Pitch block

Pitch: supported by which Fractal Audio products?

• Axe-Fx II: yes.
• AX8: yes.
• FX8: yes.

Pitch and X/Y switching

• The Pitch block in the Axe-Fx II, FX8 and AX8 supports X/Y switching.

Position of the Pitch block on the grid

• Cliff: "When going direct, pitch shifting often sounds best when placed BEFORE the Cab block. The factory presets may have the block doing the shifting (pitch or multidelay) after the Cab block. Try moving the pitch before the Cab for smoother results."
• Forum member Bakerman: "The pitch block basically shifts the entire cab freq. response up/down if it's after cab. A slight detune might sound about the same either way but with a half step, whole step, etc. the difference becomes more apparent."

Economy mode

• Some types in the Pitch block in the AX8 and FX8 provide an Economy mode for comparable audio performance with lower CPU requirements.

Poly or Mono pitch tracking

• The Pitch Track parameter (Fixed Harmony and Whammy modes) offers these settings: “Off”, “Poly”, and “Mono”.
  • Poly: works best for shifting chords and/or lower amounts of shift.
  • Mono: works best for shifting single notes and/or larger shift amounts.

Pitch block and CPU priority

• Cliff's comments:
  • "Once the CPU usage crosses a certain threshold (which could happen if you are streaming audio) the pitch detection will slow down as the global pitch detector necessarily has a lower priority than the primary audio processing. If you change the Pitch Source to Local then the local pitch detector runs at the same priority as the audio." source
  • "Pitch detection has a lower priority than audio processing. If CPU usage is very high the pitch detectors won't run often". source

Pitch Learn mode

• The Pitch block has a Learn function. Turn it on, play a note, hold it: the device sets the key according to the note you played.

About harmony scales

• See Harmony scales.

Creating an Arpeggiator effect

• The Arpeggiator mode uses 16 steps. Expand to 32 steps.

Creating an Octaver effect

• Ways to create an Octaver effect (1 octave down voice):
  • Set the pitch shifter to Fixed Harmony, 1 octave down.
  • Use the Ring Modulator effect in tracking mode (with Hi Cut turned down).
  • Set the Pitch block to Octave Divide.

Creating a Detune (Micropitch) effect

• Pitched detuning is a great alternative to a Chorus. There's no "swirl", associated with that 80's chorus tone. Use it in stereo for a very wide effect.
• In general: detune up and down the same amount, between +/-5 and +/-10, delay the voices for more width (let's say 7 ms), set mix at 25% or lower, put the block after the Amp block but before the (stereo) Cab block, and pan the voices for a wide stereo effect. Beware of phase cancellation when running a mono rig.

Creating a Whammy pedal

• Optimize the curve of the expression pedal.
• You can engage a Whammy on the fly without using Controllers and modifiers: Auto-Engage:
  1. Put a Pitch block in line, set to Classic Whammy. Source: Global. Bypass Mode: Thru.
  2. Assign the Control parameter to your pedal's external controller.
  3. Assign the same external controller to the Mix parameter. Set Mix at zero. Modifier menu: Start 40, Mid 100, End 55, Slope 0, Scale 10, Offset 100.
  4. Make sure the Pitch block is engaged and save the preset.
• Here's a demo of the Whammy settings above.

Simulating dropped-tuning

• Use a Pitch block at the start of the grid and set it to Fixed Harmony. Select the desired voice. Set Mix to 100%, Tracking to On and adjust Track Adjust if necessary. Pitch Track: Poly.
• If you can't stand the latency (there always will be some latency), try Simeon's neat ADSR trick, explained here and here.

Creating a Shimmer effect

• The Shimmer effect raises the pitch of notes and reverberates them. Pioneered by Digitech (IPS 33 and other devices). Used a lot by U2's The Edge, among others.
• You can use the Pitch Shifter's Crystals mode (set to Reverse Feedback), or Plexi Shift mode in the Multi Delay effect.
• A low-pass filter helps to keep the dry signal clear and separate from the shimmering notes.
• Attach an external controller to Input Gain to fade in the effect with a pedal.
• Shimmer tutorial by Rosh Roslin.

Creating a dive bomb effect

• To simulate an automated dive bomb or rising pitch effect:
  1. Create a preset with a Pitch block.
  2. Set Pitch mode to Classic Whammy, Up|Dn 2 Oct., Pitch Track off, 100% mix.
  3. Enter the Modifier menu of the Control parameter in the Pitch block. Set Source to an external. Set Damping to 750, for starters.
  4. Enter the Modifier menu of the Bypass parameter in the Pitch block. Set Source to the same External controller as above.
  5. Save the preset.
• On the floor controller:
  1. Program a switch to send the External controller's CC.
  2. The switch can be latching or momentary, whatever works for you.
• To operate: select the preset. Press the switch (press and hold if it's a momentary switch) for the effect to kick in. Press again (or release) to stop, and bypass the Pitch block.
• You can also use your expression pedal instead of a switch. Use the corresponding External controller.
• Instead of a switch, you can also use Auto engage.
• You can adjust the length of the dive through the Damping parameter, use another Whammy mode, make it even more dramatic by adding a flanger, etc.

Various Pitch tips

• Pitch shifting in Wikipedia.