Antares Harmony Engine Evo user manual

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This control is inactive in all Chord Name and MIDI modes.
NOTE : Harmony Engine Evo 
remembers the most recent Interval 
settings for each of the two interval 
harmony modes. So, if you select Fixed Interval 
and set a harmony voice to +3 semitones, 
and then change to Smart Interval and set that 
same harmony voice to -5th, if you then change 
back to Fixed Interval, the Interval setting will 
return to +3 semitones.
For reference, here are the  equivalent scale 
intervals for each semitone interval:
S EMITO nES = S CALE In TErVAL
1 = minor 2nd
2 = major 2nd
3 = minor 3rd
4 = major 3rd
5 = perfect 4th
6 = aug 4th/dim 5th
7 = perfect 5th
8 = aug 5th/min 6th
9 = major 6th
10 = minor 7th
11 = major 7th
12 = octave
13 = minor 9th
14 = major 9th
15 = minor 10th
16 = major 10th
17 = perfect 11th
18 = aug 11th
19 = perfect 12th
20 = minor 13th
21 = major 13th
22 = minor 14th (rarely used)
23 = major 14th (rarely used)
24 = 2 octaves Pan
These controls set each harmony voice’s 
position on the stereo soundstage when the 
voice is not muted and Harmony Engine Evo is 
assigned to a stereo output. 
If Harmony Engine Evo is not assigned to a 
stereo track, these controls will be disabled.
The control range is from -100 (panned full 
left) to 100 (panned full right). Not surprisingly, 
a value of 0 represents the center of the 
soundstage.
The default Pan values are different for each 
Harmony Voice channel as follows:
Channel 1: - 50
Channel 2: 50
Channel 3: -100
Channel 4: 100
o
ption (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking a Pan control returns it to its default value. 
NOTE : See the CHOIR section below 
for a discussion of how the CHOIR 
Stereo Spread control interacts with 
the Harmony Voice p an controls. 
						

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Vibrato Controls
The following four controls are used to add an 
independently programmable vibrato to each 
Harmony Voice. In using these controls, it’s 
useful to consider the following principles:
• If the Input Audio does not contain its own natural vibrato, you can feel free to do pretty 
much whatever you want with the Vibrato 
controls. 
• If the Input Audio does contain its own natural vibrato and the Humanize control 
has been set to allow it to be present in the 
Harmony Voices (or you are using Fixed 
Interval mode), using the Vibrato controls 
may cause interference between the natural 
and programmed vibratos, with unnatural-
sounding results. This is not to say that this 
can’t be an interesting effect, only that it is 
unlikely to sound realistic.
• If the Input Audio contains its own natural vibrato and the Humanize control is set to 
0 (preventing the pitch component of the 
natural vibrato from being present in the 
Harmony Voices), any loudness component 
of the natural vibrato will still be present in 
the Harmony Voices. Depending on the 
amount of loudness variation, there might still 
be interference with programmed vibrato. 
However, unless the loudness variation is 
fairly extreme, it is unlikely to be a problem.
Vibrato Rate
This control sets the rate of the vibrato (in Hz) 
for its Harmony Voice. The range is from 1.0 Hz 
to 9.0 Hz. The default Vibrato Rate values are 
slightly different for each Harmony 
Voice channel as follows:
Channel 1: 6.2 Hz 
Channel 3: 5.4 HzChannel 2: 5.8 Hz Channel 4: 5.0 Hz
option (Mac)/Control (PC)- clicking a fader returns it to its default value. 
Vibrato Onset Delay
This control sets the onset delay of the vibrato 
for its Harmony Voice. The control reads out in 
milliseconds such that there is no vibrato for the 
selected time and then there is a transition to 
full vibrato over the selected time.
“Huh?” you might be asking. Understandable. 
Here’s an example:
If you select 750 (i.e., 750 milliseconds), for 
the first 750 ms after the onset of a note, 
there will be no vibrato.  over the next 750 ms, the vibrato will transition from none to the full 
amounts set in the Amount controls below. 
Therefore, a setting of 750 results in a total of 
1500 ms (i.e., a second and a half) from note 
onset to full vibrato amounts.
The default o nset Delay values are slightly different for each Harmony 
Voice channel as follows:
Channel 1: 20  Channel 3: 40Channel 2: 30 Channel 4: 50
option (Mac)/Control (PC)- clicking a fader returns it to its default value. 
Vibrato Pitch Amount
This control sets the depth of the pitch 
modulation for its voice. The range is from 0 (no 
pitch variation) to a maximum of 100.
The default Pitch Amount value is 0 (i.e., no 
pitch vibrato). o ption (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking the fader returns it to that value. 
Vibrato Amplitude Amount
This control sets the amount of loudness 
variation for its voice. The range is from 0 (no 
variation) to a maximum of 100.
The default Amplitude Amount value is 0 (i.e., 
no loudness variation).  option (Mac)/Control (PC)- clicking the fader returns it to that value.  
						

