Antares Harmony EFX user manual

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Fixed Interval Mode
When Fixed Interval mode is selected, the 
Interval popups in the individual harmony 
voice channels are enabled and all of the other controls in the Harmony 
Control section (apart 
form the Assign and 
Delete buttons) are 
disabled.
In this mode, each enabled harmony voice 
tracks the original input at the interval defined 
by the number of semi-tones up or down 
selected in the voice’s Interval popup.  Since no allowance is made for diatonic scale 
tones, using this mode in conventional diatonic 
harmony with any intervals aside from octaves 
will almost certainly result is dissonant, out- of-
scale notes. As a result, this mode is best for 
drones, chants and other applications where 
absolutely parallel harmony is desired.
N
OTE : In Fixed Interval mode, 
all of the input audio’s pitch 
gestures are followed regardless 
of the Naturalize setting. Increasing the 
Naturalize setting above 0 will actually 
expand the range of those gestures.
Scale Interval Mode
When Scale Interval mode is selected, the Key/
Root and Scale popups are enabled (along with 
the Interval popups in the individual harmony 
voice channels) and all of the other controls in 
the Harmony Control section (apart form the 
Assign and Delete buttons) are disabled.
In Scale Interval mode, each harmony voice 
tracks the original input at the interval defined by 
the scale degree selected in its Interval popup in 
combination with the Key and Scale settings. 
In contrast to the Fixed Interval mode, this 
mode always chooses harmony notes that fall  in the selected key and scale. For example, If 
you have selected C Major as the key and set a 
harmony voice’s Interval popup to +3rd, when 
the input is C, the harmony voice will sound at 
E (a major 3rd). However, when the input is D, 
the harmony voice will sound at F (a minor 3rd).
IMpO rTANT NOTE: An exception 
to the above is when Unison or any 
Octave interval is selected. In that 
case, the harmony voice will track the input 
note-for-note, regardless of whether they are 
scale notes or not. 
						

							16
To use Scale Interval mode, select your song’s 
key with the Key/Root popup. Note that 
sharp/flat keys are specified as flats with the 
exception of F#. If your song is in an unlisted 
key, you should choose the enharmonic 
equivalent:Db = C#
Eb = D#
F# = Gb
Ab = G#
Bb = A#
The Scale popup offers three variations of the 
major and four variations of the minor scales as 
follows:  Major (Major)
Major with no 7th (Maj/no7)
Major with a flat 7th (Maj/b7)
Natural minor (Minor)
Harmonic minor (Har. min)
Minor with a natural 6th (Min/nat 6)
Minor with a major 7th (Min/Maj7)
There aren’t really any hard-and-fast rules for 
picking one over the others. Depending on the 
structure of your particular song, one may offer 
better results. Trial-and-error is the method of 
the day.
N OTE : In Scale Interval mode, it is 
particularly important that the original 
input be properly in tune before 
being input to Harmony EFX. If the original falls 
between scale notes, you can get annoying 
results as the harmony voice flips back and 
forth between two adjacent harmony notes. If 
in doubt, pitch correct the original using Auto-
Tune first.
Register & Spread
The Register and Spread controls are used 
together with their associated graphic display 
to define the general range and “closeness” of 
the harmony notes in Chord Degrees, Chord 
Name, and Chord via MIDI modes. They 
provide an amazingly easy and intuitive method 
of arranging your harmonies in almost any 
desired style.
Since they function identically in all three 
modes, we’ll describe their use here and then 
just reference them in the individual mode 
descriptions that follow.
Register
The Register control sets the general range 
of the lowest generated harmony note, with 
the leftmost setting being the lowest and the 
rightmost setting the highest. As you move the 
control, you will see the lower boundary of the 
graphic range display change in response.
If you adjust this control while a chord is 
sounding (not recommended during a real 
performance, but instructive for understanding 
what it’s doing), you will hear the lowest note 
of the chord move up or down by octaves in 
response to your adjustments.
Spread
The Spread control sets the “closeness” of 
the generated harmony notes. Lower settings 
result in the harmony notes being spaced 
tightly together, while higher settings result in 
the harmony notes being spaced progressively 
farther apart. 
As you move the Spread control, you will see 
the upper boundary of the graphic range display 
change in response. 
						

