Antares AutoTune 8 user manual

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Installing Auto-Tune 8
Any unique instructions for installing Auto-Tune 8 for your specific host or plug-in format are located in the Auto-Tune 8 Read Me file that accompanies the plug-in. This file may also contain any last-minute Auto-Tune 8 information that didn’t make it into this manual. 
Auto-Tune 8 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 8 
Authorization is the process by which Auto-Tune 8 is allowed to permanently 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 DVD ROM or with your software download. 
NOTE: You will need to authorize Auto-Tune 8 before you can run it in your host. If you plan to follow along with the manual (a good idea), go do it now.
Technical Support 
In the unlikely event that you experience a problem using Auto-Tune 8, try the following: 
Make sure you have the latest version of the plug-in. You can download and install the latest version of Auto-Tune 8 from the following web page:
  http://www.antarestech.com/download/latest-software.php
If that doesn’t solve your problem, try the following:
 1. Consult our web-based support resources at:
  http://www.antarestech.com/support/
 2. Submit a question directly to our Customer Support department at:
  http://www.antarestech.com/support/ contact.php
 3. Join the Antares online User Forum. The User Forum is a place where Antares product users can gather to exchange information, compare notes, and get to know other Antares users from around the world. Check it out at:
  http://antarestech.invisionzone.com/
 4. For the quickest access to new developments, follow us on Twitter and “Like” our Facebook pages:
  http://twitter.com/AntaresAudio
  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Antares- Audio-Technologies/68524457680
  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auto- Tune/81891651280 
						

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2: Introducing Auto-Tune 8 
For pitch correction, Auto-Tune 8 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 8’s pitch correction functions, you should have a basic understanding of pitch and how Auto-Tune 8 functions to correct pitch errors. This chapter presents basic terminology and introduces Auto-Tune 8’s operating paradigm, giving you the background you need to use it e(ectively.
Later in the chapter, we’ll provide an overview of Auto-Tune 8’s 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 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 8 is designed to process have a very clearly defined quality of pitch. The sound generating mechanism of these sources is a 
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-Tu n e .)
In the intervening years, Auto-Tune has established itself as the worldwide standard in professional pitch and, as of Auto-Tune 7, time 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 e(ect of our time. 
Auto-Tune is, in fact, the world’s single largest-selling audio plug-in.
Now, well over a decade and a half after its introduction, Auto-Tune 8 introduces Flex-Tune™ pitch correction technology and establishes yet another new standard in natural real-time pitch correction.
So what exactly is Auto-Tune 8? 
Auto-Tune 8 is a precision tool for correcting intonation and timing errors or creatively modifying the intonation or rhythmic articulation of a performance.  
						

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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 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 8.
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 8 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 A4 (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 di(er 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. 
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   N EARBY  RATIO IN  
R AT I O   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  8 00  8 /5  813.69 
major sixth  9 00  5 /3  884.36 
minor seventh   1000  1 6/9  996.09 
major seventh   1100  15/8   1088.27 
octave   1 200  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.
How Auto-Tune 8 detects pitch
In order for Auto-Tune 8 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  
						

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repetitions of the waveform. Divide this time 
into one, and you have the frequency in Hertz. 
Auto-Tune 8 does exactly this: It looks for a 
periodically repeating waveform and calculates 
the time interval between repetitions.
The pitch detection algorithm in Auto-Tune 
8 is virtually instantaneous. It can recognize 
the repetition in a periodic sound within a few 
cycles. This usually occurs before the sound 
has su-cient amplitude to be heard. Used 
in combination with a very slight processing 
delay, 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 8 was designed to detect and 
correct pitches up to the pitch C6. (If the 
input pitch is higher than C6, Auto-Tune 8 
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 8 will detect pitches as low as 
25Hz (when the Bass Input Type is selected). 
This range of pitches allows intonation 
correction to be performed on virtually all 
vocals and instruments.
Of course, Auto-Tune 8 will not detect pitch 
when the input waveform is not periodic. As 
demonstrated above, Auto-Tune 8 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 8 will have di -culty 
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 8 be a bit more casual about 
what it considers “periodic.” Experimenting 
with this setting will often allow Auto-Tune 8 
to track even noisy signals. NOTE: The above description has
 been in pretty much every 
Auto-
Tune manual since the beginning.  While it is 
still true in the general case, it must be noted 
that Auto-Tune 8 includes technology 
(originally introduced in Auto-Tune Evo) that 
does a much better job  with borderline 
troublesome material  than any prior version 
of Auto-Tune. 
H
ow Auto-Tune 8 corrects pitch  
Auto-Tune 8 
provides two separate and 
distinct ways to approach pitch correction: 
Automatic Mode and Graphical Mode. The 
basic 
functionality of each is described below.
A
utomatic Mode
Auto-Tune 8’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, and the amount of 
variation falls within the range set by the 
Correction Style 
control (described below), 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.) 
Scales 
The heart of Automatic Mode pitch correction 
is the Scale. 
Auto-Tune 8 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.  
						

