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- By David Levin
- Posted 04.01.09
- NOVA scienceNOW
Learning to sing like Aretha Franklin isn't something you can do overnight. But over the past decade, recording studios have been fudging things a bit with software called Auto-Tune, which enables them to change the pitch of sour notes. In this interactive, find out how it works and see if it can make even hopeless singers, like some on the NOVA staff, sound tolerable.
- About the software. Hailed as a “holy grail of recording,” by Recording magazine (and adopted worldwide as the largest-selling audio plug-in of all time), Auto-Tune corrects intonation problems in vocals or solo instruments, in real time, without distortion or artifacts, while preserving all of the expressive nuance of the original performance – with audio quality so pristine that the.
- The pitch of the vocalist prior to Auto-Tune processing must be close enough to a note in the scale of the key of the song for Auto-Tune to work its best. In other words, the singer has to be at least near the right note for it to sound pleasing to the ears.
Learn what pitch is, then listen in as Auto-Tune corrects the bad pitch of several NOVA staffers.
Oct 30, 2019 Auto Tune App For Singing is the voice changer with such voice filters, that you will be able to trick even your closest ones! This is a completely free of charge audio recorder converter with auto tun effects, and is now here for you to download it! Radiohead used Auto-Tune on their 2001 album Amnesiac to create a 'nasal, depersonalised sound' and to process speech into melody. According to singer Thom Yorke, the software 'desperately tries to search for the music in your speech, and produces notes at random. If you've assigned it a key, you've got music.'
Transcript
Pitch Perfect
(SECTION 1: THE BASICS)
DAVID LEVIN: Before we start, let's take a step back to the basics. To understand what Auto-Tune software can do for, well, untrained singers, you need to understand how the sound of a musical note is made.
It all starts with something vibrating – It could be the metal of a bell,
[bell rings]
or the skin of a drum,
[drum sound]
or a string on a guitar.
[guitar sound]
ANDY HILDEBRAND: With the human voice, it's the vocal cords vibrating over and over.
DAVID LEVIN: That's Andy Hildebrand – He invented the Auto-tune software.
ANDY HILDEBRAND: When you hear an 'A', you're hearing 440 vibrations per second.
[Singer singing A440]
Studio One Prime is a completely new free version of Studio One digital audio workstation that is preseason.
DAVID LEVIN: A 'B' is about 492 vibrations per second,
[singer singing B492]
DAVID LEVIN: And a 'C' is around 587.
It could be argued the other way - that when it didn't exist, it made everybody more committed to becoming better singers.' I've spoken to people who've said if it had been around when they started recording, they would have used it.' Auto tune songs examples.
[Singer singing C587]
ANDY HILDEBRAND: That's about right.
DAVID LEVIN: So the faster the vibration, the higher the pitch. Simple enough. But pitch isn't the only thing that determines the way a musical note sounds. The shape of an instrument plays a role, too. That's why a bassâ¦
[acoustic bass note]
â¦sounds different from a banjo,
[banjo note]
â¦even when they're playing the exact same note.
[acoustic bass and banjo together]
In humans, the size and contours of the spaces inside our heads and throats color the way our voices sound.
ANDY HILDEBRAND: The human voice resonates based on the shape of the throat, the nasal passages, and the speaker's mouth.
DAVID LEVIN: So no matter what note someone is singing, their voice is still unique and recognizable. Jonathan hereâ¦
JONATHAN: How does little snitch help you. Hello.
DAVID LEVIN: â¦will always sound like Jonathan, and Cassâ¦
CASS: Hey there.
DAVID LEVIN: â¦will always sound like Cass. Even if they sing at the same time.
[Jonathan and Cass singing together]
DAVID LEVIN: But what if they want to improve their singing voices? What can Auto-Tune do for them?
(SECTION 2: AUTO-TUNE AT WORK)
('DETECTING PITCH' BUTTON:)
DAVID LEVIN: The first thing that Auto-Tune does is figure out the pitch of a note that is sung or played into the computer. It's recorded as a red line on this grid.
An 'A', for example, would fall on this line. A B-flat would fall on the line above it, and a G-sharp would be on the line below. But singing those exact notes is hard, especially if you don't have any training.
('TWEAKING NOTES' BUTTON:)
DAVID LEVIN: So let's say you're trying to hit an 'A', and you're a little off.
[bad singer with warbly voice]
Okay, a lot off. Your pitch—that's the red line—wavers back and forth around the right note. Auto-tune can tell which parts of the sound are higher or lower than they should be, and it's able to nudge them back into tune.
[singer's voice corrected in Auto-Tune]
It can even help out if you sing the wrong note entirely. For example, if you hit an 'A' when you should have been singing a 'high G'—Auto-Tune can bump your voice up to the right note.
Here's a slightly better singer. Those red lines are the original pitch of her notes. The blue blocks show where it's been corrected.
[singer's voice in Auto-Tune]
It takes some serious mathematical processing for Auto-tune to make these corrections sound natural, though. If it only altered the pitch of someone's voice, it might sound like this:
[chipmunk voice]
ANDY HILDEBRAND: You get a chipmunk effect. It's not their voice anymore.
