Re: [Harp-L] One harp, Many keys

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Hale wrote:
<RE: DigiTech Whammy DTV-01 (http://bit.ly/XlYvhL)
<
<This pedal even has a momentary switch which can be preset for, say, a
<whole tone drop, and the original pitch returns when you lift up your toe.
<SO, I can get whole tone bends on ANY blow or Draw note! H<mmm??
<
<Let's see... $300 for the magic pedal... or $300 on various harps....
<
<Now, for a loud electric guitar I think I could tolerate my guitar tuned to
<standard E, while hearing my amplified music result in C, F, or G#.
<
<But for harp, which is in my face, I'm gonna be hearing the true harp
<pitch, PLUS the digitally altered amplified sound. Not so good, I think.

Nice summary of the features, its application, and the big caveat that goes with it.

First, let's be clear that you don't have to spend $300 to get the feature.  A Digitech RP255 or 355 comes with a VERY nice pitch shifter.  That's VERY nice: it will track up and down the length of the harp, it will track chords as well as single notes, and it responds instantly.  Pitch shifters don't get much better than that, until you start stacking multiple pitch shifts simultaneously (which is what the Electro-Harmonix POG and HOG do). An RP255 runs $150 new (and as little as half that used in good condition), and it's got the same pitch shifter as the 355, with all the same bells and whistles. (The 150 and 155, which you can get used for as little as $25 on a good day or new for $99 anytime, also have the same pitch shifter, but they don't have a footpedal to go with it, so you can't work the amount of pitch shift or the level of the effect in real time.  If you're okay with a set level for both, go for it.)  

I've said before that an RP is worth the price for either the reverbs or the delays all by themselves; we can say the same for the pitch shifter, at least for players who need that effect.  (And by the way, a good pitch shifter can change your life as a harp player, so if you think you're not interested, maybe you oughta think some more.)

The difference between the pitch shifter and the Whammy effect is that a pith shifter moves the pitch in discrete 1/2 step increments, while the Whammy gives you continuous pitch alteration throughout the range of the shift.  So if you run the pitch shifter set up for a one octave shift down, you can hear each 1/2 step increment down to the octave as you slowly push the pedal down; with the whammy, you hear the pitch drop in a single continuous motion (the speed of which is under footpedal control).  The latter is obviously what you want if you're trying to emulate a slide guitar.  The former is what you want if you want to precisely change the key of the music coming from your harp. 

So in theory, you could set your harp to whatever key you like by dialing in the appropriate pitch shift on your RP (or Whammy pedal), setting the effect to 100% wet (meaning the device puts out ONLY the effected signal), and playing away.  However, as Robert correctly surmises, in practice the harp player (and anyone in the audience close enough to the stage to hear the harp as it's played, before it hits the pitch shifter) will hear the original key right alongside the shifted pitch. Can you say "cognitive dissonance?"  

This isn't much of a problem when you shift the pitch by an octave or two.  It's a real problem for the player when you shift the key by, say, a major 3rd.  

So my advice is to use different keyed harps to change keys, and use the pitch shifter for added weight and color.  

regards, Richard Hunter 

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