To add another voice, hover the
mouse pointer anywhere in the main
area of the Harmony module, then click
the crosshair that appears to add a voice.
Drag the voice horizontally to pan it, and
vertically to raise and lower its volume.1
To solo a voice while making
adjustments, click the circled voice
number to open up its Controls Panel,
then click the S button. To turn off a voice
temporarily, click the Power button; and
to remove a voice permanently, select it
and press Backspace.2
To create harmonies, use the pop-up
Voice Controls Panel for each voice
to set an interval, Fine pitch variation and
Delay. You can also set global Time and
Pitch Variations in the Voices section on
the right. The Voices Only switch mutes
the lead voice, so that you can hear the
harmonies on their own.3
To set up a vocal double, drag one of
the two side voices close to the lead
vocal’s level and pan position (assuming
you want them to be close in level and
stereo position, of course). Turn the other
voice off or down (unless you want a triple
track effect) and leave the pitch interval of
the active harmony voice set to Unison.4
Exploring Nectar 3’s
Harmony module
The Harmony module enables up
to eight harmony voices to be
generated from the lead voice.
Each harmony can be set to
unison, or shifted to a range of
intervals, and they can even be
triggered by MIDI notes.
You can use the Harmony
module to create doubling and
tripling effects without
pitchshifting, or pitchshift the
voices to build harmonies. Unless
you’re after a fixed harmony (set
up using each voice’s Voice
Controls Panel, which appears
when you click on them), you’ll
need to use the MIDI feature to
tell Nectar 3 what notes to shift
your parts to.
Another powerful feature in
the Harmony module is the Voice
XY Controller. This is the large
field with the crosshairs in the
middle. Create additional
harmony voices beyond the
default two by clicking the + sign
anywhere in the area. Drag a
voice vertically to raise its level,
and horizontally to change its
placement in the stereo field. The
Voice XY Controller is like having
a mixer inside of Nectar 3.
Step by step
- Nectar 3’s Harmony module in use
With minimal setup, you can control
the pitches of Nectar 3’s harmony
voices using an external MIDI keyboard.
To get started, press the MIDI Enable
button, found at the lower right.1
Get DAW-specific instructions for
configuring MIDI tracks for use with
Nectar 3 by pressing the? button next to
Enable. Shown here are instructions for
Digital Performer. Once configured, you
can play chords to change harmony
voices, and record them to a MIDI track.2
Control the EQ of the Harmony
Module with the high- and low-
shelving filters located in the Filter box at
the lower right. Remove extraneous low
end, add a little sparkle on top – the choice
isyours!3
Step by step
- Using MIDI to control the Harmony module
60 / ComputermusiC / July 2019
make music now / nectar 3 power guide