Auto-Tune 7 ® World Standard Professional Pitch and Time Correction Owner’s Manual
©2011 Antares Audio Technologies. All rights reserved. Certified Isinglass-free.™ Auto-Tune®, Antares®, AVOX® and Harmony Engine® are registered trademarks of Antares Audio Technologies. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. www.antarestech.com Printed in USA Rev 2.
The Obligatory Legal Mumbo-Jumbo The Antares® Auto-Tune® 7 software and this User’s Manual are protected by copyright law. Making copies, adaptations, or derivative works without the prior written authorization of Antares Audio Technologies, is prohibited by law and constitutes a punishable violation of the law. Auto-Tune 7 License Agreement Antares Audio Technologies grants you a nontransferable, non-exclusive license to use AutoTune 7 under the terms and conditions stated in this agreement.
Term of the Agreement This agreement is effective until terminated by you or Antares. You may terminate the agreement at any time by notifying Antares and destroying all copies of the manual, and erasing Auto-Tune 7 from all machine-readable media, whether on-line or on archival copies. In the event of breach of any of the terms of this agreement, you shall pay the attorney’s fees of Antares that are reasonably necessary to enforce the agreement plus resulting damages.
Contents Chapter 1 Getting Started What’s New in Auto-Tune 7 Installing and Authorizing Technical Support Chapter 2 Introducing Auto-Tune 7 Some background So what exactly is Auto-Tune 7? A little bit about pitch How Auto-Tune 7 detects pitch How Auto-Tune 7 corrects pitch Automatic Mode Graphical Mode Pitch Shifting and Formant Correction Time Shifting and Correction Chapter 3 7 7 7 9 9 10 12 13 14 Auto-Tune 7 Controls Common Controls The Options Window Automatic Mode Controls Graphical Mode Pitch Co
vi Tutorial 8: Make Curve Function Tutorial 9: Import Auto Function Tutorial 10: Make Notes Function Tutorial 11: Time: Error Correction Tutorial 12: Time: Creative Editing 69 70 72 74 75 Chapter 5 The Auto-Tune Vocal Effect 77 Chapter 6 The Auto-Tune 7 Scales 79 Index 81
1 Welcome! On behalf of everyone at Antares® Audio Technologies, we’d like to offer both our thanks and congratulations on your decision to purchase Auto-Tune® 7, the latest (and indisputably greatest) generation of the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction. Before you proceed any farther, we’d like to strongly encourage you to register and authorize your copy of Auto-Tune 7. (You can skip ahead to the Authorization and Installation instructions on page 6. We’ll wait.
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3 Chapter 1: Getting Started Auto-Tune 7, with its new-from-the-ground-up time manipulation capabilities, represents the most substantial advancement in functionality since Auto-Tune’s original introduction in 1997. If you are new to Auto-Tune, we encourage you to read this manual and work through the tutorials in Chapter 4. It’s the quickest way to become familiar with what Auto-Tune 7 does and how it does it.
4 What’s new in Auto-Tune 7 The following are the key new features that have been added in Auto-Tune 7: The second generation of Evo™ Voice Processing Technology In 2008, Auto-Tune Evo introduced Antares’ seriously evolved Evo Voice Processing Technology, setting a new standard in pitch detection, pitch shifting, and formant processing performance. In the intervening years, Evo Voice Processing Technology has been integrated into Antares’ full line of vocal processing tools.
5 Smooth continuous scrolling of graphical audio data If you have selected Auto Scroll in Graphical Mode, the graphical data will scroll smoothly across the screen during playback, maintaining the currently playing audio at the vertical center of the window. Amplitude envelope in the graphical editing window A display of the tracked audio’s amplitude envelope now appears as a background element in the graphical editing window.
6 Installing Auto-Tune 7 Any unique instructions for installing Auto-Tune 7 for your specific host or plug-in format are located in the Auto-Tune 7 Read Me file that accompanies the plug-in. This file may also contain any last-minute Auto-Tune 7 information that didn’t make it into this manual. If your problem is not resolved after taking the above actions, try the following: 1. Make another quick scan through this manual.
