Antares AutoTune 8 user manual

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When performing time compression, Auto-Tune 8 needs to process the audio at faster than real time. At the limit of 10:1, audio must be processed at ten times it’s normal rate. Our tests have shown that computers that meet our published system requirements can accomplish this in most cases, but it’s important to keep in mind that if your session is particularly complex, with many tracks and lots of other potentially processor-hungry plug-ins all running at once, even the fastest computer may have trouble keeping up. 
To alert you to any data access problems, the Data File Status indicator will light red anytime Auto-Tune 8 is unable to read data from its disk file in the time available. If this happens, you should consider the following options:
• Listen carefully to the point in your audio where the Data File Status indicator lights red. Very much like a VU meter’s clip light, not every instance will result in an audible problem. If you can’t hear anything wrong, you can safely ignore it.
• Decrease the amount of time compression by a tiny bit. If you’re right on the edge of your computer’s capability, an extremely small change can eliminate the problem.
• Temporarily simplify your session (mute other tracks, bypass other plug-ins) and render or bounce or your time edits to a new track.
• Since data access depends on everything going on at any particular time in your session, for cases that are on the edge of your computer’s capability, it’s possible that the Data File Status indicator might light red on one pass, but not on another. It’s always worthwhile just playing the track again to see if Data File Status red indication was a one-time anomaly.
• Buy a faster computer. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to upgrade, the Data File Status indicator may be your ticket to that hot new Mac or PC you lust after.
Tr a c k   P i t c h   +   T i m e
The process of tracking pitch and time is very much like that of simply tracking pitch alone. The only di(erence is that in addition to normal pitch tracking, Auto-Tune 8 also makes a recording of the actual audio to be processed. 
To track pitch and time, locate the desired audio and press the Track Pitch + Time button. (If you are using Auto-Tune 8’s Internal clock, you may (depending on your host) need to click the Reset button to reset the clock position to 00:00:0.) The Track Pitch + Time button will flash blue and red to indicate that Auto-Tune is in Track Pitch + Time mode.
Next, start playback of the audio. A graphic representation of the pitch and its amplitude envelope will be drawn to the display as the audio plays. When all of the audio you want to correct has played, stop playback. You will exit Track Pitch + Time mode and, if you have Auto-Scroll enabled, the Pitch Graph will automatically scale in such a way as to include all of the tracked audio. If you have not enabled Auto-Scroll, no scaling will occur. 
In addition, the central horizontal axis of the Envelope Display will turn red to indicate the range of audio that has been recorded and is available for time shifting.
NOTE: If you are using Auto-Tune 8’s Internal Clock, after stopping playback in your host, you must click the clock Reset button to stop Auto-Tune 8’s transport and return you to the beginning of your tracked region.
ANOTHER NOTE: Although tracking time does not involve the Bu!er Size setting in the Options dialog, tracking pitch (which happens simultaneously) does. Consequently, if the length of the audio to be processed exceeds the currently set Bu!er Size (or your start point lies beyond the current bu!er area), tracking of both pitch and time will stop when the bu!er is full and a warning message will appear notifying you of that fact. If this happens, increase the bu!er size as necessary. 
						

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YET ANOTHER NOTE: Be cautious about changing the Tracking value after performing the Track Pitch + Time function. Auto-Tune 8 uses the Tracking setting during both the Track Pitch + Time function and while correcting pitch. Changing the Tracking setting after Tracking Pitch + TIme, but before correcting, may result in unpredictable pitch modifications or strange artifacts.
The Pitch Graph Display
In the process of time shifting, the articulation and transient profile of your audio is typically more relevant than its pitch contour. For that reason, you can choose to have the amplitude envelope of the tracked audio be displayed as a background element of the Pitch Graph Display. This makes it much easier to accurately select the desired regions for time shifting and to select the individual points in time to shift. 