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Humanization
The functions in the Humanize section are 
designed to allow you to add a selectable bit 
of random variation to each harmony voice 
as well as deciding how much (if any) of the 
original input’s vibrato and pitch gestures 
will be present in the harmony voices.
Each of these controls affect all active 
harmony voices. However, they affect 
each harmony voice individually (i.e., if 
you set a certain range of pitch variation, 
the actual amount of variation will be a bit 
different for each active harmony voice).
Experiment with different combinations 
of the Pitch and Timing controls. They can 
create dramatically different vocal ensembles. 
With Timing Variation at its minimum and 
substantial Pitch Variation, you have a vocal 
group that’s rhythmically tight but a bit loose 
with intonation. Conversely, reversing those 
settings gives you a group that’s solidly in 
tune, but rhythmically loose. There are, of 
course, many variations in between. Match the 
performance style to the style of your music.Naturalize
This control 
selects the 
amount of the 
original input’s 
vibrato and pitch 
gestures that will 
be present in the 
harmony voices. 
If the original input contains natural vibrato and 
you are planning to use the harmony voices’  Vibrato controls to add programmable vibrato to 
the harmony parts, this control should usually 
be set to 0 to minimize the amount of the 
original vibrato in the harmony voices. 
N
OTE : In Fixed Interval mode 
(only), the harmony voices will 
always parallel all of the original 
input’s vibrato and pitch gestures. Setting 
the Naturalize function above 0 in that 
case will actually accentuate (i.e., expand 
the range of) the vibrato and gestures. 
The range of the control is from 0 (no input 
vibrato or pitch gestures) to a maximum of 
100 (harmony voices duplicate the input 
vibrato and/or pitch gestures — except in 
Fixed Interval mode as mentioned above) .
The default Naturalize value is 0. 
o ption (Mac)/Control (PC)- clicking the knob returns it to that value. 
Pitch Variation
The Pitch 
Variation control 
lets you select 
the amount of 
random variation 
in pitch applied 
to each harmony 
voice. The higher 
the value, the larger the maximum amount of 
allowable variation in each voice. As mentioned 
above, the actual amount of pitch variation will 
be different (and continuously variable) for each 
active harmony voice. 
						

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The range of the control is from 0 (no pitch variation) to a maximum of 100 .
The default Pitch Variation value is 30. option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking the knob returns it 
to that value. 
Timing 
Variation
 The Timing 
Variation control 
lets you select 
the amount of 
random variation 
in timing applied  
to each 
harmony voice. The higher the value, the 
larger the maximum amount of allowable 
timing variation. As mentioned above, 
the actual amount of timing variation will 
be different (and continuously variable) 
for each active harmony voice.
Harmony Engine Evo’s timing variation is 
completely independent of pitch variation. 
The range of the control is from 0 (no timing 
variation) to a maximum of 100 .
The default Timing Variation value is 50.  option (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking the knob returns it 
to that value. 
Glide
The  glide function 
allows you 
to control 
the speed 
at which 
harmony 
voices 
transition 
from note 
to note 
during legato 
phrasing.
Transition Rate
This control lets you set a selectable amount 
of glide (or, for those who grew up with 
synthesizers, portamento) between overlapping 
note transitions. The control reads out in  milliseconds and represents the time it takes to 
get halfway to the destination pitch.
N
OTE : Glide only takes effect when 
successive notes overlap or butt 
up against each other. If there is 
any silence between two notes (even a few 
milliseconds worth), no glide will be applied. 
The range of the control is from 0 milliseconds 
(essentially instant transitions) to a maximum of 
1000 milliseconds .
The default Transition Rate is 125 milliseconds. 
o ption (Mac)/Control (PC)-clicking the knob returns it to that value. 
Freeze
The Freeze 
functions allow 
you to freeze 
either the 
formants or both 
the pitches and 
formants of the 
harmony voices 
while the original 
input continues. 
Which mode you 
select depends on 
the specific effect you desire.
Formant Only
 Click the Formant 
only button to engage the Formant o nly Freeze function. 
The button will turn blue to indicate the 
function is active and the harmony voices’ 
formants and articulation will be frozen 
at the instant the button is clicked.
In Formant  only mode, the harmony voices will continue to change pitch per the current 
harmony mode and will respond to Register 
and Spread changes as well.
Click the button again to disengage the function 
and return the channels to normal behavior.
one useful effect of this mode is to simulate a backup group holding a particular word in 
a lyric while continuing to provide harmony  
						