DAVID LEVIN: So Andy Hildebrand designed Auto-tune to avoid this problem. Rather than just shifting a singer's pitch, the software also models the shape of the singer's mouth and throat.
ANDY HILDEBRAND: So we, like, cut their neck off, listen to their vocal cords, change the pitch, and then glue their head back on. (Laughs) And we do that mathematically in real time. And that's how we can change the pitch of a singer without creating the chipmunk effect.
DAVID LEVIN: Auto-Tune can't make dramatic changes in pitch—say, going from 'middle C' to a 'high A' without sounding mechanical and robotic. But some musicians and record producers actually seek out these effects. They're using Auto-Tune to make new sounds.
('TO THE EXTREME' BUTTON:)
DAVID LEVIN: Auto-Tune creates an unnatural, robotic effect when its settings are pushed to the extremes. But that can sometimes be a creative tool. Musicians from Cher to T-Pain are using it on top-40 albums.
By shifting a note too high in Auto-Tune, you can give it a thin, ghostly effect:
[singer's voice processed into high, ghostly sound]
DAVID LEVIN: And by making rapid adjustments in a singer's pitch, you can make the voice sound robotic. You might recognize this one.
[Singer's voice processed into robotic sound]
DAVID LEVIN: Andy Hildebrand never meant for Auto-Tune to be used this way. But right now, Auto-Tunes signature effects are all over the radio.
AH: This effect is found in every music genre from Dollywood, to Reggae, to Country, Pop, Hip-Hop⦠everywhere.
DAVID LEVIN: That's great for top-40. But what about the NOVA staff? Can Auto-Tune help our amateur vocalists sound like the pros?
(SECTION 3: THE GRAND FINALE)
('ARETHA FRANKLIN' BUTTON:)
[Aretha Franklin singing My Country 'Tis Of Thee' at inauguration of President Obama]
('NOVA STAFF' BUTTON:)
[NOVA staff singing 'My Country 'Tis Of Thee' out of tune]
'NOVA STAFF AUTO-TUNED' BUTTON
[NOVA staff singing 'My Country 'Tis Of Thee'; Auto-Tuned version]
('THE FINAL VERDICT' BUTTON:)
ANDY HILDEBRAND: Generally, a bad-sounding singer using Auto-tune is going to sound like a bad-sounding singer who happens to be in tune. We can't fix that. If they've got a poor tone quality, or a poor style, or don't support their diaphragm and get an even volume, we can't fix those things. (laughs)
Credits
Images
- (guitar, banjo)
- © istockphoto/Don Bayley
- (drum)
- © istockphoto/Diane Diederich
- (bell)
- © istockphoto/Alex Kalmbach
- (bass)
- © istockphoto/Jake Holmes
- (Harold 'Andy' Hildebrand)
- Courtesy Harold Hildebrand
- (Jonathan Loewald; Cass Sapir; Cass Sapir and Jonathan Loewald; David Levin; Darcy Forlenza, David Levin, and Jonathan Loewald)
- © WGBH Educational Foundation
- (T-pain)
- © AP Images/Jason DeCrow
- (Cher)
- © AP Images/Mitchell Zachs
- (Aretha Franklin)
- © AP Images/Ron Edmonds
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Whether you’re a home producer or work at a major recording studio, Autotune and other pitch correction software can help deal with a weak vocal performance.
In a hurry? I love Melodyne 4 Studio from Celemony. It’s sounds incredible, leaving little to no artifacts on vocals recorded in a treated space, but are in need of a little fixing.
But Autotune isn’t reserved exclusively for pitch correction. T-Pain popularized the hard-straightened pitch, even going as far as releasing an iOS app called “I Am T-Pain.”
Pitch correction software can also be utilized for other instruments as well. I’ve even used VariAudio (the “Autotune” built into Cubase) on bass guitar parts that were slightly out of tune. The result was surprisingly excellent, with little to no audio artifacts.
There’s a lot you can do with Autotune and similar software.
With so many options for producers, how can you decide on which one to use? Fortunately, I’ve had the experience working with many pitch correction plugins to weed out the good from the bad.
I’m going to include both free and paid options, so please read on!
Have an interest in virtual instruments? Don’t miss my other roundups!
Table of Contents
1) Antares Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)
Auto-Tune is the original pitch correction software. It’s so popular that its name is synonymous and is more of a colloquial term.
Antares gives you a couple of options to pick from depending on your needs — Pro, Artist, Access, or EFX+. As you’d guess, the price moves up the more features there are.
Auto-Tune is very hands-off. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s the most straightforward plugin for correcting pitch.
Pros
- Easy to use for beginners
- Lightweight on memory
- Great-looking user interface
Cons
- AUTO mode is limited
- Difficult for beginners to use GRAPH
- A little outdated compared
When using Auto-Tune on a vocal track in AUTO mode, set the key, the retune speed, and the amount of humanization. You should be able to hit the playback button now and hear hopefully great results.