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If you adjust this control while a chord is 
sounding (again, for instructive purposes), you 
will hear all but the lowest note of the chord 
move apart or together in response to your 
adjustments.
Here are some example settings:
Wide harmony:
High, very tight harmony:
Low, very tight harmony:
Medium range, moderately tight harmony:IM pO rTANT N OTE: When using 
r egister and Spread, the harmony 
notes will be assigned to the various 
harmony channels such that the lowest pitched 
note will be assigned to the highest numbered 
active channel and the progressively higher 
pitched notes will be assigned in order to 
the progressively lowered numbered active 
channels. For example, for a four note chord, 
the lowest note will be assigned to harmony 
channel 4, the next higher to channel 3, the 
next higher to channel 2 and the highest to 
channel 1.
This ensures that you can use each channel’s 
Throat Length control to define a voice type, 
confident of that channel’s general range. In the 
example above, for instance, since harmony 
channel 4 will always be assigned the lowest 
note, you might choose to lengthen the Throat 
setting a bit to reinforce its identity as a bass 
voice.
In the end, this is all actually a lot easier to see 
and hear than it is to describe, so just play with 
the controls for a bit and you’ll understand 
what’s happening. 
						

							18
Chord Degrees Mode
When Chord Degrees mode is selected, the 
Key/Root, Scale, Chord, Inversion, Register, and 
Spread controls are enabled and the Interval 
popups in the individual harmony voice channels 
are disabled.
In Chord Degrees mode, the harmony notes are 
generated by the combination of the settings 
of the Key, Scale, Chord, Inversion, Register, 
and Spread controls. This mode is specifically 
designed to be used with the Harmony Preset 
buttons described below.
Start by setting the song’s Key and Scale in the 
same way as described above for Smart Interval 
mode. Again, if your song is in an unlisted key, 
use the enharmonic equivalent:Db = C#
Eb = D#
F# = Gb
Ab = G#
Bb = A#
Next, for each chord that appears in your 
song, select the chord from the Chord popup 
(specified as a degree of the selected key 
and scale) and the desired inversion from the 
Inversion popup. 
Finally, set the chord’s voicing with the Register 
and Spread controls as described in the previous 
section.
N OTE : As mentioned in the  register 
and Spread section, the harmony 
notes will be assigned to the various 
harmony channels such that the lowest pitched 
note will be assigned to the highest numbered 
active channel and the progressively higher 
pitched notes will be assigned in order to the 
progressively lowered numbered active channels.  o
nce you get everything the way you want it, 
assign the settings to a Harmony Preset button 
as described below.
Repeat the process for each of the chords in 
your song. If your song modulates, you can 
either create a new host preset in the new 
key or use automation to change the Key and/
or Scale setting to the new key (which will 
automatically transpose all of the chords to the 
new key).
A T Ip: Keep in mind that you can, for 
example, assign the same chord, but 
with different  register and Spread 
settings, to multiple Harmony  preset buttons so 
that you can have different harmony voicings for 
the same chord depending on where it appears 
in your song.
When you have programmed all of the chords 
and any alternate voicings, you’re ready to 
play your song and simply select the various 
Harmony Presets at the appropriate times, 
either manually (by clicking the buttons) or, 
better yet, via automation.
I M pO rTANT N OTE: In Chord Degrees 
mode, the harmony notes are 
generated independently of the 
actual pitch of the original track. The original 
can be out of tune (or even a monotone, for 
that matter), but the harmony notes will still 
be perfectly in tune with the A=440 pitch 
reference. 
						

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Chord names Mode
When Chord Names mode is selected, the 
Key/Root, Chord, Inversion, Register, and 
Spread controls are enabled, while the Scale 
popup and the Interval popups in the individual 
harmony voice channels are disabled.
Chord Names mode is almost identical to 
Chord Degrees mode, with the exception that 
instead of setting a key and scale and then 
defining the chords by scale degree, you define 
each chord by its explicit name, independent of 
the scale or key.
In Chord Names mode, the Key/Root popup is 
used to define the root note of the chord. (And 
yes, this is where the discussion of enharmonic 
equivalents that we’ve already included twice 
above would go. If you don’t already know it 
by heart, check it out in the Chord Degrees 
section.)
The Chord popup is used to define the 
type of chord, and the Inversion popup, not 
unexpectedly, defines the inversion. 
The Register and Spread controls function 
exactly as described above.
As in the Chord Degrees mode, assign all the 
chords and voicings you need to Harmony 
Preset buttons and harmonize away.
IM pO rTANT N OTE: In Chord Names 
mode, the harmony notes are 
generated independently of the 
actual pitch of the original track. The original 
can be out of tune (or even a monotone, for 
that matter), but the harmony notes will still 
be perfectly in tune with the A=440 pitch 
reference.
Chord Degrees vs. Chord n ames
Why use one versus the other? 
The advantages of Chord Names are that if you 
have a lead sheet with written chord names, 
it’s extremely simple to quickly define and 
assign all of the chords you need to Harmony 
Preset buttons. Additionally, the Chord Names 
mode offers a wider variety of chord types. 
The advantages of Chord Degrees are that 
some people are more familiar with that 
naming convention (especially if they studied 
formal harmony in an academic environment). 
More usefully, if you are early in the song 
creation process and the song’s final key 
may eventually change, if you’ve used Chord 
Degrees mode it’s only necessary to change 
the Key popup to the new key and all the rest of 
your work will still be applicable. 
						