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Retune Speed 
Auto-Tune 8 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 e(ect.
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. 
An Example of Classic 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. 
10.010.511.0
D3
B2
ORIGINALPERFORMANCE
CORRECTED BY AUTO-TUNE 8
C#3 
						

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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 8’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 general shape of the expressive gestures. (Setting C# and B to ”Remove” is necessary to keep Auto-Tune 8 from trying to correct the seriously flat tail of the last note to those pitches. See Chapter 3 for more details.)
Flex-Tune 
New in Auto-Tune 8 is the Correction Style control. Other real-time pitch correction methods, including previous versions of Auto-Tune, are always pulling every note towards a scale note, in the process distorting any of the singer’s expressive vocal gestures. In contrast, Flex-Tune only provides correction when the vocalist approaches a scale note.  At all other times, they are free to sing with whatever vocal gestures best express their emotional connection to their song, secure in the knowledge that Auto-Tune 8 will pass them through, exactly as they are sung. 
The new Correction Style control lets you choose how close to the scale pitch the singer has to be for Auto-Tune 8 to apply correction. In the Classic position, correction is always applied. This results in the same style of correction as previous versions of Auto-Tune. As you move the control into the Flex-Tune range, the correction area around the scale note gets smaller and smaller until, at the extreme clockwise position, no correction will be applied at all.
An Example of Flex-Tune Correction
In this example, we first look at the plot of a vocal line with intricate vocal gestures processed with the Correction Style control set to 0 (classic Auto-Tune correction). As you can see, the scale notes are in tune, but the various gestures are distorted by also being pulled to the scale notes. 
This second plot shows the result of setting the Correction Style control to the Flex-Tune setting of 75. The vocal gestures are now reproduced exactly as they were sung.
Vibrato 
Auto-Tune 8 allows real-time adjustment of the depth of any natural vibrato present in the input. 
Auto-Tune 8 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 8’s Vibrato settings, you can even remove a performer’s own vibrato and replace it with Auto-Tune 8’s programmed vibrato, all in real time. Also, unusual combinations of Vibrato Waveform, Rate and Depth settings can be used for some interesting special e(ects. 
DISTORTEDGESTURES 
						

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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”).  
As in Automatic Mode, the rate of change towards the desired pitch is controlled by the Retune Speed control, but in Graphical Mode you can assign a di(erent Retune Speed to each individual correction object, ensuring that any pitch change is as natural (or as wacky) as you desire.
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. Depending on your host, you can resize the Graphical Mode window up to the limit of your monitor size.
On the Pitch Graph, the red curve represents the original pitch contour of the input track, while the desired target pitch or pitch contour (as defined by one of the three possible Correction Objects described below) is indicated in blue. The green curve displays the exact output pitch based on the current setting of the Retune Speed for each correction object. 
						

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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 a(ect the computations of the Graphical 
Mode in any way. They are merely a reference 
to guide you in setting the target pitches. 
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. 
To define the desired pitches, Graphical Mode 
provides three di (erent Pitch Correction 
Objects: Lines, Curves and Notes. You can 
draw desired target pitches using the Line and 
Curve drawing tools, selectively modify the 
existing pitch contours using the Make Curve 
function, or use Note Objects to display and 
modify the pitch of each individual target 
note. The di (erent Objects can be freely 
intermixed on a track to accomplish di (erent 
tasks, or just to allow you to work in whichever 
way feels easiest.
In addition, Auto-Tune 8 includes the ability 
to define target pitches using MIDI. Similar in 
concept to the Target Notes Via MIDI function 
in Automatic Mode, when tracking pitch in 
Graphical Mode, Auto-Tune 8 will record any 
MIDI note information routed to it (either 
from another MIDI track or live from a MIDI 
controller) and (optionally) display the data on 
the Pitch Graph Display. You can then use the 
Make Notes From MIDI function to convert 
the MIDI information into Note Correction 
Objects.
Complete image scaling and scrolling 
controls are provided, along with a selection 
of graphical tools which allow easy editing, 
including cut, copy and paste functions. 
Given the power of the tools, there is a huge 
variety of possible Graphical Mode workflows, 
but the basic steps you will typically perform 
in Graphical Mode are: •In your host application, select some sound 
for processing. 
•B ring up Auto-Tune 8. Set the bu (er length 
to at least the number of seconds from 
the beginning of the track to the end of 
the audio you are going to process. 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 work with, stop the transport to 
exit Track Pitch mode. 
•Define target pitches using any combination 
of Correction Objects (Lines, Curves or 
Notes) and the graphical tools and adjust 
each object’s Retune Speed and vibrato 
depth for the desired e (ect. 
•If desired, set a transposition interval, 
engage formant correction, or modify 
overall vocal character with the Throat 
Length control. Then use the Throat Length 
Adjust control to individually set the vocal 
timbre of each note.
•Play back the track. The pitch will be 
corrected or shifted as specified. 
Pitch Shifting, Formant Correction 
and Throat Modeling
Auto-Tune 8’s Pitch Shifting, Formant 
Correction, and master Throat Modeling 
functions are located in the common control 
area and available in both Automatic and 
Graphical Modes.
Pitch Shifting
In addition to any pitch correction applied by 
either Automatic or Graphical Mode, Auto-
Tune 8 provides a Transpose function that lets 
you shift the overall pitch of your performance 
over a two octave range (+/- an octave), 
selectable in precise semitone increments. 
In Automatic Mode, this transposition is 
accomplished in real time. 
In Graphical Mode, this function does not 
a( ect the Pitch Edit Display. It provides overall 
transposition on top of any pitch shifting 
accomplished with the graphical editing tools.  
						