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behind the lead singer (in this case, the original input). There are, however, a lot of other really 
intriguing possibilities (highly dependent on 
your particular vocal). We encourage you to play 
around and discover some for yourself.
NOTE : The Formant Only mode is 
not available in Fixed Interval or 
Smart Interval modes. The button is 
disabled in those modes.
Formant + Pitch
Click the Formant + 
Pitch button to engage 
the Formant + Pitch 
Freeze function. 
The button will turn blue to indicate that the 
function is active and both the harmony voices’ 
formants and articulation and their current 
harmony pitches will be frozen at the instant 
the button is clicked. 
CHOI r
Harmony Engine Evo provides five integrated channels of our unique CH oIR Vocal Multiplier.
First introduced as part of the AV oX Vocal Toolkit, CH oIR is a unique processor that turns a single monophonic voice into 2, 4, or 8 distinct individual unison voices, each with its own pitch, timing and 
vibrato variations. 
The voices can, if desired, be spread across the stereo spectrum. When multiple channels of CH oIR are assigned to the input vocal and/or individual harmony parts, the result is a startlingly realistic 
large vocal ensemble.
With the original Harmony Engine, incorporating CH oIR meant struggling with your host’s five channel output mode (if it had one) and, of course, owning a copy of CH oIR. With Harmony Engine Evo, jaw- droppingly amazing choirs are just a few button presses away. Click the button again to disengage the function 
and return the channels to normal 
This is useful for, among other things, having 
the harmony voices hold a chord while the 
original input continues with the melody over it. 
I
M pORTANT N OTE: In both Freeze 
modes, there must be audio present 
in the original input and harmony 
sounding in at least one harmony voice at the 
moment the Freeze function is engaged. If 
not, all harmony output will be muted until the 
function is disengaged, giving the impression 
that Harmony Engine Evo is somehow 
“ broken.” Be careful.
CHOI r Controls
CHOIR Bypass
This control is used to bypass the 
entire CH oIR section.
Click the CH oIR Bypass button to toggle its state. When it’s red, all CH oIR functionality is disabled.
CHOIR On Buttons
The Input Voice and each of the 
the four Harmony Voices have 
their own individual CH oIR o n buttons. When a button is green, CHoIR is active on the associated voice. Clicking the button will toggle its state. 
						

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Choir SizeThis control 
allows you 
to select the 
number of 
individual 
voices that will be generated from the input 
or harmony voice. The choices are 2, 4, and 8 
voices.
Vibrato
The Vibrato control allows you to select 
the range of variation in vibrato depth 
applied to the generated voices. Each 
voice is individually assigned a vibrato 
variation relative to the original voice. 
The higher the value of this control, the 
greater the possible vibrato variation.
Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the 
control to reset it to its default value of 30.
Pitch
The Pitch control lets you select the range 
of the random variation in pitch applied 
to each generated voice. Each voice is 
individually assigned a pitch variation 
relative to the original voice. The higher 
the value of this control, the larger the 
maximum amount of allowable variation.
Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control 
to reset it to its default value of 30.
Timing
The Timing control lets you select the range 
of the random variation in timing applied to 
each generated voice. Each voice is individually  assigned a timing variation relative to the 
original voice. The higher the value of this 
control, the larger the maximum amount of 
allowable variation.
Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control 
to reset it to its default value of 100.
Stereo Spread
This control selects the extent to which the 
generated voices are spread across the stereo 
spectrum. At a setting of 0, all of the voices 
appear in the center of the stereo soundstage.
As the value is increased, the voices spread 
out from the center until, at the maximum 
value, they appear across the entire stereo 
soundstage.
The Stereo Spread display provides an at-a-
glance indication of the Stereo Spread setting.
N
OTE : When CHOIR is active on a voice, the voice’s  pan control essentially acts as a stereo balance 
control. That is, the selected number of CHOIR 
voices are spread across the stereo spectrum 
per the Stereo Spread control, and the voice’s 
p an control sets the balance between the left and right outputs. In that way you can, if you 
desire, still provide positional cues for a voice’s 
CHOIR “section” on the stereo soundstage.
A R ELATED N OTE: There is a special 
case of the above when CHOIR is 
set to 2 Voices and the Stereo Spread 
set to maximum spread (i.e., 100). In that case, 
one of the two CHOIR voices is hard-panned 
right and the other hard-panned left. If you then 
set the voice’s  pan control to the extreme left or right, you will end up hearing only the single 
CHOIR voice that’s assigned to that output. So 
you probably don’t want to do that.
Stereo Spread is only available in Stereo or 
Mono ->Stereo modes.
Command (Mac)/Control (PC) click the control 
to reset it to its default value of 100. 
						

