Pitch shifting - does it work?

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A friend of mine asked if I'd back him up on some open mic nights.  First song he suggested was Peaceful Easy Feeling.  "By the way, I sing it in D."  "Ah - no problem." (eek!)

So,  do pedals like the Mooer Pitch Shifter work or am I stuck with bigger strings and detuning?
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Comments

  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Not really, at least not well enough to not be noticeable.

    Learning to transpose things is a skill- practice it and you don't need to rely on electronics that don't really do the job.
    If you want to know how to transpose in your head then look into the Nashville Numbering System.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    edited January 2019
    Pitch shifting does “work”, but it brings two problems. If you go more than a couple of semitones away from source pitch then it sounds strange. There’s also a processing delay. 

    We play Superstition in Eb. Since I don’t bring an Eb tuned guitar, and certainly wouldn’t pause to change guitar at that point in the set, I use a pitch shift. To cover the processing delay I let through the first 6/100 of a second at normal pitch, that’s sound of the pick striking the string, and the rest of the note is detuned.

    As @octatonic says, learn to transpose. It adds new life to a song. The only times when you might find it difficult is if the song needs a mixture of fretted and open strings, and the open string isn’t in the key you want. The other is if you’re playing a transposed solo and you run out of frets. 
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • I used to play in a proggie covers band and we did "Dogs". The chords don't sound right unless you detune the guitar by a tone down to D. Too many open strings to revoice the chords and it didn't sound the same in standard tuning transposed up a tone. I tried a 'drop' pedal to avoid changing guitars or detuning. It sounded terrible with a natural, clean guitar tone. Very artificial. I used a detuned guitar in the end.

    But... with distorted tones, it sounded decent enough. So, horses for courses... 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10647
    If you’re playing a song with distorted sound and max 3 strings it should be fine. Otherwise just play it in D.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • I've only ever come across one pedal which properly does the job - the Morpheus Droptune. I used it regularly in bands, and it sounded every bit as good as retuning the guitar (some things you just can't transpose on the fly).

    think the Digitech Drop works in a similar fashion.

    As far as I'm concerned, all the other polyphonic pitch shifting pedals are...balls...in that they alter the core sound far too much, even the revered POG. Loads of people (myself included) have problems with the equivalent block in the Helix, although Jen Majura (Evanescence) said in an interview that she uses it live and is really pleased with it. Take that as you will :)
    <space for hire>
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    edited January 2019
    I have a Pitchfork which works pretty well .. there's no noticeable latency unless you shred like Steve Vai.

    This video deals with detuning if you fast forward ....





    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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