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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. From there, the voice is propagated through the throat, the mouth and out through the lips. It is the shape of these structures that create the resonant characteristics that define your unique vocal identity.
When a vocal is pitch-shifted by large intervals without formant correction, not only is the pitch of sung notes shifted, but the formants are shifted as well. The resulting e(ect is not just of a person singing higher or lower notes, but of a person who is literally growing or shrinking (depending on the direction of the shift).  While this can be useful for producing singing chipmunks, it typically does not produce realistic pitch-shifting over ranges larger than a semitone or two.
Engaging Auto-Tune 8’s Formant Correction prevents the shifting of a voice’s resonant frequencies to ensure that its vocal characteristics are preserved over the pitch shift range.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Over the very small intervals usually associated with basic pitch correction, formant shifting is essentially inaudible and Auto-Tune’s classic pitch adjustment technology still provides the optimum results. Formant Correction is designed to be used with overall transposition or on tracks where notes are shifted by large intervals.
Throat Modeling
As mentioned above, the shape of a singer’s throat is a prime contributor to their vocal character. Auto-Tune 8’s Throat Length control lets you use Antares’ unique throat modeling technology to modify a voice’s character by passing it through a precise physical model of the human vocal tract.
Auto-Tune 8 also includes the ability in Graphical Mode to individually modify the throat modeling for each note or correction object, o(ering an entirely new level of creative control.
Time Shifting and Correction
We’ve designed Auto-Tune 8’s time control capabilities to 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.
Time Tracking
In order to do its time shifting magic, Auto-Tune 8 must first create a copy of the audio you wish to edit. This is accomplished with the Track Pitch and Time function. To help manage this audio data, we’ve provided a convenient Data File Management dialog that allows you to establish or move the location of the data files, rename their folder, as well as delete them if they are no longer necessary (after bouncing the final time-modified audio, for example).
The File Management System will also alert you if the data files are not where Auto-Tune 8 expects them to be and will provide information to help you find them.
Time Tools
Although allowing for an enormous amount of flexibility, Auto-Tune 8’s time shifting functions make use of two easy-to-use tools; the Move Point tool and the Move Region tool. 
The Move Point tool allows you to select a range of audio and pick any point in the range and move it forward or back in time, compressing and expanding the audio around it. 
						

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The Move Region tool is designed for moving notes, words, or phrases while preserving the timing of the moved element. As with the 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. As a result, the time manipulation process becomes smooth and intuitive, never breaking your creative flow with the need to switch tools or remember some command key to temporarily change function. 
The time functions also have their own Undo/Redo controls independent of the pitch correction controls and an Enable button that allows you to instantly switch between your original audio and your time shifted audio.
Enhanced Amplitude Envelope Display
To   h e l p   y o u   v i s u a l i z e   t h e   a(ects of your edits, whenever time control is enabled the Amplitude Envelope Display will display both the original audio (in the lower portion of the display) and the time-shifted audio (in the upper portion). Additionally, the display’s horizontal axis will turn red to indicate the ranges of audio that have been time-tracked, so you will always know which ranges are currently available for time editing.
Non-destructive Editing
Since Auto-Tune 8 works on a copy of your audio, time editing always leaves your original audio intact. At any point you can simply turn o( the Time Control Enable button to instantly return to your track’s original timing.