7 Chapter 2: Introducing Auto-Tune 7 Some background In 1997, Antares Audio Technologies first introduced the ground-breaking Auto-Tune Pitch Correcting Plug-In. Auto-Tune was a tool that actually corrected the pitch of vocals and other solo instruments, in real time, without distortion or artifacts, while preserving all of the expressive nuance of the original performance. Recording Magazine called Auto-Tune the “holy grail of recording.
8 middle. A symphony orchestra playing a scale in unison, for example, results in an extremely complex waveform, yet you are still able to easily sense the pitch. The vocalists and the solo instruments that Auto-Tune 7 is designed to process have a very clearly defined quality of pitch. The sound generating mechanism of these sources is a vibrating element (vocal chords, a string, an air column, etc.).
9 How Auto-Tune 7 detects pitch In order for Auto-Tune 7 to automatically correct pitch, it must first detect the pitch of the input sound. Calculating the pitch of a periodic waveform is a straightforward process. Simply measure the time between repetitions of the waveform. Divide this time into one, and you have the frequency in Hertz. Auto-Tune 7 does exactly this: It looks for a periodically repeating waveform and calculates the time interval between repetitions.
10 Automatic Mode Auto-Tune 7’s Automatic Mode works by continuously tracking the pitch of an input sound and comparing it to a user-defined scale. The scale tone closest to the input is continuously identified. If the input pitch exactly matches the scale tone, no correction is applied. If the input pitch varies from the desired scale tone, an output pitch is generated which is closer to the scale tone than the input pitch.
11 Retune Speed Auto-Tune 7 also gives you control over how rapidly, in time, the pitch adjustment is made toward the scale tone. This is set with the Retune Speed control (see Chapter 3 for more details). Fast Speed settings are appropriate for short duration notes and for mechanical instruments, like oboe or clarinet, whose pitch typically changes almost instantly. A fast enough setting will also minimize or completely remove a vibrato, as well as produce the iconic Auto-Tune Vocal Effect.
12 Graphical Mode The Graphical Mode is similar to the Automatic Mode in that it also continuously tracks the pitch of the incoming sound and modifies the output pitch to be closer to a desired pitch. But in the Graphical Mode, the desired pitch is not a predefined scale tone, but rather is a graphical representation of your desired pitch (called a “correction object”).
13 The horizontal grid lines (or Lanes, when Show Lanes in selected) represent scale pitches. The key annotation, scale name, and scale detune value are those defined by the common area controls at the top of the interface. They do not affect the computations of the Graphical Mode in any way. They are merely a reference to guide you in setting the target pitches.
14 Although you can also accomplish overall transposition in Graphical Mode by selecting all the correction objects in your track and manually moving them up or down, in most cases, using the Transpose function will provide superior results. Formant Correction A sound’s ”formants” are the combined acoustic resonances that result from the physical structure of whatever is producing the sound. In the case of a human voice, air from your lungs is forced through your vocal chords, causing them to vibrate.
15 Move Point tool, you first select a range of audio and then select the region within that selection that you want to move and move it forward or back in time, again compressing and expanding the audio around it. Both tools are context sensitive. That is, they change function (from selection to moving, for example) depending on what lies beneath them on the screen.
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17 Chapter 3: Auto-Tune 7 Controls This chapter is a reference for all of the controls used in the Auto-Tune 7 interface. How these controls are used together for pitch correction and time shifting is demonstrated in Chapter 4, Auto-Tune 7 Tutorial. If you are upgrading from Auto-Tune Evo, you can probably just skip ahead to Chapter 5, New Feature Quick Start Guide Continuous Controls Auto-Tune 7’s continuous controls are represented graphically as virtual knobs.
18 If, on the other hand, your signal is noisy or not well-isolated (as might be more common in a live performance situation) or you are dealing with a particularly breathy or guttural voice, it may be necessary to allow more signal variation (higher Tracking numbers). However, under these circumstances tracking is not guaranteed and a too “relaxed” setting may introduce distortion and popping.
19 Scale Detune The Detune parameter allows you to change the pitch standard of Auto-Tune 7 from the default A = 440Hz. The value is set in cents (100 cents = 1 semitone). The range of adjustment is from -100 to +100 cents. For convenience, the detune amount is also displayed in Hertz relative to A440. The Detune function can be used to tune a vocal performance to some irreparably out-of-tune instrument (a piano or organ, for example), or to allow correction to other than the conventional 440Hz standard.
