Harmoniser

A pitch-shifting effect that adds a second voice at a chosen interval above or below the played note, following the player's line in real time.

Because it detects the input pitch and generates a shifted copy, the interval can be a fixed one or set to a key so the second voice stays in scale, which is the difference between a parallel line and a diatonic one. Tracking issues show up on fast passages, bends and chords, since the unit has to decide what the incoming pitch is. The sound is different from a doubled guitar playing the same part, because the shift is generated rather than played and has a slight synthetic edge.

Example: setting a harmoniser to a third above and playing a scale produces the twin-guitar harmony of a lot of melodic rock leads without a second player.

Harmoniser

See also