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Chapter 11 Pitch eects 227
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Formants pop-up menu (Extended Parameters area): Choose how Vocal Transformer
processes formants.
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Process always: All formants are processed.
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Keep unvoiced formants: Only voiced formants are processed. This retains sibilant sounds
in a vocal performance and produces a more natural-sounding transformation eect with
some signals.
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Detune slider and eld (Extended Parameters area): Drag to detune the input signal by the set
value. This parameter is of particular benet when automated.
Use Vocal Transformer
You can change the pitch of performances, inclusive of, or independent from, formants. Robotize
mode enables you to augment or diminish the melody.
Use the Vocal Transformer Pitch and Formant parameters
m To transpose the pitch of the signal upward or downward: Rotate the Pitch knob. Adjustments
are made in semitone steps. Incoming pitches are indicated by a vertical line below the Pitch
Base eld.
Transpositions of a fth 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.
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 specic character of the singer’s voice.
m To shift the formants while maintaining—or independently altering—the pitch: Rotate the Formant
knob. If you set this parameter to positive values, the singer sounds like Mickey Mouse. By
altering the parameter downward, you can achieve vocals reminiscent of Darth Vader.
Tip: If you set Pitch to 0 semitones, Mix to 50%, and Formant to +1 (with Robotize turned o),
you can eectively 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 doubling of voices is quite eective, with levels easily
controlled by the Mix parameter.