“Best” H90 Harmonics Generating Algorithms/Settings

[Synergist]

To Whom it May Concern/Interest:

I play the “entire” family of recorders, (Great Bass through Gar Klein), through a “guitar” pedalboard—->P.A. system…enjoying the luxury of the board possessing TWO Eventide H90 Harmonizer pedals in sequence…HOWEVER, as I play with other amplified, “modern” instruments, it is challenging for me to “fit/blend-in” with said other instruments…

Volume in of itself is NOT the answer, (as one can turn up the volume to one’s heart’s content/painful levels), however even low-range/pitch recorders do not BLEND very well with those other modern voices…

In part, the reason being…”flutes” do NOT generate very much at all in the way of harmonics beyond the 1st and to a significantly lesser degree, 2nd harmonic…(https://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/fluteacoustics.html), resulting in a perceived relatively “thin”/”clean” timbre, which, if played with OTHER FLUTES of one form or another blend relatively well…HOWEVER, not with the much denser/harmonically rich guitars or reeds in an amplified ensemble.

THAT stated, I am inviting suggestions regarding how to/(the BEST(?) way), to enrichen the timbre of my various recorders via the pair of H90’s I have at my disposal…

I extend my genuine appreciation in advance to you for any and all suggestions regarding H90 algorithms/settings thereof…etc.

Sincerely,

Synergist

 

[Mooncat]

Your best bet is going to be EQing it to sit in the mix. See what boosts at about 500, 1k, and 5k sound like and if any of them individually or a combo helps it sit in the mix more.

That said a lot will depend on the band setup and the composition of the song. If you have guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals all going for it and leaving no space, both literally and sonically, there’s not really much you’ll be able to do to stand out. If the flute part is really important then more considered songwriting from the other musicians will be important to give it a platform to come through.

You could also run it through an EQ with a graphic display and see where the fundamental tone is coming through and ask the other musicians to make an EQ cut there.

[Borja Caro]

I feel the wormhole algo really brings higher harmonics up or makes them decay more slowly but this definetely with harmonics way higher than 2nd.

[brock]

You have an embarrassment of riches to choose from using 2 H90s for this.  Let’s assume one to generate harmonics, and the other dedicated to standard wild-card effects.

At the start, you might consider two copies of any algorithm suggestion here in Parallel.  In that way, you can ‘build’ a larger version of it with complementary (offset) parameters in each.

My first thought for adding ‘harmonics’ was pitch-shifting.  The newest SIFT algos (Polyphony, PolyFlex, Prism Shift) may be your cleanest option, but with recorders as input, I wouldn’t overlook any in the Pitch family.

Distortion came to mind, and it doesn’t need to be maxed out.  In fact, something like PitchFuzz might be ideal, blending in added harmonics with a bit of hair on them, and still have delays as a sweetener.  Sculpt can split the spectrum across channels, and yet Aggravate might give you a more immediate experience.  A blend of harmonic, distortion, and synthesis.

Which all brings me to my actual 1st thought @Synergist:  the Synths.  You won’t have any more problems blending into a band context with PolySynth.  With true monophonic input, I wouldn’t ignore HotSawz.  Each one has its own unique strengths.  And you’ll get the ability to manipulate timbre & harmonics with a host of other options.

Now consider two in Parallel (as above), or a combination example in Series [Polyphony into PolySynth, etc.]  One H90, with the other still available for the usual downstream processing.

Let us know how you make out.  This is an unusual & interesting use case.

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