20 The Throat Length control lets you modify the length of the modeled throat. The range of the control is 50 to 180. Values above 100 represent a lengthening of the throat while values below 100 represent a shortening of the throat. The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat length. For example, a value of 120 represents a 20% increase in throat length, while a value of 70 represents a 30% decrease in throat length. Note: This control is only active when Formant Correction is engaged.
21 Options Clicking the Options button will bring up a window containing a number of settings that fall into capability, setting the buffer to the length of the entire song and tracking the pitch in one pass will allow you to quickly and easily move to each section of audio to be corrected as necessary. NUMBER OF UNDOS Auto-Tune 7 provides multiple Undo/Redo capability in Graphical Mode. Select the maximum allowable number here (up to 20).
22 USE CUSTOM CURSORS Click the check box to use Custom Cursors in Graphical Mode. Normally, Auto-Tune 7 displays different cursor shapes in the Pitch Graph Display to help you select ranges and grab and drag objects (e.g., the object cursor, the anchor point cursor, etc.). However, some host applications mistakenly think that they own the cursor when it is in a plug-in window. This may cause the cursor to flash as the host and Auto-Tune 7 alternately try to set the cursor shape.
23 Edit Functions Clear All Undo Redo Select All Cut Copy Paste Time Control Undo Time Change Redo Time Change Clear All Time Changes Control Toggles Snap To Note Auto-Scroll Show Lanes Track Pitch Cursor Time Indicator Show Output Curve Show MIDI Track Pitch + Time Enable Time Control Correction Objects Make Curves Import Auto Make Notes Make Notes from MIDI Other Controls Reset Internal Cock Nudge Up Nudge Down Zoom In Horizontal Zoom Out Horizontal Zoom In Vertical Zoom Out Vertical Adjust Retune Speed
24 Bypass Auto-Tune 7 does not include a dedicated Bypass control as that function is typically provided by the host application’s plug-in interface. Automatic Mode Controls Pitch Correction Functions Retune Speed Retune Speed controls how rapidly the pitch correction is applied to the incoming sound. The units are milliseconds. A value of zero will cause instantaneous changes from one tone to another and will completely suppress a vibrato (note that any related volume changes will remain).
25 Natural Vibrato The Natural Vibrato function allows real-time modification (either increase or decrease) of the depth of any vibrato present in the input audio while preserving the original shape and character of the vibrato. This function uses the same Stochastic Optimal Linear Estimation Theory as the Targeting Ignores Vibrato function (described below) to differentiate between vibrato and intended pitch changes, adjusting the vibrato depth while leaving intended pitch changes intact.
26 The Edit Scale Display The Edit Scale Display is used to create custom scales or to modify any of the preset scales selected in the Scale popup. Edits made using this display are associated with each scale. That is, each scale retains its own edits independent of the other scales.
27 2. If a performance contains only a single error, you can set all notes to Bypass except the one “sour” note. Auto-Tune 7 will then pass the entire performance through unprocessed except for the sour note, which will be corrected. Remove If the Remove button is lit, then the note is simply removed from the current scale. For example, selecting the Chromatic scale and then setting C#, D#, F#, G#, A# to Remove would cause a C Major scale to remain.
28 The Virtual Keyboard The Virtual Keyboard displays Auto-Tune 7’s pitch detection range and acts as a real-time display of the currently detected pitch, a display of the current Scale settings, and as a tool for setting target note behaviors in specific octaves. IMPORTANT NOTE: The keyboard is only active for scales with exactly twelve notes. It will be grayed out (hence inactive) when any other scale is selected.
29 KEYBOARD MODE When the Latch mode is active (i.e., the Latch button is blue), any edits made to the keyboard will latch -i.e., clicking a key will change its state and the key will retain that state until some other action causes it to change. When the Momentary mode is active (i.e., the Momentary button is blue), keyboard edits are only active for as long as the mouse is held down on a key. NOTE: Pressing and holding the Shift key on your keyboard will temporarily toggle the Keyboard Mode.