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Chord via MIDI Mode
When Chord via MIDI mode is selected, the 
Register and Spread controls are enabled, while 
all other section controls (apart form the Assign 
and Delete buttons) and the Interval popups 
in the individual harmony voice channels are 
disabled.
Chord via MIDI is very similar to the two 
preceding modes, except that instead of 
defining chord names by some combination 
of popups, they are defined in real time by all 
“o n” MIDI notes appearing on an assigned 
MIDI channel. These notes are treated as if 
they were a chord (whether they are actually 
an “official” chord or not) and are re-voiced by 
the settings of the Register and Spread controls 
such that the lowest note played will always be 
the lowest pitched note and will be assigned to 
the highest numbered active harmony voice. 
The MIDI notes can, of course, be played in real 
time from a controller or recorded into a MIDI 
track that is then routed to Harmony EFX. N OTE : Each time there is a change 
in the currently “On” MIDI notes, 
Harmony EFX will re-voice the 
harmony based on the  register and Spread 
controls. If the MIDI data has notes that start 
or end at slightly different times, each such 
change will cause the harmony to be re-voiced, 
potentially shifting existing notes one or more 
octaves and resulting in unwanted changes. 
If you’re playing the chords manually, play 
precisely. If you’re creating a MIDI track, ensure 
that all notes of a chord start at exactly the 
same time.
N OTE : There are only four available 
harmony voices, so limit your MIDI 
input to no more than four notes at 
a time.
A NOTHE r NOTE : Keep in mind that 
you are not actually “playing” the 
harmony channels in this mode 
(that’s what MIDI Omni mode is for), but simply 
defining the notes that make up the chord that 
the r egister and Spread controls will voice. 
						

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MIDI Omni Mode
When MIDI omni mode is selected, all other 
section controls (apart form the Assign and 
Delete buttons) and the Interval popups in the 
individual harmony voice channels are disabled.
In MIDI  omni mode, you are in fact directly 
“playing” the harmony channels (again, either 
live from a controller or via a pre-recoded MIDI 
track).  
A T Ip: Keep in mind that there are 
only four available harmony voices, 
so limit your MIDI input to no more 
than four notes at a time. That’s easy to do 
when creating a MIDI track, but if you’re playing 
a controller live, watch out for sloppy fingering, 
as having five or more notes playing at once will 
result in voice stealing that may or may not be 
objectionable. 
I M pO rTANT N OTE: In MIDI Omni 
mode, there is no way to guarantee 
that a particular note will be assigned 
to a particular harmony voice channel. While 
Harmony EFX does its best to assign the 
lowest note to the highest numbered active 
channel, depending on your fingering, that 
may not always be possible. Setting different 
harmony voices to different Gain, pan, and/
or Throat Length settings will almost certainly 
result in harmony lines jumping from timbre to 
timbre, which may or may not be acceptable. 
As a result, this mode is most useful (or, at 
least, most predictable) when all active harmony 
voices are set to the same settings. 
MIDI Channels Mode
When MIDI Channels mode is selected, all 
other section controls (apart form the Assign 
and Delete buttons) and the Interval popups 
in the individual harmony voice channels are 
disabled.
This is the mode to use when you want to 
have absolute control over every note of your 
harmony arrangement.  In MIDI Channels mode, channels 1- 4 of the 
MIDI bus assigned to Harmony EFX are routed 
to the matching numbered harmony voice 
channels. While it’s conceivable that you could 
split a controller into four zones and use it live 
in this mode, its main purpose is for executing 
harmony arrangements where you can be 
assured that individual harmony lines will always 
be realized by the desired harmony voice. 
						