To display the amplitude envelope, check “SHOW ENVELOPE IN MAIN GRAPH” in the Options window
The Envelope Graph Display
In addition to its traditional functions, in Auto-Tune 8 the Envelope Graph Display provides key visual feedback on the time shifting process. Here’s how:
Tr a c ke d   T i m e   I n d i c a t i o n
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 available for time editing. This indication is always visible, whether time control is currently enabled or not.
Time Control Enabled Indication
When Time Control is active (via the Time Control Enable button described below), the display is divided horizontally into two envelope graphs, the original and edited. When Time control is not active, only a single envelope (the original audio’s envelope) is displayed
Real-Time Time Shift 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 display will show both the original audio (in the lower portion of the graph) and the time-shifted audio (in the upper portion). As you make time shift edits in the main Pitch Graph Display, you will see the upper envelope update in real time. This makes it extremely easy to visualize your time edits in the context of the original audio. 
						

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Time Control Functions
The Time Control section provides time edit control functions that are independent of the pitch edit controls described earlier.
The Enable Button
The Enable function is an easy way to quickly compare the e(ect of all of your current time edits to your original audio.
When this button is blue, time shifting is active. You will hear all of your current edits and are free to make new edits. When it is gray, time shifting is inactive. You will hear only your original audio and no time editing is possible. Click the button to toggle its state.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Using this button to disable time control does not delete any of your previous edits, it simply disables them. If you subsequently re-enable time control, all of your edits will once again become active. 
The Undo Button
The Undo button becomes active whenever you make any time edit. Clicking the Undo button once will undo the most recent edit. If you have made multiple edits, you can continue to click Undo to undo additional edits up to the limit that you set in the Options dialog.
The Redo Button
The Redo button becomes active whenever you have executed at least one time edit Undo. Clicking the Redo button once will redo the most recent undone edit. If you have executed multiple undos, you can continue to click Redo to redo additional edits up to the limit that you set in the Options dialog.
The Clear All Button
Clicking the Clear All button clears all time edits from the track, essentially restoring the timing of the original audio.
NOTE: Unlike the Clear All function described in the Pitch Editing Tools section, the Time Control Clear All function does not delete any tracked data, only time edits. 
ANOTHER NOTE: Also unlike the Clear All function described in the Pitch Editing Tools section, the Time Control Clear All function is undoable, so there’s no dire warning message when you click it. If you inadvertently clear all your edits, don’t panic. Just click the Time Control Undo button and all will be well again.
Time Edit Tools
Auto-Tune 8’s time manipulation functions provide an enormous amount of power over the timing of your audio. But, along with power and flexibility, one of our key design objectives was to make the time shifting process extremely easy to use. 
To that end, we’ve designed all of that power into two context-sensitive editing tools that simply do what you need them to do when you need them to do it. As a result, Auto-Tune 8’s time manipulation process is smooth and intuitive, never breaking your creative flow with the need to switch tools or remember some command key to temporarily change function. 
Here are the details:
The Move Point Tool
The Move Point Tool allows you to select a range of audio and then move a point within that range forward or backward in time, compressing and expanding the audio around it. 
The Move Point Tool is context sensitive. That is, it changes function (from selection to moving) depending on what lies beneath it on the screen. As you move the tool around the screen, its cursor icon will change to indicate its current function.
The Move Point Tool is typically used to edit a note, word, or phrase in which you want to correct the timing of one point while leaving other key points unchanged. Examples might include:
• A note, word, or phrase that begins at the correct time, but ends either early or late.
• Conversely, a note, word, or phrase that begins early or late, but ends at the correct time. 
						

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• A note, word, or phrase that both begins and ends at the correct times, but whose internal articulation you would like to edit.
Using the Move Point Tool is a two step process:
 1. Select the audio range you wish to operate on.
 2. Select the point within that range that you want to shift and move it forward or backward as desired. 
The Move Point Tool operates as a combination I-beam selection tool and time shifting tool as follows:
• Whenever the cursor is over an area that is not located in an existing range selection (either because there is no current range selection or because it is outside the area of an existing range), it appears as an I-beam and clicking and dragging the mouse will select a new range.
