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  • February 9, 2015 at 3:02 pm in reply to: Pitch Fork review #120515
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    I’m trying to compile a list of settings comparisons between Pitchfork and the Boss PS-6 Harmonist.

    The Pitchfork is a clean polyphonic pitch shifter and the PS-6 is an intelligent diatonic harmoniser. Two very different pedals with some overlap; detune works nicely on both, and the whammy settings also.

    The PS-6 is good for that twin/triple lead guitar sound which works best on single note guitar lines. The PS-6 was advertised as working with chords, but even the octave shifts sound a bit warbly on chords. Try harmonising a full chord melody with the PS-6 and you get mush.

    You could use the Pitchfork as a harmoniser but it would only really work with fifths. Though it does work reasonably well with 5ths, the 7th degree of a major scale would not be harmonised in a diatonically correct way; it would be raised by a semi-tone. The Pitchfork can shift chords very cleanly, and mixed with some dry guitar signal you can achieve some very rich and beautiful sounds, as demonstrated in the EHX demo video at 5:30.

    The Pitchfork is also extremely good at down-tuning which obviously needs a full wet setting; guitar to baritone tuning works particularly well and full chords sound very rich and clean. Down-tuning (full wet) a 4th is my favourite setting but all the shift settings are good and useful. The PS-6 is not really designed for this role. If you want to harmonise a mostly single note guitar line to get that twin/ triple lead guitar sound, then the PS-6 would be the way to go. If you want to cleanly shift chords or down-tune your instrument then the Pitchfork is the only choice. I do wish the Pitchfork had separate gliss rates for bend up and bend down so that I could instantly or very quickly drop the pitch (full wet) down to the chosen interval by pressing the footswitch, then have it slowly (at a different gliss rate) rise back up to pitch when I released the footswitch.

    February 9, 2015 at 2:57 pm in reply to: Pitch Fork review #120514
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    …or is it merely pitch shifting every note by the same interval that is selected?

    Yes :-)

    October 20, 2014 at 2:19 pm in reply to: Pitch Fork review #120311
    rcf56
    Member

    That’s true ;)

    I’m just happy to get all that versatility in one little pedal; and battery power too. Actually, I would also sacrifice the 3 octaves up/down for a minor 3rd setting, but the lack of it isn’t really a problem for me.

    October 20, 2014 at 12:23 pm in reply to: Pitch Fork review #120309
    rcf56
    Member

    A minor 3rd should be possible with a pot connected to the expression jack; just choose a M3rd and roll the pot back a bit?

    Better still might be a box of bits with a trim pot and a switch for easy/fixed setting of the minor 3rd?

    October 10, 2014 at 3:22 pm in reply to: EHX – Pitch Fork #120289
    rcf56
    Member

    Sorry about the duplicate post, iPad and internet connection prob ;)

    October 10, 2014 at 3:08 pm in reply to: EHX – Pitch Fork #120288
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    What is the difference between the Pitchfork and the Slammi? I was considering the Slammi but now this. What will the Pitchfork do that the Slammi will not?

    The Pitch Fork has the momentary and gliss mode, the Slammi doesn’t have these modes.

    It offers dual interval shifts if you need them, whereas the Slammi only has the one shifted interval.

    It has the Expression input jack so you can use your own fav expression pedal, a suitable pot, even a force sensitive resistor…

    It also has a balance control so presumably you can dial in any mix of shifted signal vs dry signal, the Slammi’s dry volume only gives you about 50% dry vs wet signal mix at max.

    October 9, 2014 at 8:28 pm in reply to: Slammi #120284
    rcf56
    Member

    Yes, but that isn’t what manufacturers usualy mean when they describe poly pitch shifting gear. The Whammy DT has only one shifted interval output but it was still described as a polyphonic pitch shifter because it can handle a polyphonic input. Likewise the Slammi. This is the generally accepted use of the word when used to describe pitch shifters ie it describes their ability to handle polyphonic input rather than the ability to provide more than one shifted output. The Pitch Fork is capable of handling polyphonic input, which is what EHX mean …and it also offers a possible dual shifted output. Why do you think they use both words in their description; ‘polyphonic’ and ‘dual’. Because it’s capable of cleanly processing a ‘polyphonic’ input signal ie chords and it can also output ‘dual’ shifted intervals.

    This may seem at odds to the synth world where the word polyphonic usually denotes a synthesizers ability to output multiple notes simultaneously, but it’s not what is usually meant in the pitch shifting world.

    October 9, 2014 at 6:41 pm in reply to: Slammi #120280
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    For instance, the original MicroSynth could produce multiple notes but it could not handle multiple notes input at once.

    Forgive me for being a smart-ass, but that’s because the MicroSynth wasn’t a poly pitch shifter, whereas the Slammi is. ;)

    October 9, 2014 at 12:32 pm in reply to: Slammi #120278
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Superb poly pitch shifting,

    Not sure what you mean here as this isn’t a poly pitch shift unless you mean that you can play 2 notes & shift those ?

    Not true; have you seen Bill Ruppert’s demo of the Slammi? He plays very similar examples to the Pitch Fork demo, including a ‘baritone’ downtuning demo which demonstrates just how good the pitch shifting of the Slammi is. I use it polyphonically all the time and it has no problem in recognising and shifting chords in a very clean way? It’s very likely the technology inside the Slammi is almost the same as the Pitch Fork, though the Pitch Fork has the dual shift and momentary/gliss modes which set it apart.

    Quote:
    For instance, the new Pitch Fork is polyphonic as you can play a single note & get two additional pitches just like the H.O.G.

    Ah I see what you mean now, you’re talking about polyphony in regard to the number of shifted outputs available, where as I am talking about it’s ability to recognise and shift chords, which is what people usually mean when talking about ‘polyphonic pitch shifting’. Btw, in EHX’s own words the Slammi is quoted as being capable of “Three-octave polyphonic dive bombs”. And EHX STAFF posted news about the Slammi in these very forums; “Electro-Harmonix introduces the new SLAMMI Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter/Harmony Pedal.”

    October 8, 2014 at 2:51 pm in reply to: Slammi #120273
    rcf56
    Member
    Quote:
    This pedal has so many useful settings; it’s just a pity it’s not a little easier to change them quickly. Can’t wait for a Superego (next on my list) sized version, with external pedal input and easy interval selection …as it is though, it’s a keeper, and I’d replace it in a heartbeat if it got stolen.

    Thanks EHX :-)

    I still love my Slammi and I will be keeping it …I’ll be getting the Pitch Fork too; everything I hoped for and much much more!

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