30 Automatic Mode MIDI Functions Auto-Tune 7 provides two functions that require it to receive MIDI data from the host application. Depending on your intent, this data could come in real time from a MIDI controller (typically a keyboard) or from a prerecorded MIDI sequencer track. Refer to your host application’s manual for details on how to route MIDI to Auto-Tune 7.
31 When you have played the entire melody, press the Learn Scale From MIDI button again to end the process. The Edit Scale Display will now contain a scale containing only those notes that appeared in your melody. If you happen to have made an error during note entry, or want to try again for any other reason, simply click the Learn Scale From MIDI button and start the process again.
32 Create Vibrato Functions SAWTOOTH Gradually rises from minimum to maximum and then drops instantaneously to minimum to start the cycle again. Rate Sets the rate of the vibrato over a range of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. The default Rate setting is 5.5 Hz. Double-clicking or Command (Mac)/Control (PC) clicking the Rate knob will reset it to that value. Variation Sets the amount of random variation that will be applied to the Rate and Amount parameters on a note to note basis.
33 none to the full amounts set in the various Amount parameters - for a total of 1.75 seconds from the beginning of the note to the time full vibrato depth was reached. Pitch Amount Sets the amount that the pitch changes. The range is from 0 (no change) to 100 (maximum change). The default setting is 18. Command (Mac)/Control (PC) clicking the slider will reset it to that value. Amplitude Amount Sets the amount that the loudness changes.
34 The Pitch Change Meter The Pitch Change Amount Indicator The Pitch Change Indicator shows you how much the pitch is being changed, measured in cents (100 cents = one semitone). For example, if the indicator bar has moved to the left to -50, it indicates that the input pitch is 50 cents too sharp and Auto-Tune 7 is lowering the pitch by 50 cents to bring the input back to the desired pitch.
35 Graphical Mode Controls The Clock Controls Sync to host transport (host dependent) If your host provides valid time information, once you have tracked audio and created correction objects (see below), Auto-Tune 7 will maintain sync with the host, allowing you to move around in your track at will. NOTE: In some cases, this functionality may require updating to the latest version of your host program.
36 NOTE: As the various host developers are constantly updating their applications’ functionality, it may be necessary to update to the latest version of your host to use Host Clock Mode. Time Display Mode Use this control to display the timeline labels in the Pitch Graph Display in either bars and beats (as defined by your host’s tempo), or absolute time in hours, minutes, seconds, and fractions of seconds.
37 Next, start playback of the audio. A graphic representation of the pitch and its amplitude envelope will be drawn to the display as the audio plays. When all of the audio you want to correct has played, stop playback. You will exit Track Pitch mode and, if you have AutoScroll enabled (as described in the Pitch Graph Display section below), the Pitch Graph will automatically scale in such a way as to include all of the tracked audio. If you have not enabled Auto-Scroll, no scaling will occur.
38 and assigned a custom Retune Speed to each one. This is an incredibly powerful capability for insuring that your corrections are as natural and seamless as possible. the Retune Speed for all or selected correction curve segments, or further edit the blue curve using any of the Graphical Mode tools to get precisely the effect you want.
39 Combined with Auto-Tune 7’s formant correction and throat modeling capabilities, it provides an easy, intuitive method of modifying the pitch of individual notes or phrases. And when programming Auto-Tune Vocal effects, it gives you absolute control over exactly which notes will be quantized to. Here’s how it works: The Make Notes button is enabled whenever there is any red input pitch contour data present in the Pitch Graph (whether it is displayed in the current Pitch Graph view or not).
40 a specific performance. The Number of Note Objects control lets you give Auto-Tune 7 some guidance in making these decisions. NOTE: This function is only available when some tracked audio has been selected with the I-Beam tool. If no audio is selected, the knob will not become active. Once some audio is selected, the knob will become active.
41 Retune Speed The Retune Speed setting is used only during the pitch correction process. It’s similar in function but separate from the Retune Speed control in Automatic Mode. In Graphical Mode, the target pitch is not the scale tone nearest to the input, but rather the blue target pitch object (for Curves and Lines) or the exact note represented by a Note object.
42 containing both vibrato and intended pitch change and the Adjust Vibrato function will scale the vibrato while leaving the intended pitch changes alone. But again, depending on the actual performance, sometimes this will work better than others.