• Whenever the cursor is over an area that IS located in an existing range selection, it changes to the Move Point cursor and clicking on a point and dragging performs a time shift, moving the selected point and compressing and expanding the audio within the selected range. 
• Whenever the cursor is over an area where audio has not been tracked by the Track Pitch + Time function, the cursor changes to the universal “No” icon to indicate that time shifting is not possible at that point. 
NOTE: When in selection mode (i.e., when the cursor icon is the I-Beam), the resulting selection is applicable to time shifting only. Selections for the purpose of pitch correction are made by the dedicated I-Beam tool described earlier in this chapter.
ANOTHER NOTE: You will find that the envelope display in the Pitch Edit Graph provides a useful reference for selecting the initial range and exactly the right point to move.
YET ANOTHER NOTE: When selecting and moving a point, the vertical position of the cursor has no e!ect. Only the horizontal position counts.
Examples of Using the Move Point Tool
The quickest way to become familiar with the time edit tools is to run through the tutorials in Chapter 4. But if you’re not currently near your computer, the following examples should give you a good idea of how you’ll typically use the Move Point Tool in your projects.
For a note, word, or phrase that begins at the correct time, but ends either early or late:
 1. Use the Move Point Tool to select a range that extends from the exact beginning of the note, word, or phrase past its end. 
NOTE: How far past the end you select depends a lot on what follows the note, word, or phrase to be edited. If there is silence, select as much of the silence as you need to be able to move the endpoint to its desired location. If there is more audio, keep in mind that in order to move your endpoint, you will also end up stretching or compressing some of the following audio. The exact selection amount will vary depending on the nature of your audio. Undo is your friend.
 2. Within the range selected in Step 1, place the cursor exactly on the end of the note, word, or phrase and move it to the desired location. 
For a note, word, or phrase that begins early or late, but ends at the correct time, simply use Steps 1 and 2 as described above, but select a range that extends from the end of the note, word, or phrase to before its beginning. Then select the exact beginning and move it to the desired location
For a note, word, or phrase that both begins and ends at the correct times, but whose internal articulation you would like to edit:
 1. Use the Move Point Tool to select a range that extends exactly from the beginning of the note, word, or phrase to its end. 
 2. Select the point within the range that you would like to edit and move it to the desired location.  
						

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The Move Region Tool
The Move Region tool is designed for moving notes, words, or phrases in their entirety while preserving the timing of the moved element. 
NOTE: For clarity, in the following descriptions, a “range” is defined as the overall range of audio that you will be working with, while a “region” refers to the audio within that range that you wish to move.
As with the Move Point Tool, you first select a range of audio. Then, instead of moving a single point, you select the region within your initial selection that you want to move. You then move that region, again compressing and expanding the audio around it.
The Move Region Tool is also context sensitive. It changes function (from initial range selection to region selection to moving) depending on what lies beneath it on the screen. As you move the tool around the screen, its cursor icon will change to indicate its current function.
Using the Move Point Tool is a three step process:
 1. Select the audio range you wish to operate on.
 2. Select the region within that range that you wish to move.
 3. Click anywhere within that region and move it forward or backward as desired.
The Move Region Tool operates as a combination I-beam selection tool and time shifting tool as follows:
• Whenever the cursor is over an area that is not located within an existing range selection (either because there is no current range selection or because it is outside the area of an existing range), it appears as a standard (single) I-beam and clicking and dragging the mouse will select a new range.
• Whenever the cursor is over an area that IS located within an existing range selection, but NOT located within a previously defined region, the cursor appears as a double I-beam and clicking and dragging the mouse will create a new region within the existing range.
• Whenever the cursor is over an area that is located in a previously defined region, it changes to the Move Region cursor and clicking and dragging anywhere within the region will move the region in the desired direction, while compressing and expanding the areas between the ends of the region and the boundaries of the enclosing range.
• Whenever the cursor is over an area where audio has not been tracked by the Track Pitch + Time function, the cursor changes to the universal “No” icon to indicate that time shifting is not possible at that point. 
