The TC Helicon Perform-VG is an "Ultra-Simple Mic-Stand Mount Vocal and Acoustic Guitar Processor for Solo and Duo Performers"1. Instead of a floor pedal, it clamps to your mic stand and takes two inputs at once: your vocal mic and your acoustic guitar, plugged straight in. From there it processes both, and TC Helicon describes the result as turning "both into a finished, two-part performance with one footswitch"1.
What it does
The Perform-VG is built around the solo or duo performer who sings and plays acoustic guitar into a PA. On the vocal side, TC Helicon says that "Reverb, doubler, megaphone and HardTune sit one button away," so a single button gives access to those four effects1. HardTune is the company's pitch-correction style effect, and the doubler thickens a single voice.
On the guitar side, the unit addresses the most common complaint about a pickup: TC Helicon says it "takes the 'piezo plugged into a PA' sound and turns it into a guitar in a room"1. That acoustic guitar voicing engine is aimed at players whose under-saddle pickup sounds harsh through a PA.
Automatic harmonies from your chords
The headline feature for singers is that the Perform-VG sets its own key. TC Helicon explains: "Perform-VG hears the chords you're playing and sets the key for the harmonies automatically. No tap tempo, no MIDI foot"1. In practice that means vocal harmonies follow your guitar chords without any setup mid-song, which is why the unit needs only one footswitch to run a set.
Connections
The unit's inputs and outputs cover a small gig setup end to end1:
- Vocal mic input, with the guitar plugged in directly
- XLR vocal out to the PA
- 1/4-inch guitar out
- USB streaming for home recording
- Aux in for backing tracks
The USB streaming output means the same two-channel signal you perform with can be recorded or streamed at home, and the aux in lets you run backing tracks through the unit rather than carrying a separate player to the gig1.
Videos
Sweetwater
TC Helicon
TC Helicon
Sources (1)
- PERFORM-VG, TC Helicon