43 Show MIDI When the Show MIDI button is blue, any MIDI data that has previously been recorded will be displayed as red boxes on the Pitch Graph. Clicking the Show MIDI button will toggle its state. NOTE: The red MIDI notes display is for reference only. Unless you choose to make Note Objects from the MIDI notes as described below, the MIDI notes will have no effect on Auto-Tune 7’s pitch correction.
44 The Pitch and Envelope Graph Displays The Pitch Graph Display The Pitch Graph displays the pitch contour of the audio to be processed as well as the pitch correction objects that you create and a plot of the exact output pitch based on each object’s current Retune Speed. Additionally, the amplitude envelope of the displayed audio is displayed as a background element of the graph.
45 For Lines and Curves, this will correspond to the pitch indicated by the blue target pitch curve. For Notes, this will correspond either to the pitch of the graph line or lane on which the Note is situated, or, if Snap to Note has been turned off and the Note has been offset from the graph line or lane, it will display the note and the amount of offset (in cents). Click the Show Lanes button to toggle its state.
46 All/Tie Buttons The Envelope Graph’s horizontal (time) scale is controlled by the “All” and “Tie” buttons. Clicking the All button causes the envelope graph to display all of the currently tracked audio. This is useful for quickly locating and selecting various portions of audio spread over the duration of a song. Clicking the Tie button slaves the position of the Envelope Graph to that of the Pitch Graph.
47 The Graphical Tools The graphical tools are used in conjunction with the edit buttons to create or modify the desired correction objects. NOTE: The two tools dedicated to time correction and manipulation will be described in the Time Controls section later in this chapter. ANOTHER NOTE: In addition to clicking on the various tools, if your host passes key presses to plug-ins, you can assign selected tools to QWERTY number keys using the Key Binding function in the Options dialog.
48 The Snap To Note mode does not affect the Curve Tool. Only one pitch contour object (Line, Curve, or Note) can exist at any time point on the Pitch Graph. When you complete the entry of a Curve object, any object(s) that previously existed at the same time will be deleted.
49 The extent to which you can drag selected objects is constrained by the position of neighboring unselected objects. Clicking on the background of the Pitch Graph deselects all selected objects. ADDING AND DELETING ANCHOR POINTS: Moving the Arrow Tool over an existing line segment and double-clicking will add an intermediate anchor point at that point. The cursor will change to the anchor point cursor and the new anchor point can then be dragged.
50 desired central pitch, just grab the appropriate end of the first or last central pitch Note and drag it over all of the other Notes. You’ll end up with a single Note on the desired frequency whose vibrato you can tame with a single adjustment of the Note’s Retune Speed. While all of the above may seem a bit mindboggling on first reading, in practice it’s quite intuitive. Spend a minute or two playing with the Arrow Tool and all will become clear.
51 The Edit Buttons Once some audio has been tracked and/or correction objects created, they can be affected or edited in various ways with the Edit Buttons. The Edit Buttons are context sensitive, i.e., only the buttons that are applicable to the current state of the pitch display are active. If a particular button does not have a valid function relative to the current pitch display state, it will be “grayed out” (i.e., colored dark gray). If it does have a valid function, it will appear pale gray.
52 • • • • Click the Paste button (the cursor will turn into the Paste cursor). Press and hold your left (or only) mouse button. A graphic representation of the object(s) to be pasted will appear. While holding down the mouse button, drag the objects to the exact location where you wish to paste them. Once they are at the proper location, release the mouse button to complete the paste.
53 Time Shifting Overview As mentioned back in Chapter 2, in order to do its time shifting magic, Auto-Tune 7 must first create a copy of any audio you wish to edit. As you might imagine, these audio files can be quite large. Unlike the pitch data generated by the traditional Track Pitch function, which is always stored with the instances of Auto-Tune in your session, the audio recorded for time shifting by the Track Pitch + Time function is saved as one or more separate files elsewhere on your computer.
54 can accomplish this in most cases, but it’s important to keep in mind that if your session is particularly complex, with many tracks and lots of other potentially processor-hungry plug-ins all running at once, even the fastest computer may have trouble keeping up. To alert you to any data access problems, the Data Error indicator will light red anytime AutoTune 7 is unable to read data from its disk file in the time available.