NOTE: When selecting and moving a region, the vertical position of the cursor has no e!ect. Only the horizontal position counts.
An Example of Using the Move Region 
To o l
As mentioned above, your best bet is the tutorial in Chapter 4, but here’s a quick example of using the Move Region Tool:
 1.  Use the Move Region Tool to select a range that extends far enough beyond either end of the note, word, or phrase (i.e., the region) you want to edit to allow you to move it to its desired location. 
NOTE: How far past the ends of the region you select depends a lot on what comes before and after it. If there is silence, select as much of the silence as you need to be able to move the region to its desired location. If there is more audio at either end, keep in mind that in order to move your region, you will also end up stretching or compressing some of the adjacent audio. The exact selection amount will vary depending on the nature of your audio. Once again, Undo is your friend. 
						

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 2. When you place the Move Region Tool cursor within the range selected in step 1, it will turn into the double I-Beam Select Region cursor. Use the Move Region Tool to select the region that you wish to move.
 3. When you place the Move Region Tool cursor within the region selected in step 2, it will turn into the Move Region cursor. Click and hold anywhere within the selected region and move it forward or backward in time as desired.
Tr a c k e d   D a t a   M a n a g e m e n t
To help manage the recorded audio data required for time shifting, Auto-Tune 8 provides a convenient Data File Management dialog that allows you to establish or move the location of the data files, rename the folder where they’re stored, as well as delete them if they are no longer necessary.
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.
Before getting to the details, here are some basic principles for managing your tracked audio data files:
• Most important: Unless you have a clear reason for doing so, do not move or rename any of Auto-Tune 8’s data files or the folders they are stored in without using the Data File Management Dialog described below. That is, don’t just find the files on your computer and manually change their names or move them to another location. This will cause Auto-Tune 8 to lose track of them. You will still be able to use the Data File Management Dialog to find them again, but it will be an unnecessary annoyance. 
• If you will be moving your project to a di(erent computer, you must copy all of the data files used by all instances of Auto-Tune 8 in the project and move them as well.
• If you will be making an archival copy of your project, copy all of the project’s Auto-Tune 8 data files and save them with the archive. 
• Each instance of Auto-Tune 8 that is used for time shifting will have its own data folder. So if, for example, you have instances of Auto-Tune 8 on five separate tracks in your project, you will have five data folders associated with that project which must be copied if the project is moved or archived. 
• Be sure to use the Data File Management Dialog’s ability to rename data file folders to make it easy to identify the project and track the data is associated with. This will save much time and hassle when you need to copy them for moving or archival purposes.
• Practice good data housekeeping. Once you no longer need particular data (because you’ve bounced or frozen a track or have finished and archived a project), use the Data File Management Dialog to delete it. This will prevent the messy build-up of large, useless files on your computer.
The Data File 
Management Button
Click this button to display the Data File Management dialog. 
If Auto-Tune 8 is unable to find previously recorded audio data at the location it expects, the Data File Management button will flash red to alert you to this problem. If this happens, click the button and the Data File Management dialog will appear with information that should help you locate the data (assuming it’s still around to be located).
The Data File Management Dialog
The various data management options available in the Data File Management Dialog are dependent on whether or not you have already tracked any audio using the Track Pitch + Time function and on whether or not Auto-Tune 8 has encountered any problem accessing data at an expected location. We’ll look at each of these situations in turn. 
						

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Before Tracking any Audio
If you instantiate Auto-Tune 8 on a track and use the Track Pitch + Time function to track some audio, a data folder for that instance will be automatically created at the default location for your computer and all data files created by that instance will be written to that folder. If that works for you (as it usually will), you needn’t take any other action. Just track and edit.
If, however, you specifically want to select a di(erent folder location (if, for example, you know you will be moving your project and want to have the data folder in the same location as your project file), call up the Data File Management Dialog before tracking any audio. You will see the following:
At the top of the dialog window you will see the default data folder location for your computer. To select a di(erent location:
• Click the “Setup Folder Location…” button (initially, all other buttons are disabled). A navigation window will appear. 
