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146 Chapter 11 Special
Pitch, Formant, and Mix
Mix defines the level ratio between the original (dry) and effect signals.
Note: In order to get an idea of what the plug-in does, it may be helpful to listen to the
original dry signal in the background. A Mix setting of about 75% should suffice.
The Pitch parameter transposes the pitch of the signal (up to) two octaves upwards or
downwards. Adjustments are made in semitone steps. Incoming pitches are indicated
by a vertical line.
Note: Transpositions of a fifth upward (Pitch = +7), a fourth downward (Pitch = −5) or
by an octave (Pitch = ±12) are the most useful, harmonically.
As you alter the Pitch parameter, you might notice that the formants don’t change.
Note: Formants are characteristic emphases of certain frequency ranges. They are sta-
tic, and do not change with pitch. Formants are responsible for the specific timbre of a
given human voice.
The Pitch parameter is expressly used to change the pitch of a voice, not its character. If
you set negative Pitch values for a female soprano voice, you can turn it into an alto
voice, without changing the specific character of the singer’s voice.
The Formant parameter shifts the formants, while maintaining the pitch or while inde-
pendently altering the pitch. If you set this parameter to positive values, the singer
sounds like Mickey Mouse. By altering the parameter downwards, you can achieve
sound effects reminiscent of Darth Vader from Star Wars.
Note: If you set Pitch to 0 semitones, Mix to 50% and Formant to +1 (while Robotize
remains switched off), you can effectively place a singer (with a smaller head) next to
the original singer. Both will sing with the same voice—in a choir of two. This choir
effect is quite effective, and is easily controlled with the Mix parameter.
Robotize
If you switch Robotize on, the Vocal Transformer can augment or diminish the melody.
You can control the intensity of this distortion with the Tracking parameter.
Note: The four −1, 0, 1, and 2 switches set the Tracking slider to values of −100%, 0%,
100% and 200%. These switches aren’t individual parameters. They are merely additio-
nal controls that make faster to set the Tracking parameter to its most useful settings.
• At a value of 100% (switch 1), the range of the melody is maintained. Higher values
augment, and lower values diminish the melody.
• At a setting of 200% (switch 2) the intervals are doubled.
• The reduction to 0% (switch 0) delivers interesting results, with every syllable of the
vocal track being sung at the same pitch. Low values turn sung lines into spoken lan-
guage.