55 The Pitch Graph Display portion of the graph) and the time-shifted audio (in the upper portion). As you make time shift edits in the main Pitch Graph Display, you will see the upper envelope update in real time. This makes it extremely easy to visualize your time edits in the context of the original audio. Time Control Functions In the process of time shifting, the articulation and transient profile of your audio is typically more relevant than its pitch contour.
56 The Clear All Button Clicking the Clear All button clears all time edits from the track, essentially restoring the timing of the original audio. The Move Point Tool is typically used to edit a note, word, or phrase in which you want to correct the timing of one point while leaving other key points unchanged. Examples might include: NOTE: Unlike the Clear All function described in the Pitch Editing Tools section, the Time Control Clear All function does not delete any tracked data, only time edits.
57 1. Use the Move Point Tool to select a range that extends exactly from the beginning of the note, word, or phrase to its end. ANOTHER NOTE: You will find that the envelope display in the Pitch Edit Graph provides a useful reference for selecting the initial range and exactly the right point to move. YET ANOTHER NOTE: When selecting and moving a point, the vertical position of the cursor has no effect. Only the horizontal position counts.
58 • • • (single) I-beam and clicking and dragging the mouse will select a new range. Whenever the cursor is over an area that IS located within an existing range selection, but NOT located within a previously defined region, the cursor appears as a double I-beam and clicking and dragging the mouse will create a new region within the existing range.
59 • • • Each instance of Auto-Tune 7 that is used for time shifting will have its own data folder. So if, for example, you have instances of AutoTune 7 on five separate tracks in your project, you will have five data folders associated with that project which must be copied if the project is moved or archived. Be sure to use the Data File Management Dialog’s ability to rename data file folders to make it easy to identify the project and track the data is associated with.
60 NOTE: While the “Setup Folder Location…” function is only available before tracking any audio, if you initially track audio to the default folder location and later decide that you’d like to have it at a different location, you can, at any time, simply use the “Move Data Files…” function described in the next section.
61 To rename a data folder, simply type the new name in the folder name field and click the Rename Folder button. Delete All Data Files It is important to note that deleting an instance of Auto-Tune 7 (after bouncing or freezing a processed track) will not automatically delete any associated data files. Similarly, deleting an entire session (after archiving it, for example) will not delete any data files associated with instances of Auto-Tune 7 in the session.
62 Setup Folder Location… If the worst has happened and the correct data folder has actually been permanently deleted, you will have to re-track your audio and remake any previous edits. To do that: • • • Click the “Setup Folder Location…” button. Dismiss the resulting alert. A navigation window will appear. Navigate to your desired location and click Choose. An alert message will confirm that you have set the new folder location. Optionally, rename the data folder.
63 Chapter 4 : Auto-Tune 7 Tutorials This chapter introduces you to how Auto-Tune 7 works by guiding you through a number of brief tutorials. These tutorials make use of a number of audio and MIDI files. (We will assume that you are familiar with loading audio and MIDI files into your host application.) If you purchased a packaged version of Auto-Tune 7, your will find the required files in the “Tutorial Audio” folder on the installation DVD ROM.
64 pitch changes. This parameter controls how rapidly the pitch correction is applied to the incoming pitch. The units are milliseconds. A value of zero will cause instantaneous changes from one tone to another and will completely suppress a vibrato (note that related volume changes will remain). Retune values from 10 to 50 are typical for vocals. To continue: 1. Set the Retune Speed to 0 2. In the Edit Scale Display, click the Remove buttons next to all the notes except F#. 3. Play “A2-A3-A2 sweep” again.
65 6. Stop playback and click the Track Pitch button again to stop the tracking function. 7. Click the Import Auto button. A blue curve will appear. This curve represents the pitch correction that would result from processing the audio with the current Automatic Mode settings. Note all the instances in which Auto-Tune 7 identifies G# or F# as the target pitch. 8. Set Auto-Tune 7 back to Automatic Mode. 8. Set Natural Vibrato to 12 and note the effect on the vibrato.
66 as the scale develops on Auto-Tune 7’s virtual keyboard and in the Scale Edit window. As each note is sung, it is added to the scale until the scale includes every note that appears in the melody. 8. Set the Retune control to 20 and play the audio track using this scale. NOTE: You can also instantaneously define a scale by playing all of the notes of the scale as a chord (i.e., all scale notes played on the same beat) and recording that into a MIDI track.