• Navigate to your desired location and click Choose. An alert message will confirm that you have changed the folder location. 
• Your new location will now be displayed at the top of the dialog window and the other dialog buttons will become active.
• Optionally, rename the data folder as described in the next section.
• Click “Close” to dismiss the Data File Management Dialog. 
• Save your session. (If you close your session without saving, your new folder location will not be retained the next time you open the session.)
NOTE: While the “Setup Folder Location…” function is only available before tracking any audio, if you initially track audio to the default folder location and later decide that you’d like to have it at a di!erent location, you can, at any time, simply use the “Move Data Files…” function described in the next section.
After Tracking Audio
Once you have tracked some audio using the Track Pitch + Time function, calling up the Data File Management Dialog will result in something like this:
Here’s what you can do:
Find Data Folder…
This function is typically used in a situation where Auto-Tune 8, for some reason, is unable to find data files where it expects to find them. That situation is covered below in the “If There’s a Problem” section.
There is, however, an extremely unlikely but not entirely impossible situation where Auto-Tune 8 thinks it is pointing at the correct data folder, but actually isn’t. This would most likely be the result of manually copying and/or renaming data files and/or folders (yet another reason for not doing that). 
						

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The symptoms of this situation are pretty unmistakable. When you play your track, you will hear audio from another place in the track, from another track, or from an entirely di(erent session. 
To correct the problem, click the “Find Data Folder…” button, dismiss the resulting alert, and navigate to the correct data folder.
Move Data Files…
To move the folder containing the data files to a new location:
• Click the “Move Data Files…” button. An alert message will appear (more about that in a bit). Assuming that you click “OK,” a navigation window will appear. 
• Navigate to your desired location and click Choose. An alert message will confirm that you have changed the folder location. 
• Your new location will now be displayed at the top of the dialog window.
About that alert message: Assume for a moment that you have created “Session 1” and tracked some audio in Auto-Tune 8. You save Session 1 and then do a “Save As…” to save a copy of Session 1 as “Session 1A.” 
At this point, both sessions are pointing at the same data folder. If, while in Session 1A, you move the data files, the next time you open Session 1, it will not find its data where it expects at the original location and will generate an error. In this case, you can simply use the “Find Data Folder…” function to point Session 1 at the new folder location.
Rename Folder
When Auto-Tune 8 creates a data folder, it gives it an initially incomprehensible-looking 14-digit default name that actually defines the date and time of its creation. The format is:
YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
So, getting out your secret decoder ring, a file named 20100910163309 will have been created at 4:33:09 PM on September 10, 2010.
For ease of data housekeeping, we recommend that you rename your data folders in such a way as it will always be clear which sessions and which tracks they belong to. Examples might include:
MyProject Track 3
MyProject Lead Vocal
To rename a data folder, simply type the new name in the folder name field and click the Rename Folder button. 
Delete All Data Files
It is important to note that deleting an instance of Auto-Tune 8 (after bouncing or freezing a processed track) will not automatically delete any associated data files. Similarly, deleting an entire session (after archiving it, for example) will not delete any data files associated with instances of Auto-Tune 8 in the session. 
As a result, if you take no action, data files that are no longer necessary will build up on your computer, needlessly taking up disk space.
You can, of course, delete such files manually, but doing so always carries the risk of accidentally deleting the wrong files (especially if you haven’t clearly renamed them as recommended above). 
A better practice is to get into the habit of using the Delete All Data Files function as the last thing you do before deleting an instance of Auto-Tune 8 or deleting an entire session (in which case you should use it in each instance of Auto-Tune 8 in the session).
Simply click the Delete All Data Files button, confirm that you’re sure, and you’re done.
When you have finished all your Data Management tasks, click “Close” to dismiss the dialog and immediately save your session. (If you close your session without saving, your changes will not be retained the next time you open the session.) 
