Antares Harmony Engine Evo user manual

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CHO rd dEG rEES 1
This preset provides the root version of all of 
the available chord degrees on the Harmony 
Preset buttons, as well as the first inversion of 
the key’s root chord.
The Register and Spread controls are set for 
fairly wide, mid-range harmonies.
The Voice Parameter Presets provide the 
following choices:
No Variation: default Throat Lengths 
and all Humanization settings at 0
Varied: Various amounts of Naturalize, 
Pitch and Timing Variation and 
modified Throat Lengths
Vibrato: Similar to Varied, but with 
the addition of slightly different 
vibratos to each voice
THI nGS TO T ry:Play your vocal track and manually click 
the appropriate chord degree button at 
each chord change in your song.
Experiment with different chord 
degrees. Does you melody work with 
any alternate harmonizations?
Use your host’s automation system to 
record the Harmony Preset buttons and 
automate chord degree changes.
Try changing the Register and Spread 
settings. Listen to the effect of various 
ranges and chord spacings.
Pick a part of your vocal where the chord 
remains unchanged for a measure or two. 
Click the Formant  only Freeze button at the beginning of that phrase and listen to the result. 
Then start again and click the Formant + Pitch 
Freeze button at the same point and note the 
difference. In both cases, click the respective 
buttons again at the end of the phrase to return 
to normal harmonization.
Click the different Voice Parameter Preset 
buttons to hear their differences. Try modifying 
one or more of the voice parameters and save 
your new version onto one of the unassigned 
Voice Parameter buttons.
Apply CH oIR to one or more of your vocal parts.
CHO rd dEG rEES 2
This preset is similar to Chord Degrees above, 
but instead of including all of the degrees on 
the Harmony Preset buttons, it includes the 
more commonly used degrees along with a 
variety of inversions of some of the degrees..
The Register and Spread controls are set for 
fairly wide, mid-range harmonies.
The Voice Parameter Presets provide the 
following choices:
No Variation: default Throat Lengths 
and all Humanization settings at 0
Varied: Various amounts of Naturalize, 
Pitch and Timing Variation and 
modified Throat Lengths
Vibrato: Similar to Varied, but with 
the addition of slightly different 
vibratos to each voice
THI nGS TO T ry:Pretty much the same things as listed in Chord 
Degrees above.
COOL C HOrdS 1
This preset (along with the following “Cool 
Chords” presets) can be thought of as a sort of 
harmonic toy-box. It uses Chord Name mode 
to give you a variety of chords in a variety of 
ranges to try with your melody track.
In this preset, four chords are provided, each in 
a low, medium and high voicing.
The Voice Parameter Presets provide the 
following choices:
No Variation: default Throat Lengths 
and all Humanization settings at 0
Vibrato: Various amounts of Naturalize, 
Pitch and Timing Variation and modified 
Throat Lengths with the addition of 
slightly different vibratos to each voice
Low2Hi: Throat Lengths optimized 
for a low input voice that is generally 
being shifted up (e.g., the original input 
is a baritone and the harmony voices 
are in the tenor and alto range). 
						

