Paul Maine

Software Engineer, Musician and Life Long Learner

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Using the iPad for Gigs and as a Practice Aid

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Like many musicians, I’m used to carrying music stands, music, music stand lights, and clips for the music (to use if playing outside when its windy).  For quite some time I have been wondering when technology would improve and be affordable for musicians and music students.  I’m from Austin Texas and for the past several months I have been seeing more and more musicians showing up to gigs with an iPad.  They usually clip the iPad on a vocal microphone stand.  After speaking with several musicians with iPads,  I decided to take the plunge and purchase an iPad myself.

I purchased a new iIPad with Retina display and 16GB of storage space ( wireless only ). I also purchased a high quality microphone stand.  I purchased an iKlip to attach the iPad to my microphone stand.

I use the following music ( or music related ) applications on the iPad:

1. iReal b

2. OnSong

3.  kindle

The kindle application is not a music application but it is very useful to use with music. One of my most favorite music education websites related to jazz improvisation and saxophone is Neff Music. I have purchased all of Steve Neff’s pdf format  books and I upload them to my kindle application on my iPad using the “Send to kindle” application.

Send to kindle for PC

Send to kindle for mac

I work through the Steve Neff books on my iPad and it works well. I have no problem reading the music on the display. Here is a picture of my iPad on a mic stand.

 

After using the iPad on gigs for the past couple of months I am convinced that it was a good investment.

 

TC-Helicon Voiceworks for Sax Sound Samples

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I have received a number of requests asking me to post some sound samples of the TC-Helicon Voiceworks effects box. I am playing a tenor  tenor saxophone in all of the samples.

The first sample is bypassing the Voiceworks box and is the dry sample:

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-dry.mp3[/podcast]

The second sample sample is the Voiceworks box with the reverb effect. Reverb time is 420ms and Feedback is 25%:

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-preset4.mp3[/podcast]

The third sample sample is the Voiceworks box with the reverb effect and Chrous. Reverb time is 420ms and Feedback is 25%, Chorus is -6dB.

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-preset5.mp3[/podcast]

The fourth sample sample is the Voiceworks box with one unison voice, reverb effect and Chrous. Reverb time is 420ms and Feedback is 25%, Chorus is -6dB, unison voice is -6dB.

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-preset1.mp3[/podcast]

The fifth sample sample is the Voiceworks box with one unison voice,one harmony voice ( above), reverb effect and Chrous. Reverb time is 420ms and Feedback is 20%, Chorus is -6dB, unison voice is -3dB, harmony voice -3dB.

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-preset2.mp3[/podcast]

The sixth sample sample is the Voiceworks box with one unison voice,two harmony voices( above), reverb effect and Chrous. Reverb time is 420ms and Feedback is 20%, Chorus is -6dB, unison voice is -3dB, first harmony voice -3dB, second harmony voice -6dB.

[podcast]https://paulmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/tc-helicon-preset3.mp3[/podcast]

TC-Helicon Voiceworks and Saxophone

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I recently acquired a TC-Helicon Voiceworks box and even though it is advertised as a vocal harmonizer – I wanted to experiment with it and the saxophone.

I am a full time computer programmer and a part-time professional musician. The first thing that struck me was that the user interface is not very user friendly. I suspect that since the Voiceworks box has so many features – it is extremely difficult to make the user interface easy to learn and use. I next visited the TC-Helicon website and looked for free downloads. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that TC-Helicon provides an editor for the Voiceworks box that runs on PC or Mac. A Midi IN and Midi Out interface is required to interface from a PC to the Voiceworks box. The editor software is easy to use and quick to learn.

Here is the first screen shot of the editor:

tc-helicon1

Here is a second screen shot:

tc-helicon2

Here is a third screen shot:

tc-helocon3

The Voiceworks box has a a long list of tweaks you can make. After much experimentation and using the box on a few gigs here is how I setup the box. I use a wireless microphone. The output of the microphone is input into the Voiceworks box. At the gig I run a midi cable from the voiceworks box to the keyboard so the box can harmonize the note I am playing with the real-time chords that are played on the keyboard. I used the Voiceworks software on my PC to copy the first five presets on the box and I next totally changed the presets to what I wanted. Three of the presets are used to harmonize the saxophone and the other two presets were just using the top notch effects that are built into the box. I did learn not to use the pitch correction feature with the saxophone because it did not work on the saxophone. Here are the setting I used in my presets:

Paul Unison – Chorus -6dB, lowered unison voice to -6dB, Reverb Time 420 ms, Feedback 20%

Paul 1Un1Up – Unison voice -3dB, 1st harmony voice -3dB, Chorus -6dB, Reverb Time 420 ms, Feedback 20%

Paul 1Un2Up – Unison voice -6dB, 1st harmony voice -3dB, 2nd Harmony voice Chorus -6dB, Reverb Time 420 ms, Feedback 20%

I added 2 more effects only presets that are setup as follows:

Paul FX –  Reverb Time 420 ms, Feedback 25%

Paul FX+C –  Reverb Time 420 ms, Feedback 25%, also has Chorus set at -3dB

The street price for the Voiceworks box is about $500. I ordered a 3 button footswitch for $50.

I am very pleased with the Voiceworks box and how it works on sax. I am playing a tenor saxophone.

If you are considering a new effects box for sax you may want to consider this one with the added harmony capabilities.

Are you using a TC-Helicon box with saxophone? If yes, what is your experience and how have you setup your box?

Making a Sax Mouthpiece Stand

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A good friend of mine in Houston Texas just posted a “how to” article on constructing a nice mouthpiece stand. Many of us have collected a number of different mouthpieces over the years – it is nice to be able to see all of them rather than keeping them packed away. Its also convenient to try some of your old friends!

Don Kelly Mouthpiece Stand Article

First thoughts on using the TC-Helicon Live 2 on Saxophone

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This past weekend I visited with Don Kelly in Houston Texas. Don had recently purchased the TC-Helicon Live 2 for use with his saxophone and flute. The TC-Helicon is designed for voice harmony and effects however it works nicely on saxophone and flute. I was able to experiment with it for about 15 minutes. Don had already created a few setups that were tailored to sax and flute. The effects and harmony capabilities were awesome. The effects were even more awesome when listening in headphones. I definitely plan to add one of these to my wish list.

Have you used the TC-Helicon with saxophone or flute? If yes, please share your experiences.