Antares AutoTune 5 user manual

							
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The Contents Of This Manual 
Chapter : Getting Started The chapter you are reading. 
Chapter  : Introducing Auto-Tune 5 
This chapter explains basic facts about pitch 
and how Auto-Tune 5 functions to correct pitch errors. The basic functionality of Auto-Tune 5 is discussed, and information you need in order to use it effectively is provided. 
Chapter  : Auto-Tune 5 Controls 
This chapter is reference information for all of the controls used in the Auto-Tune 5 interface. 
Chapter  : Auto-Tune 5 Tutorial 
This chapter introduces you to details of how Auto-Tune 5 works by guiding you through several tutorials. The tutorials will give you insight into how and when to use each of Auto-Tune 5’s key functions. 
Chapter 5: New Feature Quick Start Guide This chapter contains detailed information about each of Auto-Tune 5’s new features.  All of this information is also included in Chapter 3, but is presented here to allow experienced Auto-Tune 4 users to quickly come up to speed on the enhancements and new capabilities in Auto-Tune 5. 
Chapter 6: Creative Applications for Auto-Tune 5 Some cool, but not-so-obvious stuff you can do with Auto-Tune 5. 
Installing Auto-Tune 5 
Any unique instructions for installing Auto-Tune 5 for your specific plug-in format are located in the Auto-Tune 5 Read Me file that accompanies the plug-in. This file may 
also contain any last-minute Auto-Tune 5 information that didn’t make it into this manual. 
Auto-Tune 5 is designed to work with a wide variety of digital audio applications. Please refer to your host application’s user manual for more information on installing and using plug-ins. 
Authorizing Auto-Tune 5 
Authorization is the process by which this software is allowed to run on your computer. Detailed instructions covering the available authorization options will be found in the file “Authorization Read Me” which is included on the installation CD ROM or with your software download. 
NOTE: When initially installed, this software will run for ten days without authorization. 
So even if you can‘t authorize it right away you can still use your software in the meantime. (During this period, click the “Try It” button whenever you are presented with the Trial Period screen at launch.) But don’t procrastinate too long. After those ten days are up, you will no longer be able to launch this software until it’s authorized.  
						

							
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Technical Support 
In the unlikely event that you experience a problem using Auto-Tune 5, first try the following
 1.  Make sure you have the latest version of 
the software. You can download and install the latest version of the software from the following web page:
    http://www.antarestech.com/download/
update.shtml
  2.  If you are having problems authorizing 
your software, be sure that you have the latest version of the PACE Interlok drivers. You can download and install the latest version for your operating system from the following web page:
     http://portal.knowledgebase.net/article.
asp?article=174703&p= 5764
If your problem is not resolved after taking the above actions, try the following:
 1.  Make another quick scan through this 
manual. Who knows? You may have stumbled onto some feature that you didn’t notice the first time through.
  2.   Check our web page for tips, techniques, 
or any late-breaking information:
    http://www.antarestech.com
  3.  Consult our searchable knowledgebase at:
    http://www.antarestech.com/support/
index.html
  4.   Call your local Antares dealer. 
						

							


Chapter	2: 	Introducing 	Auto-Tune 	5
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 a “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 ProTools™ systems just to be able to run Auto-Tune.) 
In the intervening years, Auto-Tune established itself as the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction. Today, it’s used daily by thousands of audio professionals to save studio and editing time, ease the frustration of endless retakes, save that otherwise once-in-a-lifetime performance, or even to create unique special effects. 
Now, never content to leave a good thing alone, Antares has created Auto-Tune 5. Preserving the great sound quality, transparent processing, and ease of use of previous versions of Auto-Tune, Auto-Tune 5 adds significant new features as well as a sleek new user interface. 
So what exactly is Auto-Tune 5? 
Auto-Tune 5 is a precision tool for correcting intonation errors or creatively modifying the intonation of a performance. Auto-Tune 5 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 5, you should have a basic understanding of pitch and how Auto-Tune 5 functions to correct pitch errors. This chapter presents basic terminology and introduces Auto-Tune 5’s operating paradigm, giving you information you need to use it effectively. 
A little bit about pitch 
Pitch is typically 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 an earthquake) to the very specific (the exact pitch of a solo singer or violinist). There is, of course, a wide range of variation in the 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 5 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.). The sound that is thus generated can be graphically represented as a waveform (a graph of the sound’s pressure over time) that is periodic. This means that each cycle of waveform repeats itself fairly  
						

							


