Although it was originally intended for vocalists to create their own harmonies while performing, the H910 was capable of so much more. Channel 5 used the H910 Harmonizer to shift the vocals back down to their original pitch, which allowed them to run the additional ads without driving viewers away.įor the first time, audio engineers were able to alter the pitch of a sound without affecting the duration - or vice versa.
Of course, this also raised the pitch of the audio, which made everyone's voice sound obnoxious and screechy. Although it was originally designed for studio use, the very first person to purchase the H910 was New York City’s Channel 5.Īt the time, Channel 5 was speeding up reruns of I Love Lucy so they could run more ads. Designed by engineer Tony Agnello as a tool for pitch shifting, delay and feedback regeneration, it originally sold for $1,600, which is about $7,500 by today’s standards. In 1975, Eventide released the world’s first commercially available digital pitch-shifting unit, the H910 Harmonizer. Continue on to learn more about the history of the Eventide Harmonizer and the hot new features included on the H9000. The ability to manipulate time, pitch and feedback with just a few knobs and switches made it easy to alter audio in ways that otherwise required at least a couple of tape machines and, often, rearranging furniture.
Artists used digital effects to achieve futuristic, otherworldly sounds - many of which were created with the Eventide H910 Harmonizer.Įventide has continued to build on the Harmonizer in the years since and with the H9000 now available for pre-order, we wanted to take a more in-depth look at what this piece of gear has done for the music world. Model H910 Harmonizer 3 Introduction The H910 Harmonizer was pro audio’s first digital audio effects unit. It blended the explosive, edgy sound of punk rock with the computerized sounds of electronic drum machines and synthesizers. In the early 1980s, New Wave music was all the rage.