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About Routing MIDI to Harmony EF X 
In order to use the MIDI Harmony Control 
modes described above, you must be able 
to route MIDI data to Harmony EFX. The 
method of routing MIDI to a plug-in varies 
pretty dramatically (both in technique and ease) 
among various hosts. If you are unsure how to 
do it in your particular host, you should refer to 
your host’s manual for instructions. Additionally, 
you can open one of the Tutorial Sessions 
that make use of one of the MIDI modes (as 
described in the Tutorial Sessions Guide) and 
simply observe how it is done.
Harmony Presets
The Harmony Preset system allows you 
to assign combinations of harmony control 
settings to each of 12 buttons for instant 
recall, either manually or via automation. It is a powerful tool, both for ease of creating 
vocal arrangements and as a creative tool for 
quickly and easily experimenting with a variety 
of harmonic approaches. Particularly in Chord 
Degrees or Chord Names modes, assign a 
variety of chords to the preset buttons and, 
with just a few clicks, audition your vocal with 
an almost limitless combination of harmonic 
structures.
Here’s how it works:
Harmony Presets store the value of the 
following controls:
Harmony Source
Key/Root
Scale
Chord
Inversion
Register
Spread
Harmony Voice Intervals
Note that not all of the above controls are 
available in every mode. When assigning 
a Harmony Preset to a button, only those 
controls that are active in the selected Harmony 
Mode are remembered. 
In normal operation, a button with a preset 
assigned to it is blue and displays the preset’s 
name (either automatically generated or 
customized by you). A button with no preset 
assigned to it is gray and displays no text. 
To assign a new preset to a button:
  1.  Select a Harmony Source and set the 
controls listed above as desired.
  2.  Click the Preset Assign button. The button 
will flash red.
  3.  Click on the Harmony Preset button to 
which you want to assign the preset. The 
Assign button will stop flashing and the 
selected button will turn (or remain) blue 
and its preset name text will be displayed. 
						

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If you assign the new preset to a button that 
already has a preset assigned to it, the new 
preset will overwrite the old one.
If you click the Assign button and then, for 
some reason, change your mind, simply click it 
again to exit Assign mode.
Preset names
When you assign a preset to a button, 
Harmony EFX will create a preset name based 
on the values of the key parameters of the 
selected harmony mode. In most cases this 
should be sufficient to help you remember 
what each preset is about. 
However, you can easily create your own 
custom preset names. Simply double-click any 
button with an existing preset and modify or 
replace the existing preset name as you wish.
To edit an existing preset:
 1.  Click the existing preset’s button to call up 
its control settings.
  2.  Edit the controls as desired.
  3.  Click the Assign button and then the 
preset’s button. The updated values will be 
recorded. 
NOTE : Depending on which controls 
you change, the preset’s default 
name may change in response. You 
can, of course, modify the name as desired.
To create a new preset based on an existing 
preset:
  1.  Click the existing preset’s button to call up 
its control settings.
  2.  Edit the controls as desired.
  3.  Click the Assign button and then the preset 
button to which you want to assign the 
new preset.
A T Ip: Depending on which controls 
you change, the new preset’s 
default name could possibly end 
up being the same as the original preset’s 
name. In that case, it’s usually a good idea to 
manually change one of the names to help you 
remember how the two presets differ. To delete an existing preset:
 
1.  Click the Delete button. The button will 
flash red.
  2.  Click the button whose preset you want 
to delete. The selected preset will be 
erased and its button will return to the gray 
unassigned state. 
IM pO rTANT N OTE: Harmony  presets 
are local to the instance of Harmony 
EFX in which they are created. If you 
want to share a set of Harmony  presets among 
various instances of Harmony EFX, save the 
plug-in state as a preset in your host so that it 
can then be recalled as a starting point in any 
instance of Harmony EFX. 
						

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As mentioned back at the beginning of the manual, you will find two additional learning tools on the 
installation DVD (if you’ve purchased a boxed copy) or included with your download: the Factory 
Presets Guide and the Tutorial Sessions Guide.
Factory Presets
Harmony EFX comes with a selection of 
factory presets that configure Harmony EFX 
to let you quickly and easily interact with its 
various modes and functions. The Factory 
Presets Guide includes brief descriptions of 
each of the presets as well as suggestions for 
modifying them for your particular use. 
Since it is extremely unlikely that any factory 
preset will be immediately useful for any of 
your personal projects, we have designed the 
presets to demonstrate various ways of using 
Harmony EFX. Simply start with a vocal track 
whose key and chord progression you know 
and run through the presets while reading their 
descriptions in the Guide.
Tutorial Sessions
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the composers 
who produced some of the Harmony EFX 
demo compositions have been kind enough to 
allow us to include the actual sessions for you 
to load into your host and experiment with. 
In each case, we’ve provided versions of each 
demo for a number of the most popular host 
applications. The Tutorial Sessions Guide 
provides information about how to make use 
of the tutorial sessions, as well as providing 
insight into how Harmony EFX was used in 
each session.
open them up. Check out the Harmony EFX 
settings. Tweak some controls and see what 
happens.
Appendix: Factory Presets and  
Tutorial Sessions