67 Tutorial 6: Graphical Mode Basics This tutorial will introduce you to the basic Graphical Mode functions, again using the “A2A3-A2 sweep” file from Tutorial 1. Begin the tutorial by doing the following: 1. Load or import “A2-A3-A2 sweep” into a track of your host program. Play the track so that you are familiar with the original audio. To erase the last point entered, press on the keyboard (you can press repeatedly to erase back to the first anchor point).
68 Now that we have some correction objects on the Pitch Graph Display, this would be a good time to become familiar with the functions of the Arrow and Scissors Tools. (Refer back to Chapter 3 for detailed descriptions of the Arrow and Scissors Tools’ behaviors.) As you experiment in the following steps, play back the file to hear the effect of each action. 7. Select the Arrow Tool. 8. Drag the Arrow Tool across the Pitch Graph to select objects. 9. Move the cursor over curves and anchor points.
69 Tutorial 8: Make Curve Function This tutorial will introduce you to the Make Curve function. The Make Curve function gives you precise control over pitch accuracy and inflection. 1. Setup to process the file “Crowd All” through Auto-Tune 7. 2. Select Graphical Mode. 3. Press the Track Pitch button. 4. Play the “Crowd All” file. 5. Select the Magnifying Glass Tool and drag out a box on the Pitch Graph that encloses the red curve for the “-gether” part of the last word, “together.
70 2. Make sure Snap To Note is engaged and use the Line Tool to draw a horizontal line at C3 as shown below: • 3. Set the Retune Speed to 20 and play back the sound. Experiment with other Retune Speeds to see their effect on the green correction curve and to hear their effects. Some notes: Vibratos and other pitch gestures typically occur with related loudness gestures.
71 Assuming that this entire phrase should be centered around E3, there are several problem spots, indicated above, where the pitch is being incorrectly adjusted towards neighboring tones. 9. To hear the pitch corrections that would be produced in Automatic Mode, set the Graphical Mode Retune Speed to 0 (which will cause the green output curve to exactly match the blue object curve). Play back the file. 10. Switch to the Automatic Mode and click the Remove buttons next to C, D, F, A, and B. 7.
72 Tutorial 10: Make Notes Function This tutorial will help you become familiar with Auto-Tune 7’s new Notes correction objects and how they are used for pitch correction and selective pitch shifting. For this tutorial, we will once again use the “somewhere” audio file. 1. Load or import the audio file “somewhere” into a track of your host program. 2. Set up Auto-Tune 7 to be an insert effect on that track. 3. Select Graphical Mode and select G Major as the Key and Scale. 4. Press the Track Pitch button.
73 Click on the note and drag it up two semitones to A3. Play the file and listen to the melodic change. 12. Select the Scissors tool and click on the A3 note at about the 8.3 second point (at the pronounced pitch peak) to cut it into two notes. 13. Select the Arrow tool again and drag the first of these two notes back down to G3. Play the file and listen to the result. 14.
74 20. The easiest solution, of course, is to select the right scale. Change the Key and Scale from G Chromatic to G Major. Click Make Notes again. Set the Number of Note Objects to 20. Voilà. 8. Use the Move Region tool to select the region to be moved. Using the envelope display as reference, select the region from the beginning of the breath before the note (at time position 1:3.9) to the end of the note’s decay (at time position 2:3.62).
75 1. Adjust the zoom and scroll controls to focus on bars 3 through 5. Play the track and note that the end of the second phrase (the end of the word “illusion), is sustained too long. 2. Select the Move Point Tool and select the range from the beginning of the last syllable of “illusion” (at time position 4:1.80) to the beginning of the breath before the following note (at time position 5:2.23). 3. Use the Move Point Tool to select the point to be moved.
76 Listen to the track to become familiar with it. We’re going to use the Move Region tool to move the second note of the pattern and change the feel of the bass line. At this point, your display should look like this: 2. Set up Auto-Tune 7 as an insert effect on the track and select “Bass Inst” as the Input Type. 3. Select Graphical Mode and select Bars + Beats as the Time Display mode. 4. Press the Track Pitch + Time button. 5. Play the “Bass_riff” file and track the two-bar line.