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Hi2Low: Throat Lengths optimized for a high input voice that is generally being 
shifted down (e.g., the original input is 
a soprano and the harmony voices are 
in the alto, tenor, or even bass range).
THI nGS TO T ry:Just play with the various chords and voicings 
with your input voice. Do they work?
If the key of the original input is totally 
incompatible with the chords, mute the original 
input and listen to just the harmony voices. 
Since Chord Name mode always generates 
the correct harmony notes regardless of 
the input pitch, you can create an entirely 
re-harmonized version of your input.
Add three new chords of your choice to the 
three unassigned Harmony Preset buttons.
Customize some (or all) of the Voice Parameters 
and save them to the unassigned buttons.
Play with the Freeze buttons as described 
above. Check out their effects when you 
have complete control of the harmonization.
Try CHoIR on one or more of the voices.
Since all of the Cool Chords presets operate 
on basically the same principle, we will just 
describe their differences below:
COOL C HOrdS 2
In this preset, we’ve provided five chords, each 
in a low, medium and high voicing.
The Voice Parameter Presets provide a No 
Variation version, along with Low, Medium, 
and High settings that are optimized for those 
voicing ranges.
THI nGS TO T ry:Create harmonizations that are entirely in the 
Low, Medium or High registers. Select various 
Voice Parameter Presets, both matching and 
non-matching ranges.
COOL C HOrdS 3
Same as Cool Chords 2, but with a different set 
of chords.
COOL C HOrdS 4
Six chords, each with a mid register and low 
register version.
Voice Parameter Presets include the standard 
No Variation, Varied, and Vibrato settings.
COOL C HOrdS 5
Ten different chords, all in a relatively wide 
mid-range voicing. Voice Parameter Presets the 
same as Cool Chords 4.
THI nGS TO T ry:Add up to five additional chords (or inversions) 
of your choice to the unassigned Harmony 
Preset buttons.
Change the Register and/or Spread and/or 
Inversion of the supplied chords and resave 
the new versions to the same (or a different) 
button.
dISSOnAnCE
This preset uses Fixed Interval mode to provide 
three different special effects. In each case, the 
original input is muted.
diss 1: Four harmony voices at half-tone 
intervals two octaves below the input.
diss 2: Four harmony voices at half-tone 
intervals two octaves above the input.
diss 3: Four harmony voices at half-tone 
intervals clustered around the input.
The two Voice Parameter Presets demonstrate 
pan control, offering a contrast between all 
voices panned center and the spread across 
the stereo soundstage.
T HI nGS TO T ry:Unmute the original input.
Try modifying individual voice intervals
Add various amounts of vibrato to one or more 
of the harmony voices.
Experiment with various g lide settings.
Try various combinations of Humanize settings.
Try CHoIR. 
						

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duET
This preset uses Scale Interval Mode to provide 
one harmony voice at a variety of intervals. 
(Don’t forget to change the presets buttons’ 
Key and Scale settings to match your track.) 
Choices include:
5th up or down
4th up or down
3rd up or down
octave up or down
Harmony Channel 1 is used for all presets. 
The other channels are muted.
The Voice Parameter Presets provide a 
No Variation version, along with Low and 
High versions, which add Humanization 
and Throat Length modifications 
that accentuate the formant changes 
associated with shifting up or down.
THI nGS TO T ry:Add vibrato to the harmony voice.
Try different values of g lide.
Unmute one or more of the other channels and 
experiment with different intervals.
FIx Ed In TErVALS
This preset lets you explore the effect of 
using various parallel intervals in Fixed 
Interval mode.  other than unison and octaves, this is not something you would 
typically use in conventional diatonic 
music, but as this preset will show, it can 
be useful as an effect in sound design.
THI nGS TO T ry:Explore other combinations of parallel intervals.
GrOuP
This preset demonstrates how the 
Harmony Presets and the Voice Parameter 
Presets can be used together to create 
variously-sized vocal groups.
Using Scale Interval mode (don’t forget 
to change the Key and Scale popups to 
match your track), this preset provides 
four variations of four harmony voices and 
two variations of two harmony voices. 
Up1, Down1, Up2 and Down2 are the 
four voice presets and are designed 
to be used with the Voice Parameter 
presets No Variation, Up and Down.
The Harmony Presets TrioUp and TrioDown 
are designed to be used with the Voice 
Parameter presets TrioUp and TrioDown. The 
Harmony Presets define the proper intervals, 
while the Voice Parameter presets define the 
“Trio” by muting harmony channel 3 and 4.
Hu MA nIz E Fun
This preset is designed to demonstrate 
the variety of effects available from the 
Humanize functions, as well show how 
different Harmony Control modes can 
be combined in a single preset.
The Voice Parameter presets include 
one preset with no Humanize functions 
and five additional presets with various 
combinations of the three Humanize 
functions (their names make their settings 
pretty obvious, but you can also just watch 
the controls as you select each preset).
Up in the Harmony Presets section, you 
will see that four different harmony modes 
are represented. The top three buttons are 
chords in Chord Name mode. The next 6 
are chords in Chord Degrees mode (be sure 
to set the Key and Scale as necessary). 
Finally there is a preset in Scale Interval 
mode (again, set the Key and Scale) 
and another in Fixed Interval mode. 
						

