Antares AutoTune user manual

 
Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
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CHAPTER 2
 
Introducing Auto-Tune
 
Auto-Tune is a breakthrough in digital signal processing (DSP) in the music
industry. It puts you in control of pitch. Moreover, Auto-Tune is a precision
instrument for controlling pitch, allowing you to apply nuances of intona-
tion to any performance. These nuances were only previously available to
synthesized music if the engineer involved was willing to do a lot of work.
Access to this new level of control is achieved by any...

 
Introducing Auto-Tune
 
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Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
function of time) that is periodic. This means that the waveform repeats
itself, such as the periodic waveform shown in the diagram, below.
Other sounds are more complex. The non-periodic waveform, above, is
from a violin section playing a single tone. Our ears still sense a pitch, but
the waveform does not repeat itself
This non-periodic violin section is a summation of a number of individually
periodic violins. The summation is non-periodic...

 
Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
13
 
The Purpose of Pitch Correction
 
The twelve-tone Equal Tempered Scale consists of tones that are, by deÞni-
tion, 100 cents apart. These are called semi-tones. This scale is the ubiqui-
tous scale used (or rather approximated) in 99.9% of all Western tonal
music. The twelve equally-spaced tones of the Equal Tempered Scale hap-
pen to contain a number of intervals that approximate integer ratios in
pitch. The following table shows these approximations: 
As you can see,...

 
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Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
restores the performance. Auto-Tune is mostly used to solve these gross
intonation problems. However, as you shall see, Auto-Tune is also a preci-
sion instrument, allowing intonation to be controlled to extraordinary
degrees of accuracy. This allows the tonal aspects of music to be controlled
accurately and easily to achieve any desired consonance or dissonance in
harmonies.
Dont try to raise the pitch more than an octave. Auto-Tune has a...

 
Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
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How Auto-Tune Corrects Pitch
 
and Auto-Tune will have difÞculty determining the pitch of this sound.
There is a slider (the Tracking slider, discussed in Chapter 4) that will allow
Auto-Tune to be more casual about what it calls ÒperiodicÓ, which will help
in these cases.
If you have problems processing a particular sound, zoom it up and look at
it. If it is non-periodic, Auto-Tune will not work. If you can correct that
problem, by using EQ or re-recording, then those...

 
Introducing Auto-Tune
 
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Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
The accuracy of pitch correction in Auto-Tune is exceptional. In the worst
case, a continuously varying tone can be corrected (at the discretion of the
user) to within an error of at most one cycle in 80 seconds (assuming the
Retune slider is set to zero). These accuracies are equivalent to the .01 cent
accuracies by which the various scales of the Automatic Mode (discussed
below) are internally speciÞed. These accuracies are also equivalent to...

 
Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
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The Automatic Mode
 
Major, minor, chromatic and 26 historical, ethnic and microtonal scales pro-
vide unprecedented control of the output tonality. Scale pitches can be dis-
abled causing no pitch correction. Scale pitches can also be removed
allowing a wider range of pitch correction for neighboring pitches. The
scale can be de-tuned, allowing pitch correction to any pitch center. You
also choose the key of the scale.
You have control over how rapidly, in time, the...

 
Introducing Auto-Tune
 
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Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
square).You would use the Vibrato Section when you have a vocalist who
has not learned to use his (or her) own vibrato. It can also be used for spe-
cial sound design effects.
A fast pitch adjustment to remove an existing vibrato can be used in con-
junction with the Vibrato Section to replace a vibrato with a new one. This
will not always give good results, though, (as discussed in Chapter 3),
because there are usually accompanying changes in the...

 
Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
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The Graphical Mode
 
get pitch functionÓ. As in Automatic Mode, the rate of change towards the
desired pitch (the target pitch function) is controlled by the Retune slider.
The Graphical Mode uses the Pitch Graph:
In this graph, higher pitches are upwards and increasing time is to the right.
The lighter (red) curve is the input sound pitch and the darker line is a tar-
get pitch function. The light, horizontal lines are scale pitches. The key
annotation, scale names,...

 
Introducing Auto-Tune
 
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Auto-Tune UserÕs Manual
 
In Graphical Mode, the user draws the target pitch function using line and
curve drawing tools. Complete image sizing and scrolling controls are pro-
vided. A graphical editor allows easy editing, including cut, copy and paste
functions. 
The basic steps you will perform in Graphical Mode are:
 
¥
 
Select some sound for processing. This is done in the Soundbites win-
dow.
 
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Bring up Auto-Tune. Set the buffer for a few seconds longer than the...