77 Chapter 5: The Auto-Tune Vocal Effect In addition to its adoption as the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction, Auto-Tune has also gained renown as the tool of choice for what has become one of the signature vocal sounds of our time. First heard on Cher’s 1998 mega-hit “Believe,” variations of the effect have gone on to appear on songs from a huge variety of artists.
78 3. Track your audio. 4. Click the Make Notes button. If necessary, adjust the Number of Note Objects control to get as accurate a representation of the desired target notes as possible. 5. Make sure that all of the Note objects in the range where you want the effect to happen butt up against each other (this will ensure that all of the note transitions are instantaneous).
79 Chapter 6: The Auto-Tune 7 Scales The following are brief descriptions of the scales available in Auto-Tune 7: Modern Equal Temperament These first three equal-tempered scales are the ubiquitous scales typically found in Western tonal music: Major: A seven-tone equal tempered major scale. • Minor: A seven-tone equal tempered minor scale. • Equal Tempered chromatic: A twelve-tone equal tempered chromatic scale. • Historical Tunings Ling Lun: A twelve-tone scale dating from 2700 B.C. China.
80 Contemporary Tunings Equal tempered scales with a large number of tones are typically used to play common tonal harmony with greater purity of intervals and chords. The typical approach is to analyze a passage (or less) of music and select tones from a scale that will best approximate the desired pure intervals. 19 Tone: This scale has greater purity of minor thirds and major thirds (and conversely, minor and major sixths) than twelve-tone equal temperament.
81 Index A background information 7 BIG IMPORTANT NOTE 3 Bypass 24, 26 Bypass All 27 Sync to host transport (host dependent) 35 Time Display Mode 36 Using Internal Clock Mode 35 Common Controls 17 Bypass 24 Correction Mode 20 Formant Correction 20 Input Type 17 Key Selection 18 Options 21 Scale Detune 19 Scale Selection 18 Select Pitch Reference 18 Throat Length 19 Tracking 17 Transpose 19 Contemporary Tunings 80 Continuous Controls 17 Correction Mode 20 Correct Pitch 37 Create Vibrato 32 Amplitude Amoun
82 E Edit Buttons 51 Clear All Button 51 Cut And Copy Buttons 51 Nudge Buttons 52 Paste Button 51 Redo Button 51 Select All Button 51 Snap To Note Button 51 Undo Button 51 Edit Functions 23 Editing Modality 46 Editing Tools 46 Edit Scale Display Bypass 26 Bypass All 27 Cents 27 Remove 27 Remove All 27 Set All 27 Set Major/Set Minor 27 Enable Button 55 Envelope Graph Display 45, 55 Equal Tempered Scale 8 Ethnic Tunings 79 Evo™ Voice Processing Technology 4 F Facebook 6 Find Data Folder… 60, 61 Formant Am
83 MIDI Functions 30, 42 Instance ID 30 Learn Scale From MIDI 30 Make Notes From MIDI 43 Octave As Played/All Octaves 31 Recording MIDI Information 42 Show MIDI 43 Target Notes Via MIDI 31 Modern Equal Temperament 79 Move Data Files… 60 Move Point Tool 56 Move Region Tool 57 N Natural Vibrato 25 Note Tool 48 Nudge Buttons 52 Number of Note Objects 39 O Object Pitch Display 45 Octave As Played/All Octaves 31 Onset Delay 32 Onset Rate 32 Options 21 Output Pitch Display 45 P Paste Button 51 Pen Tablet I
84 Scale Selection 18 Scissors Tool 50 Selectable Clock Source 35 Select All Button 51 Select Pitch Reference 18 serial number 1 Set All 27 Set Major/Set Minor 27 Setup Folder Location… 62 Shape 32 Show Lanes 44 Show MIDI 43 Snap To Note Button 51 Sync to host transport (host dependent) 35 T Targeting Ignores Vibrato 25 Target Notes Via MIDI 31 Technical Support 6 The Edit Scale Display 26 Throat Length 19 Throat Length Adjust 42 Time Control Functions 55 Clear All Button 56 Enable Button 55 Redo Button