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Some CHOIR Tips• Experiment with different combinations of the Pitch and Timing controls. They 
can create dramatically different vocal 
ensembles. With Timing at its minimum 
and substantial Pitch Variation, you have 
a choir that’s rhythmically tight but a bit 
loose with intonation. Conversely, reversing 
those settings gives you a group that’s 
solidly in tune, but rhythmically loose. 
And there are of course many variations 
in between. Match the performance 
style to the style of your music.
• Keep in mind that the more channels of CH oIR active and the larger the Choir Size, the greater the CPU usage. Watch 
your CPU Usage Meter. If you are running 
out of cycles, try reducing Choir Size.
• Along those same lines, even if you have tons of CPU power, more is not always 
better. Match the Choir Size to the style 
of your music. Not every song needs the 
Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Harmony Control
The controls in this section allow you to choose the method by which Harmony Engine Evo decides 
which harmony notes are assigned to each harmony voice. 
These controls, in combination with the Freeze controls and the Harmony and Voice Parameter 
Preset sections described below, is where the truly unique power of Harmony Engine Evo lies.
While Harmony Engine Evo offers the usual extremes of automatic fixed and “smart” scale interval 
modes on one hand (very easy to use, but with little creative control) and the ability to completely 
specify every note of each harmony voice via MIDI on the other (ultimate control, but requiring 
solid expertise in note-by-note vocal arranging), it’s the powerful new options in the middle that we 
believe will provide you with innovative (and downright entertaining) ways of creating the harmony 
arrangements you hear in your mind.  
						

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The desired harmony mode is selected with the Harmony Source popup menu. Depending 
on which mode you select, various of the other 
controls in this section will be either activated 
or disabled as necessary. Rather than discuss 
each control separately, we’ll look at all of the 
controls that function in each mode.
Here’s how they all work: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 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 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).
IM pORTANT 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. 
						

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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 = g bAb = g #Bb = A#
The Scale popup offers three variations of the 
major and four variations of the minor scales as 
follows:  Major
Major with no 7th (Maj/no 7th)
Major with a flat 7th (Maj/flat 7th)
Natural Minor (Minor)
Harmonic Minor (Harm. minor)
Minor with a natural 6th (Minor/nat. 6th)
Minor with a major 7th (Minor/Maj7th)
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.
VERY IM pORTANT NOTE: In the 
original Harmony Engine, when you 
were using Scale Interval mode in 
combination with the Harmony  preset buttons described below, the settings of the Key/Root 
and Scale popups were not stored with button 
presets. 
THIS FUNCTION HAS BEEN CHANGED 
in Harmony Engine Evo. The settings of the 
Key/Root and Scale popups ARE now stored 
with button presets. If you have existing 
sessions using Harmony Engine that depend 
on the old functionality, you may have to 
modify your button presets and/or any host 
automation of the Key/Root and Scale popups.
N OTE : In Scale Interval mode, it 
is particularly important that the 
original input be properly in tune 
before being input to Harmony Engine Evo. 
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 Evo first. 
						

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Register and SpreadThe 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.
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:
I
M pORTANT N OTE: When using 
Register 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