						

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If There’s a Problem
As mentioned above, if Auto-Tune 8 is unable to find previously recorded audio data at the location it expects, the Data File Management button will flash red to alert you to this problem. If this happens, click the button and you will see something like this:
As you will note, the dialog includes the location at which it expected to find the data folder, along with the name of the folder it expected to find there.
Find Data Folder…
Assuming that the folder hasn’t been deleted (presumably accidentally), you will be dealing with one of the following situations:
• The folder was moved to a new location, either manually or by the “Move Data Files...” function used from another copy of the session that pointed to the same folder.
• The folder was renamed, again either manually or by the “Rename Data Folder” function used from a copy of the session that pointed to the same folder.
• A combination of the above two, i.e., the folder was both moved and renamed.
In any of these cases, the solution is to point Auto-Tune 8 at the correct folder, wherever it is and whatever it’s currently named. To do that:
• Click the Find Data Folder… button. A navigation window will appear. 
• Navigate to the correct data folder and click Choose. An alert message will confirm that you have selected the correct folder (or tell you if the selected folder is not the correct folder). 
• The correct folder location and folder name will now be displayed in the Data File Management dialog and all should be well.
Setup Folder Location…
If the worst has happened and the correct data folder has actually been permanently deleted, you will have to re-track your audio and remake any previous edits. To do that:
• Click the “Setup Folder Location…” button. Dismiss the resulting alert. A navigation window will appear. 
• Navigate to your desired location and click Choose. An alert message will confirm that you have set the new folder location. 
• Optionally, rename the data folder.
After either finding the existing data folder or creating a new one, click “Close” to dismiss the dialog and immediately save your session. (If you close your session without saving, your changes will not be retained the next time you open the session you will once again encounter the dreaded flashing red Data Management button.) 
						

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4: Auto-Tune 8 Tu t o r i a l s
This chapter introduces you to how Auto-Tune 8 works by guiding you through a number of brief tutorials. 
These tutorials make use of a number of audio files. (We will assume that you are familiar with loading audio files into your host application.) 
If you purchased a packaged version of Auto-Tune 8, your will find the required files in the “Tutorial Audio” folder on the installation DVD. 
If you purchased your copy of Auto-Tune 8 via download, you will have to separately download the Tutorial Audio files from the same web page from which you downloaded Auto-Tune 8. 
Tu t o r i a l  1:  
Automatic Mode Basics
This tutorial will guide you through the basic Automatic Mode functions using the file “A2-A3-A2 sweep.” This is a simple synthesized waveform sweeping slowly from A2 up to A3 and back to A2. While it is unlikely that you’d ever need to process such an input with Auto-Tune 8, it provides a very clear example of what each of the main Auto-Tune 8 controls do. 
Begin the tutorial by doing the following: 
 1. Load or import “A2-A3-A2 sweep” into a track of your host program. Play the track so that you are familiar with the original audio. 
 2. Set up Auto-Tune 8 to be an insert e(ect on that track. 
 3. Set Auto-Tune 8 to Automatic Mode. 
 4. Set the Key to “A” and the Scale to “Major.” 
 5. Set the Retune Speed to zero. 
 6. Set Correction Style to 0 (Classic).
 7. Set “A2-A3-A2 sweep” to loop continuously and put your host program into Play mode. 
What you will hear is an A major scale. This is because Auto-Tune 8 is continuously comparing the input pitch to the notes of the A major scale and instantaneously correcting the output pitch to the nearest of the scale tones. 
Now do the following: 
 1. In the Edit Scale Display, click the Remove buttons next to the notes B, D, F# and G#. 
 2. Play “A2-A3-A2 sweep” again. 
You will now hear an arpeggiated A Major triad because you have removed all the other notes from the scale. 
To continue: 
 1. In the Edit Scale Display, click the Bypass button next to E. 
 2. Set Correction Style to 0 (Classic).
 3. Play “A2-A3-A2 sweep” again. 
You will now hear the e(ect of not correcting the E. During the time that Auto-Tune 8 would normally be tuning the input to E, Auto-Tune 8 instead enters bypass mode and passes the input through uncorrected.