The twelve equally-spaced tones of the Equal Tempered Scale happen to contain a number of intervals that approximate integer ratios in pitch. The following table shows these approximations: 
INTERVAL CENTS NE ARBY R ATIO IN
   R ATIO  CENTS  
minor second 100  16/15  111.75  
major second  200  9/ 8  203.91  
minor third  300  6/5  315.64  
major third  400  5/4  386.31  
perfect fourth  500  4/ 3  498.04  
tritone   600  
perfect fifth  700  3/2  701.65  
minor sixth  800  8/5  813.69  
major sixth  900  5/ 3  884.36  
minor seventh  1000   16/ 9  996.09  
major seventh  1100   15/ 8 1088.27  
octave   1200  2  1200.00  
As you can see, the intervals in the Equal Tempered Scale are NOT equal to the harmonious integer ratios. Rather, the Equal 
Tempered Scale is a compromise. It became widely used because once a harpsichord or piano is tuned to that scale, any composition in any key could be played and no one chord would sound better or worse than that same chord in another key. 
exactly, as in the periodic waveform shown in the diagram below: 
Because of its periodic nature, this sound’s pitch can be easily identified and processed by Auto-Tune 5. 
Other sounds are more complex. This waveform: 
is of a violin section playing a single note in unison. Our ears still sense a specific pitch, but the waveform does not repeat itself. This waveform is a summation of a number of individually periodic violins. The summation is non-periodic because the individual violins are slightly out of tune with respect to one another. Because of this lack of periodicity, Auto-Tune 5 would not be able to process this sound. 
Some pitch terminology 
The pitch of a periodic waveform is defined as the number of times the periodic element 
repeats in one second. This is measured in Hertz (abbreviated Hz.). For example, the pitch of A3 (the A above middle C on a piano) is traditionally 440Hz (although that standard varies by a few Hz. in various parts of the world). 
Pitches are often described relative to one another as intervals, or ratios of frequency. For example, two pitches are said to be one octave apart if their frequencies differ by a factor of two. Pitch ratios are measured in units called cents. There are 1200 cents per octave. For example, two tones that are 2400 cents apart are two octaves apart. The traditional twelve-tone Equal Tempered Scale that is used (or rather approximated) in 99.9% of all Western tonal music consists of tones that are, by definition, 100 cents apart. This interval of 100 cents is called a semitone.  
						

							


How Auto-Tune 5 detects pitch 
In order for Auto-Tune 5 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 5 does exactly this: It looks for a periodically repeating waveform and calculates the time interval between repetitions. 
The pitch detection algorithm in Auto-Tune 5 is virtually instantaneous. It can recognize the repetition in a periodic sound within a few cycles. This usually occurs before the sound has sufficient amplitude to be heard. Used in combination with a slight processing delay (typically about 1 to 10 milliseconds), the output pitch can be detected and corrected without artifacts in a seamless and continuous fashion. (Although it must be kept in mind that some plug-in protocols introduce a certain amount of inherent and unpredictable delay.) 
Auto-Tune 5 was designed to detect and correct pitches up to the pitch C6. (If the input pitch is higher than C6, Auto-Tune 5 will occasionally interpret the pitch an octave lower. This is because it interprets a two cycle repetition as a one cycle repetition.) On the low end, Auto-Tune 5 will detect pitches as low as 25Hz (when the Bass Instrument Input Type is selected). This range of pitches allows intonation correction to be performed on virtually all vocals and instruments. 
Of course, Auto-Tune 5 will not detect pitch when the input waveform is not periodic. As demonstrated above, Auto-Tune 5 will fail to tune up even a unison violin section. But this can also occasionally be a problem with solo voice and solo instruments as well. Consider, for example, an exceptionally breathy voice, or a voice recorded in an unavoidably noisy environment. The added signal is non-periodic, and Auto-Tune 5 will have difficulty determining the pitch of the composite (voice + noise) sound. Luckily, there is a control (the Tracking control, discussed in Chapter 3) that will let Auto-Tune 5 be a bit more casual about 
what it considers “periodic.” Experimenting with this setting will often allow Auto-Tune 5 to track even noisy signals. 
How Auto-Tune 5 corrects pitch 
Auto-Tune 5 provides two separate and distinct ways to approach pitch correction: Automatic Mode and Graphical Mode. The basic functionality of each is described on the following pages.  
						

