing vocals based on the chord that it can "hear".

[@ChrisWJames]

Thanks, Dan. This is probably the best demonstration of any pedal I've seen. It's been out of stock for quite awhile now, but just got the notification today it's back in stock. Definitely going to pick one up for $139. People are selling the used ones for $160 and up.

[@LhunVideo]

finally, someone who used an instrument.

[@zzzenguitar]

Concise, enjoyable and professionally done demo. Well done!

[@andreasbrunetti]

Excellent demo !! Thanks 👍

[@user-gy7up2um3b]

This video is incredibly useful, thanks!

[@kevie3]

I’ll just take your voice and do my own harmonies…Well done Sir 😉👍

[@beedi501]

Cheers Dan - Great review. Being a bass player myself that does backing vocals, I think this would be perfct

[@virgilrw]

Excellent!

[@nimaljayathilaka4718]

Clear instruction.thankyou

[@aidanlizotte9124]

Great vid thanks a lot

[@clintnurse]

Hi, great video! I’m pretty sure it does have phantom power on the mic input, it’s switched on all the time

[@weshardcider4764]

Very great!

[@BAJOPROTECCION]

Gracias estimado! Bendiciones

[@MARK-DENNIS]

Good vid - thanks - I have a phantom powered mic, so I need to see how that would work

[@DanBakerMusic]

Glad you enjoyed the video! You can buy an inline phantom power supply-XLR in for the mic with 48V, and an XLR out at mic level, which will feed your pedal.

[@karltraunmuller7048]

Very cool

[@scotth1946]

I may have missed this, but when a guitar is plugged into the Instrument port, are you required to dial in the Key each time? Sorry if I missed this in the video and thanks for your review!

[@dellmotu]

Hi Dan, Can this pedal or any Harmony pedal that you might be aware of record just the harmony straight to your DAW?

[@3Nachuto8]

Maybe too late, but that's what the dry/wet knob does. full turn to wet and it will only play the harmonies

[@iraklimetreveli]

Thanks 🎸🎸🎸🤗🤗🤗❤️❤️❤️

[@threetv4967]

Excellent demo. I play bass and sing lead vocals with my band. If I choose not to put an instrument thru the pedal and NOT put my bass through it, I take it that it will just generate the harmony based on the vocal itself, according to the setting selected (regardless of what the song key is set to)? Thanks.

[@DanBakerMusic]

Yes - the setting completely affects the notes of the backing vocals. I know someone who does this very thing, and they’re forever switching keys. It’s good practice and sounds great when it works. The other thing you can do is to plug your guitarist into your pedal, and that way you have the harmony of the band without having to generate it yourself.

[@BrentStrathdeePehi]

Youve demonstrated the functions well but Its hard to tell how natural the harmonies of the pedal sound based on the audio

[@DanBakerMusic]

It’s quite good actually, with the quality of the audio. I did another video a few days ago with a flute, trumpet and violin...

[@officialWWM]

So if it needs to hear a third note, does that mean that power chords won't work?

[@kingstumble]

Correct. A 5th does nothing.

[@fildok2]

Hi Dan, could this unit be used for recording vocals with an audio interface straight to GarageBand for example? Thanks

[@kevinmalone8903]

Nice studio

[@harleypackermusic6774]

Does the silver stomp button at the bottom allow you to turn harmony on/off on the fly with your foot. Let's say I only want harmony on the chorus, will that button allow me to do that?

[@DanBakerMusic]

Yes exactly-the switch is a simple toggle on/off

[@Charles64]

How to used that connecting to iPad with Helicon . Do I need audio interface for my Fb livestream

[@mikeymumblesreal]

Yes

[@maverg]

Hi Dan! I want to use the H1 with my sax, do you think is it possible? Can it take harmony from an ambiental mic? If I set it on Guitar and nothing is plugged in, does it follow a harmony or the intervals it takes are all perfect or major?

[@DanBakerMusic]

Hi Marco-I made a video about this as a response to your question: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5WynYaVosR8nK8

[@pppuzzzo]

@@DanBakerMusic I have the same question, but there is no video

[@westleywest7259]

Hi Dan, Are you still here? Question: Will it do an octave below without another harmony? I need to get a low Zappa voice. (which I can't do) Thanks!

[@DanBakerMusic]

Hi there: yeah I'm still here! No the H1 doesn't do any octaves: only harmony parts....

[@kingstumble]

I think you need the TC Helicon Doubler (D1) which will do an octave down---or up.

[@michaelmcdonald3057]

SOLD!!!

[@laquecanta]

Hi, i have a question, I'm a singer, but I'm using just backtrack , so i need the pedal just for my voice, is that possible or i need to use an instrument to assign the key? I only want harmony in my voice

[@DanBakerMusic]

You would have to manually assign the key, though it may recognise harmony from the backing track. You could send the backing track through a separate mixer channel with bass and treble cut off, leaving the mid range, which would have the chords...

[@mikeymumblesreal]

There's a strange 2 pronged plastic piece included separately. Do you know what it is?

[@DanBakerMusic]

I didn’t get that with mine! Not sure what that is...

[@mosthatedpromotions4428]

How do you get the dynamic mic to play on the hl I thought phantom power wood ruin the mic I'm trying to figure this out

[@never2old2try]

No it does not. No problem on a modern mic - it just adapts.

[@mosthatedpromotions4428]

@@never2old2try thank you I appreciate it 💯

[@kiskadar69]

If the mic has a balanced output, and is wired correctly, even if the mic is a dynamic or ribbon type, phantom will not hurt the mic. So technically as long as you're not connecting microphones with TS jacks, you should be good. For doing that you would need adapters anyways because the in and out of this pedal is exclusively XLR cannon balanced, so in short, any standard microphone should be fine with this.

