Antares Harmony Engine user manual

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Vibratos
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.
Things to try:
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 presets).
Vocal Multiplier
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.
Things to try:
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 Can Believe
This preset creates the infamous “Cher 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.
•	 Getting 	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.
Things to try:
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 three of the 
Harmony Engine 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 output (delay, chorus, reverb, etc.), we asked the composers to limit themselves to generic 
effects that come standard with their hosts (so that they could be easily replicated in other hosts).
MIDI
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’s MIDI 
modes are supplied with all MIDI routings in 
place. Just press Play and everything should 
just work.
N OTE : 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 Ramos and Jason Poyner; produced by Brian 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. 
Brian used two of Harmony Engine’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’s Formant Only Freeze function at 
various points in the arrangement to turn the 
harmony voices into wordless backup parts.
Things to try:
Open Harmony Engine 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.
Try completely reharmonizing the song:
Mute the piano part.
In Harmony Engine, 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 
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. 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. 
NOTE : 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’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).
Things to try:
Select different intervals in the male singer’s 
Scale Intervals sections.Try different Register and Spread settings 
during the male’s Chord Name section.
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.
Let You Know (Erik D and Stacey Dawn)
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, allowing the various 
parts to overlap each other.
Here’s what’s there:
The first track, intermittent “Yeah”s, uses 
Harmony Engine 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 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. 
						

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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 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 
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.
Things to try:
Add one or more additional voices at different 
intervals to the first “Yeah” track.
Set different intervals for one or more of the 
harmony voices on the third track.
Experiment with different chords on the lead 
vocal part. 
Try various different Register and Spread 
settings on the lead vocal. 
Use either of the Freeze functions at various 
points on the lead vocal.More Sessions?
We may, in the future, provide additional 
sessions to explore. If so, they will be able to 
be downloaded from the Antares Software 
Update page at:http://www.antarestech.com/
download/update.shtm l
Check back every now and then to see what 
appears.
In the meantime, have fun! 
						

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