User 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.” And went on to say, “Bottom line, Auto-Tune is amazing… Everyone with a Mac
should have this program.” (In fact, we know of quite a few people back then who bought kilo-buck
Pro Tools
™
systems just to be able to run Auto-Tune.)
In the intervening years, Auto-Tune has
established itself as the worldwide standard
in professional pitch correction. Today, it’s
used daily by tens of thousands of audio
professionals around the world to save studio
and editing time, ease the frustration of endless
retakes, save that otherwise once-in-a-lifetime
performance, or to create what has become
the signature vocal effect of our time for many,
many artists.
Auto-Tune is, in fact, the world’s largest-selling
audio plug-in.
Now, well over a decade after its introduction,
recognizing the enormous increase in the
power of the computers we all use for audio
recording, we’ve evolved Auto-Tune to the next
level of performance.
With Auto-Tune 7, you now have control, not
only of pitch, but of rhythm and articulation.
Auto-Tune 7’s time manipulation capabilities
combine an extremely high-quality time-shifting
algorithm with an exceedingly intuitive user
interface designed to make it quick and easy to
correct timing errors or exercise your creative
imagination. Auto-Tune 7 gives you the ability
to polish every facet of your vocal tracks in one,
integrated, easy-to-use environment.
So what exactly is Auto-Tune 7?
Auto-Tune 7 is a precision tool for correcting
intonation and timing errors or creatively
modifying the intonation or rhythmic articulation
of a performance.
For pitch correction, Auto-Tune 7 employs
state-of-the-art digital signal processing
algorithms (many, interestingly enough, drawn
from the geophysical industry) to continuously
detect the pitch of a periodic input signal
(typically a solo voice or instrument) and
instantly and seamlessly change it to a desired
pitch (defined by any of a number of user-
programmable scales, MIDI input, or through
the use of graphical editing tools).
To take maximum advantage of the power of
Auto-Tune 7’s pitch correction functions, you
should have a basic understanding of pitch and
how Auto-Tune 7 functions to correct pitch
errors. This chapter presents basic terminology
and introduces Auto-Tune 7’s operating
paradigm, giving you the background you need
to use it effectively.
Later in the chapter, we’ll provide an overview
of Auto-Tune 7’s new time manipulation
features.
A little bit about pitch
Pitch is traditionally associated with our
perception of the “highness” or “lowness”
of a particular sound. Our perception of pitch
ranges from the very general (the high pitch of
hissing steam, the low pitch of the rumble of
Godzilla’s enormous footsteps as he stomps
his way through Tokyo) to the very specific (the
exact pitch of a solo singer or violinist). There
is, of course, a wide range of variation in the