Because it’s simplicity, I find that it doesn’t perform as well as others (when using the quick settings) that require more fine-tune vocal editing.
To fix an abysmal vocal performance, use the graph mode and hand tune each note to your liking. This process is much more complicated but yields a far better result.
I am not huge on Auto-Tune (I know many are), but it can deliver exceptional results. If you take the time to learn how to use it properly, you’ll have great-sounding vocals with ease.
Auto-Tune from Antares is available at Plugin Boutique.
2) Steinberg VariAudio — Cubase Pro (Paid)
Steinberg’s VariAudio is a pitch correction software included in Cubase Pro. It’s not a standalone plugin, so you won’t be able to use it if you don’t own Cubase Pro.
But, for those of you with Cubase who didn’t realize your DAW has pitch correction, rejoice!
I love VariAudio — so much so that I couldn’t imagine switching DAWs. I’ve been on Cubase for ten years, so I know my way around, but VariAudio is the one thing that will keep me as a forever customer.
Pros
- Integrated into Cubase
- Quick to edit any clip
- Very fast and no CPU
Cons
- Audio artifacts are very noticeable if not careful
- Limited cutting resolution
- Not intuitive at first
VariAudio functions similar to Melodyne and Auto-Tune’s graph mode. Double-clicking on a clip opens up the editor, where you can choose to enable VariAudio — no plugin required.
From here, it’s simple as using Pitch Quantize and Straighten Pitch on each clip. Cutting clips also helps pitch only individual sections of a waveform.
Voice Auto Tune Free Download
The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.
I highly recommend considering Cubase Pro if you plan to switch DAWs — for VariAudio exclusively!
Steinberg’s Cubase Pro is available from Plugin Fox.
3) Celemony Melodyne (Paid)
We’re moving up the price ladder, but for a good reason. Melodyne from Celemony is one of the most utilized pitch correction plugins used by professional vocal editors and producers.
Melodyne offers (to my ears) the most accurate and musical sounding algorithm, leaving no tuning artifacts that are easily recognizable to the untrained ear.
Pros
- Incredible-sounding algorithm
- Tons of flexibility when vocals sound poor
- Zero audio artifacts in most cases
Cons
Auto Tune Singing Software
- Difficult for new users
- Rather expensive
The software has incredible note detection allowing for more accurate tuning. I find that in VariAudio, there are times that the software cannot understand individual notes, so they are omitted. It’s not too often this occurs, but Melodyne does it better.
Melodyne is available at Plugin Boutique.
4) Waves Tune (Paid)
Waves Tune operates similarly to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Before you begin tuning, the software scans the audio track and displays audio waveforms.
The process of editing is quite similar as well, though the interface is slightly dated.
Pros
- Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
- Relatively lightweight on CPU
Cons
- Outdated
- Difficult to use
I have never enjoyed using Waves Tune but figured it needed a mention since Waves is one of the most popular audio plugin companies.
5) Waves Tune Real-Time (Paid)
While cheaper than the regular version of Tune, Tune Real-Time offers a quick and user-friendly experience for tuning vocals. I’d compare this plugin to using Auto-Tune on AUTO mode.
Note transition is iffy at best and artifacts are present throughout (at least when I used it). The plugin isn’t smooth sounding at all, and there aren’t many parameter changes available.
I’d recommend Real-Time for two different scenarios. The first being someone new to audio production looking to fix a vocal without technical knowledge of tuning vocals. You won’t get the most professional sound, but it will be acceptable.
The second scenario is for producers working with singers in the studio who struggle to sing on pitch.
Using a pitch-correction software can boost the confidence of the singer in the booth, though I can’t say for sure if this will lead to a better sounding vocal take.
Despite the marketing of Waves Tune Real-Time, claiming instant vocal tuning, I could envision latency becoming an issue in some home studio settings.
Free Auto-Tune VST Plugins
If you’re on the fence about which one to get or want to save a little cash, try some of these free pitch correction plugins I’ve listed below.
Things To Consider When Choosing a Pitch Correction Software Plugin
Despite all the choices I’ve laid out, you still may be confused on the correct option. Here are some things to consider before making a decision.
Does the software maker provide a trial?
Auto Tune Software Singer Free
If so, take the trial and check out the software! There’s nothing more frustrating than buying a plugin only to find out that it’s non-refundable.
Do you need graph editing functionality?
Graph editing, like seen in Melodyne and VariAudio, is for advanced vocal editors. If you need a quick tuning for a little enhancement of a track, you may not need to edit each note.
If you want to draw in the notes physically, a more advanced pitch correction software will be necessary.
Further features you may desire are formant control, MIDI input (for vocoder), and note straightness. These types of effects are often essential in a lot of today’s popular music.
Does your DAW already have pitch processing?
Mine does — that’s why I’ve included VariAudio in this list. Digital audio workstations like Propellerhead’s Reason and MOTU Digital Performer also come with their native pitch correction software.
Auto Tune Software Singers
Wrapping Up
Which one do I like most? If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive.
So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Free Autotune
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