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The point of this is that different parts of a particular project may work best with different 
harmony modes. For example, Scale Interval 
mode might work great for an entire song 
except for one phrase in the bridge where the 
harmony moves away from the basic scale. In 
that case, you can have the primary preset be 
in Scale Interval mode, but still include a few 
Harmony Presets that specifically define the 
errant chords in Chord Name mode.
THI nGS TO T ry:Experiment with the various combinations 
of Harmony Control modes and Humanize 
presets.
If your track needs some chords that 
don’t work well in Scale Interval mode, 
add them to the unused Harmony Presets 
buttons and try switching back and forth 
between the modes as necessary.
VIbr ATOS
This preset demonstrates the use of the Vibrato 
controls to create  special effects. It includes 
one Harmony Preset that features amplitude-
only vibrato (more accurately tremolo) and 
another that features extreme pitch variation. 
In each case the original input is muted and the 
presets impose their effects on a D7 chord.
T HI nGS TO T ry:Adjust the various channels’ vibrato settings.
Unmute the original input.
Change Harmony mode to Scale Interval or 
Chord Degrees and see how the effects work 
in the context of a song.
Experiment with the Humanize functions 
(which are turned off by default in this preset).
VOCAL Mu LTIPLIEr
This preset uses Fixed Interval mode 
and Voice Parameter presets to thicken 
the original input with one, two, three 
or four unison voices. In each case the 
active voices’ pan settings are adjusted for 
best effect for that number of voices.
THI nGS TO T ry:Experiment with different amounts of vibrato 
on one or more voices.
Click the Formant + Pitch Freeze button to hold 
the harmony voices in a drone while the original 
voice continues. Click it again to release the 
freeze and return to regular doubling.
Try different Humanize settings.
yOu C An bELIE VE
This preset creates the infamous  A u t o -Tu n e  
Vocal Effect (i.e., the T-Pain/Cher-style effect) 
on Harmony Channel 1. A couple of things to 
keep in mind:
•  The preset uses Scale Interval mode, so you will need to set the correct 
Key and Scale for your track.
•  g etting this effect requires the right combination of vocal track style and 
selected scale. If it isn’t giving you the 
effect you want, try a different key or a 
different scale (or both). And remember 
that some vocals are just not candidates 
for the effect under any circumstances.
THI nGS TO T ry:Try unmuting one or more of the other three 
harmony channels and setting various intervals. 
The results will be highly dependent on your 
track and the selected Key and Scale, but you 
might end up with something pretty cool. Then 
again, you might not. 
						

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Chapter 5: Tutorial Sessions
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the composers who produced some of the Harmony 
Engine Evo 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. To keep the sessions to manageable size, all accompaniment tracks have 
been mixed to a single stereo track. Any pre-processing of the vocal tracks (compression, EQ, etc.) 
was pre-rendered to the tracks. For any post-processing of the vocal track and/or Harmony Engine 
Evo output (delay, chorus, reverb, etc.), we asked the composers to limit themselves to generic 
effects that came standard with their hosts (so that they could be easily replicated in other hosts).
MI dI
The method of routing MIDI to a plug-in differs 
pretty dramatically (both in technique and ease) 
among the various hosts. For that reason, the 
sessions that use Harmony Engine Evo’s MIDI 
modes are supplied with all MIDI routings in 
place. Just press Play and everything should 
just work.
NOTE : If you plan to use Harmony 
Engine’s MIDI modes, but you’re not 
familiar with your host’s MIDI routing 
scheme, examining the sessions that use MIDI 
can be instructive. Even easier, you can use 
those sessions as templates. Simply make a 
copy of a session, delete the existing audio and 
MIDI data and replace them with your own. 
						

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Stay by Me (Paloma r amos and Jason Poyner; produced by b rian English)
This pop ballad consists of a lead vocal track by singer/songwriter Paloma Ramos with piano 
accompaniment by co -writer Jason Poyner. Producer Brian English generated MIDI data from 
Jason’s original keyboard performance and edited it for use as harmony control input to a single 
instance of Harmony Engine Evo.
Brian used two of Harmony Engine Evo’s 
MIDI modes for different harmony voicing 
effects. In some sections, he used MIDI 
omni mode, which created harmony voices at the exact pitches and ranges of 
the MIDI data. In other sections, he used 
Chord via MIDI mode, defining the harmony 
notes by the MIDI data but controlling the 
range and voicing of the harmony voices 
with the Register and Spread controls.
In addition, Brian automated Harmony Engine 
Evo’s Formant o nly Freeze function at various points in the arrangement to turn the harmony 
voices into wordless backup parts.
THI nGS TO T ry:open Harmony Engine Evo and watch its response to automation as the song plays. Note where it’s using MIDI  omni mode and where it’s using Chord via MIDI mode. Listen for the 
different harmony voicing effects.
Note the use of Formant  only Freeze and listen to its effect.
Create alternate harmony voicings by modifying 
the Register and Spread controls in the Chord 
via MIDI sections.
Try using the Freeze functions in other parts of 
the song.
Set Choir Size to 2 voices and engage it on 
the Input Voice for automatic doubling of the 
lead vocal. Experiment with the various Choir 
settings to hear their effects.
Try completely reharmonizing the song:
Mute the piano part.
In Harmony Engine Evo, call up one of the 
Chord Degrees or Cool Chords presets. Play the 
song and use the Harmony Preset buttons to 
experiment with different chord progressions.
To get really wacky, mute the original input in 
Harmony Engine Evo and go crazy with the 
chords. 
						