							
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Automatic Mode 
Auto-Tune 5’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. (The exact amount of correction is controlled by the Retune Speed and Humanize settings, described below and in Chapter 3.) 
ScalesThe heart of Automatic Mode pitch correction is the Scale. Auto-Tune 5 lets you choose from major, minor, chromatic or 26 historical, ethnic and micro-tonal scales. Individual scale notes can be bypassed, resulting in no pitch correction when the input is near those notes. Individual scale notes can also be removed, allowing a wider range of pitch correction for neighboring pitches. The scale can be detuned, allowing pitch correction to any pitch center. 
For added flexibility, you can also select the target pitches in real time via MIDI from a MIDI keyboard or a pre-recorded sequencer track.  
						

							


Retune SpeedAuto-Tune 5 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 infamous “Cher effect.” 
•   Slow Speed settings, on the other hand, 
are appropriate for longer notes where you want expressive pitch gestures (like vibrato) to come through at the output and for vocal and instrumental styles that are typified by gradual slides (portamento) between pitches. An appropriately selected slow setting can leave expressive gestures intact while moving the average pitch to the correct tonal center. 
Vibrato Auto-Tune 5 allows real-time adjustment of the depth of any natural vibrato present in the input. 
Auto-Tune 5 can also add a vibrato to an input that does not naturally exhibit one. You can program the vibrato rate along with individual vibrato depths for pitch, amplitude (loudness) and formant (resonant frequencies). You can also specify delayed vibrato with independently programmable onset delay and onset rate. 
By combining a fast Retune Speed setting with Auto-Tune 5’s Vibrato settings, you can even remove a performer’s own vibrato and replace it with Auto-Tune 5’s programmed vibrato, all in real time. Also, unusual combinations of Vibrato Waveform, Rate and Depth settings can be used for some interesting special effects. 
An Example of Automatic Mode Correction As an example, consider this before-and-after graphic representation of the pitch of a vocal phrase that contains both vibrato and expressive gestures. 
In the original performance, we can see that although the final note should be centered around D, the vocalist allowed the tail of the note to fall nearly three semitones flat. The “after” plot is the result of passing this phrase through Auto-Tune 5’s Automatic Mode programmed to a D Major Scale (with C# and B set to ”Remove”) and a Retune Speed setting of 25. That Retune Speed causes the pitch center to be moved to D, while still retaining the vibrato and expressive gestures. (Setting C# and B to ”Remove” is necessary to keep Auto-Tune 5 from trying to correct the seriously flat tail of the last note to those pitches. See Chapter 3 for more details.) 
10.010.511.0
D3
B2
ORIGINA LPERFORMANCE
CORRECT ED BY AUTO-TUNE 5
C #3 
						

							


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. 
As in Automatic Mode, the rate of change towards the desired pitch is controlled by the Retune Speed control. 
The key feature of Graphical Mode is the Pitch Graph display. On this display, the vertical axis represents pitch (with higher notes towards the top) while the horizontal axis represents time. 
The red curve represents the original pitch contour of the input track, while the desired target pitch or pitch contour is indicated in blue. 
The horizontal grid lines represent scale pitches. The key annotation, scale name, scale pitches and Scale Detune value are those defined in the Automatic Mode. 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. If you wish to change them, you can select the Automatic Mode and change the Key pop-up, Scale pop-up, or the Scale Detune setting, respectively. (Changing the Scale Detune setting will also result in the scale pitch graph lines moving up or down relative to the tracked pitch.) Then, return to Graphical Mode.  
						

							


The Graphical Mode also includes the Envelope Graph, which displays the amplitude (loudness) envelope of the sound whose pitch is shown in the Pitch Graph. The horizontal scale of this graph will either 1) show the envelope of the entire extent of the pitch-detected sound or 2) align with the horizontal scale and position of the Pitch Graph above it. 
In Graphical Mode, you can draw the desired target pitches using line and curve drawing tools or selectively modify the existing pitch contours. Complete image scaling and scrolling controls are provided. A graphical editor allows easy editing, including cut, copy and paste functions. 
The basic steps you will perform in Graphical Mode are: 
•  In your host application, select some sound 
for processing. 
•   Bring up Auto-Tune 5. Set the buffer length 
to at least the number of seconds from the beginning of the track to the end of the audio you are going to tune. Press the Track Pitch button, then play back the audio. The pitch will be detected and then displayed in the Pitch Graph as a red curve. 
•   When you have tracked all the audio you 
want to correct, click the Track Pitch button again to exit Track Pitch mode.
•   Create a target pitch function using the 
graphical tools and adjust the Retune Speed for the desired effect. 
•   Play back the track. The pitch will be 
corrected as specified.