[@mjn92]

Can you still connect your guitar using multiple tc helicon pedals?

[@DanBakerMusic]

You should be able to-just run the guitar output of one pedal into the next, and so on..

[@randypcole]

If you're playing a song in a minor key, would you use the relative major setting? Example: I'm playing a song in Em. Should I set it to G?

[@DanBakerMusic]

You can do, though the Dorian mode sometimes works better. This would involve rotating the key down a tone, so E minor would invoke a setting of D major. You could try also the relative major of G, but the C natural that would be created by the pedal might not work as well...

[@randypcole]

@@DanBakerMusic Thanks for the reply. Great demo.

[@barryspaeth8159]

@@DanBakerMusic For Guitar player in a band: Want guitar signal thru guitar pedal board and amp only, not out PA with this processor. Q1 is that possible ? in Key only mode, as opposed to it appears one must experimnt with relative minor and Dorian setting and that the desired / proper harmonies might not be produced. Q2 Correct ? For rapid fire live performances, with songs in different keys, Q3 this would need to be mounted on some kind of easily reached stand, correct ?

[@leandroserrati]

Dan, does this pedal still pay off in the year 2023? I've already had the Boss VE2 and I believe that the Voicetone H1 is very similar!

[@DanBakerMusic]

It’s still good but the key here is to use the harmonies quite low in the mix. It’s not that the pedal is somehow dated but rather reflecting of what you’d hear on a record with bvs down in the mix

[@toneranger]

Would be great if it had a momentary option for the switch

[@DanBakerMusic]

That’s a good point. The switch could be changed to accommodate that I would have thought...

[@VonnStrummer]

Do you know if you can use this pedal with a guitar effects processor?

[@DanBakerMusic]

This I haven’t Tried but I’ve lent it to a sax player friend. The manually set key knob will be useful here. It’s an XLR input but could put the guitar into a passive DI box and then in. You’ve got me started on an idea 😂

[@DeanCHall]

Kudos to Dan for the demo. Very informative. The problem is that this, the H1, is a dumbed down version of what had been a GREAT stomp box by Helicon, the Harmony-M. The Harmony-M was a true, stand up stomp box requiring no bending over for adjustments; this is critical for "live", in-the-heat-battle performance where the last thing you want to do is have to bend down to turn knobs. For most rapid fire, "live" performances this box would have to be within reach (hands) to accommodate knob turning; fine for studio, terrible for "live". Helicon seems to be dumbing down their entire line and that is sad. Add to that they no longer offer direct phone support (Covid?! Really!!!?). Haven't demo'd their other "stomp boxes" but they all seem less versatile now. Get the impression Helicon now thinks we're all dummies. Anyone, if I'm wrong please enlighten. Thanks.(Oh, Marco, BTW, most harmonizers can work for horns but require homework).

[@DanBakerMusic]

I’ve used the harmony M and it’s amazing. However, the H1 does seem to offer what you need and not what you don’t. The guitar input of the H1 works well and I’ve gone out on gigs where the backing track has a click on the L channel for the drummer, and chords on the R, a sixteenth ahead of the beat that feeds the H1. Happy days and perfect harmony...

[@merijnkortman1746]

Hi Dan, I really hope you still answer questions. Is it also possible to use the piano to support the H1 in the way you use your bass in this video?

[@DanBakerMusic]

Yes: you can use it with any instrument that generates chords!

[@lumberpilot]

Does it allow you to double the vocal by choosing unison?

[@DanBakerMusic]

Unfortunately it doesn’t. That would be a very welcome feature!

[@garryrandall99]

Can it be used with wireless mics?

[@matteocola8269]

Of course you’ll have to plug in the mic receiver.

[@ivankatramp2319]

i see crt tv above you. now i know for sure you are the true oldy )))

[@georgia3997]

Can you use it with a keyboard?

[@DanBakerMusic]

I’ve tried it and it does work. A lot of how well it works depends on input level, which, if too high, will generate unwanted results.

[@kiskadar69]

If you run audio from your keyboard, it'll work just fine. You'd get the best results if you only send left hand chord stuff and also have chorus/reverb off on the keyboard output.

[@aiistyt]

Hi Dan, you list 10 ways in which you earn a living with music, what surprises me is that given the KZbin videos you don't seem to be doing recording or consulting on recording.

[@DanBakerMusic]

I’ve done recording videos: if you see other videos on my channel, you should find some...

[@aiistyt]

@@DanBakerMusic I realise that you have many videos which cover recording, however what I'm referring to is maybe session work on peoples projects or taking projects and cleaning them up, mastering etc. btw only came across your stuff about two weeks ago and in the last week I have watched about twenty videos - great content and presentation/humour/style. Thanks for this

[@DanBakerMusic]

Stephen Lindsey I’ve done a couple of sessions, for other people and also full length sessions of my own, covering all sorts of aspects of recording practice, mic technique and sorts. I’ll keep on making more videos though...

[@user-eo5kr2fi8e]

😊

[@ashbrauw]

2:06 hhhhhh 😉👍

[@jadestewart3519]

But to many leads it's 2022 that why I sold my pa

[@graxx1451]

Mmmm,average review

[@skiptown5348]

More fake music. How wonderful.

[@DanBakerMusic]

The pedal definitely has its place, but with the bvs dialed in just a tiny amount, I reckon it works fine....