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Lif t us Away (gerry bassermann)
This country-tinged song features two vocalists, a male and a female, each processed with an 
instance of Harmony Engine Evo. Between the two parts, gerry uses three different Harmony 
Control modes as follows:
Male Singer
The male singer’s performance is split into 
three distinct sections:
In the first section, the harmonic structure is 
relatively simple, allowing four harmony voices 
to be generated using Scale Interval mode in 
g Major. The selected intervals are 8vb, -4th, +3rd, and 8va.
N OTE : Because the Key and Scale are not stored in the Harmony  presets when using Scale Interval mode 
(see Chapter 3 for the explanation of why it 
works that way), in addition to automating the 
Scale Interval Harmony  preset, gerry also uses automation to set the Key and Scale popups to 
G Major at the beginning of the song. Leading into the second section, gerry 
automates Harmony Engine Evo’s Bypass 
function to make the lead-in a solo. Since the 
second section consists of a more complex 
harmonic progression than the first, gerry 
automates a change to Chord Name mode and 
uses automated Harmony Presets to follow 
the progression with the Register and Spread 
controls set to a mid-range voicing.
The third section returns once again to Scale 
Interval mode and the Key of g Major.
Female Singer
All harmonies for the female singer are 
generated using MIDI Channel mode. (In most 
hosts you should be able to examine the MIDI 
tracks in edit view.) 
						

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Notice how the number of female harmony voices changes at various places in the song. 
In MIDI Channel mode, a harmony voice is 
only active when MIDI data is present on its 
channel, so it’s easy to have a duet in one 
section and four part harmony in the next (or 
even from note to note).
THI nGS TO T ry:Select different intervals in the male singer’s 
Scale Intervals sections.
Try different Register and Spread settings 
during the male’s Chord Name section.
Set Choir Size to 4 voices and engage it on all 
of the Harmony Voices. Experiment with the 
various Choir settings to hear their effects.
For textural contrast, use the CH oIR Bypass control to add the CH oIR effect only to selected phrases of the song.
Experiment with the Freeze functions. Try 
Formant  only during the male singer’s second section. Try Formant  only or Formant + Pitch at various places in the female’s sections.
Modify the MIDI data and listen to the result. 
						

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Let you Know (Erik d and Stacey d awn)
In this tasty bit of techno from Erik D and Stacey Dawn, the lead vocal and various vocal effects 
are split onto four separate tracks, each with its own instance of Harmony Engine Evo, allowing the 
various parts to overlap each other.
Here’s what’s there:
The first track, intermittent “Yeah”s, 
uses Harmony Engine Evo set to Scale 
Interval mode in C Major to create a single 
harmony part a 5th above the original vocal. 
All Humanize functions are set to 0.
The next track consists of heavily processed 
repetitive “Yeah”s used as accents. For this 
track, Harmony Engine Evo is also set to 
Scale Interval mode in C Major, but in this 
case four harmony voices are generated, 
two voices a 3rd above the original and 2 
more a 5th above. Each pair are panned apart 
form each other and all of the Humanize 
functions are set to moderate amounts.
The third track is made up of disconnected 
phrases from what will eventually be the lead 
vocal. Still using Scale Interval mode in C Major, 
Harmony Engine Evo creates four voices, all a  3rd below the original. Each of the four voices 
have different Pan, Vibrato and Throat Length 
settings. In the Humanize section, Naturalize 
is set to a moderate amount, with a little bit 
of Pitch Variation and no Timing Variation.
Finally, the lead vocal uses Harmony Engine 
Evo to create four harmony voices in Chord 
Name mode with the chord set to C Sus 
in 1st inversion. The Register and Spread 
controls are used to arrange the harmony 
voices in a medium high, medium tight 
voicing. Each voice has different Pan, 
Vibrato, and Throat Length settings, but 
all Humanize functions are set to 0.