Auto-Tune Live ® Ultra Low Latency Pitch Correction and Auto-Tune Vocal Effect Owner’s Manual 1
©2012 Antares Audio Technologies. All rights reserved. Certified Isinglass-free™ All trademarks are property of their respective owners. www.antarestech.com Printed in USA Rev 1.
The Obligatory Legal Mumbo-Jumbo The Antares Auto-Tune Live software and this User’s Manual are protected by copyright law. Making copies, adaptations, or derivative works without the prior written authorization of Antares Audio Technologies, is prohibited by law and constitutes a punishable violation of the law. Antares Audio Technologies retains all ownership rights to the Auto-Tune Live software and its documentation. Use of Auto-Tune Live is limited by the following license agreement.
Term of the Agreement This agreement is effective until terminated by you or Antares. You may terminate the agreement at any time by notifying Antares and destroying all copies of the manual, and erasing Auto-Tune Live from all machinereadable media, whether on-line or on archival copies. In the event of breach of any of the terms of this agreement, you shall pay the attorney’s fees of Antares that are reasonably necessary to enforce the agreement plus resulting damages.
Contents 1 Chapter 1 Getting Started Installing and Authorizing Technical Support 07 07 08 Chapter 2 Introducing Auto-Tune Live Some background So what exactly is Auto-Tune Live? A little bit about pitch How Auto-Tune Live detects pitch How Auto-Tune Live corrects pitch Formant Correction Latency 10 10 10 11 13 14 16 17 Chapter 3 Auto-Tune Live Controls 18 Chapter 4 Auto-Tune Live Tutorials 1: Pitch Correction Basics 2: Targeting Ignores Vibrato Function 3: Natural Vibrato Function 40 40 42 43
Welcome! O On behalf of everyone at Antares Audio Technologies, we’d like to offer both our thanks and congratulations on your decision to purchase Auto-Tune Live, an ultra low latency version of the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction and manipulation optimized for real time operation and control. Before you proceed any farther, we’d like to strongly encourage you to register and authorize your copy of Auto-Tune Live.
Chapter 1: Getting Started I If you are new to Auto-Tune, we encourage you to read this manual and work through the tutorials in Chapter 4. It’s the quickest way to become familiar with what Auto-Tune Live does and how it does it. If you’ve used or are currently using a fairly recent version of Auto-Tune’s real time Automatic Mode, you will find that what you’re already doing will continue to work in Auto-Tune Live, only with minimal latency and with MIDI control of all the key parameters.
Authorizing Auto-Tune Live Authorization is the process by which Auto-Tune Live 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 Live before you can run it in your host. If you plan to follow along with the manual (a good idea), go do it now.
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Chapter 2: Introducing Auto-Tune Live I 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.
To take maximum advantage of the power of Auto-Tune Live’s pitch correction functions, you should have a basic understanding of pitch and how Auto-Tune Live functions to correct pitch errors. This chapter presents basic terminology and introduces Auto-Tune Live’s operating paradigm, giving you the background you need to use it effectively. A little bit about pitch Pitch is traditionally associated with our perception of the “highness” or “lowness” of a particular 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.
How Auto-Tune Live detects pitch In order for Auto-Tune Live 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 Live does exactly this: It looks for a periodically repeating waveform and calculates the time interval between repetitions.
How Auto-Tune Live corrects pitch Auto-Tune Live 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.
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 Live’s Vibrato settings, you can even remove a performer’s own vibrato and replace it with Auto-Tune Live’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.
Formant Correction and Throat Modeling 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.
Latency Due to the nature of how Auto-Tune works, along with differences in the various hosts, who all add their own bit of latency during tracking, it’s impossible to state an absolute Auto-Tune Live latency specification. However, in our tests of Auto-Tune Live in major hosts, latency was consistently undetectable when tracking live with vocals.
Chapter 3: Auto-Tune Live Controls T This chapter is a reference for all of the controls used in the Auto-Tune Live interface. How these controls are used together for pitch correction is demonstrated in Chapter 4, Auto-Tune Live Tutorials. Continuous Controls Auto-Tune Live’s continuous controls are represented graphically as virtual knobs. Depending on your preference, you can control knobs by linear or radial mouse movement. Set your preference in the Options dialog described below.
Input Type As a result of Antares’ research into the unique characteristics of various types of audio signals, Auto-Tune Live offers a selection of optimized processing algorithms for the most commonly pitch-corrected inputs. Choices include Soprano Voice, Alto/Tenor Voice, Low Male Voice, Instrument, and Bass Instrument. Matching the appropriate algorithm to the input results in even faster and more accurate pitch detection and correction.
Select Pitch Reference Auto-Tune Live provides the ability to pitch correct stereo tracks while maintaining the tracks’ phase coherence. (Refer to your host application’s manual for instructions on assigning a plug-in to a stereo track.) Click the appropriate button to select which of the two stereo tracks (left or right) Auto-Tune Live will use as a pitch reference. NOTE: If there is a marked difference in the two tracks, pick the cleanest, most isolated track.
Auto-Tune Live comes with 29 preprogrammed scales. The first three equal-tempered scales, chromatic, major, and minor, are the ubiquitous scales typically found in Western tonal music. The other scales are historical, ethnic, and micro-tonal scales. An in-depth discussion of these scales and their history is beyond the scope of this manual. The interested reader will find more information in Tuning In — Micro-tonality In Electronic Music by Scott R. Wilkinson, published by Hal Leonard Books.
The actual values represent the percentage change in the throat length. For example, a value of 120 represents a 20% increase in throat length, while a value of 70 represents a 30% decrease in throat length. Note: This control is only active when Formant Correction is engaged. When Formant Correction is not engaged, this control is disabled (grayed out).
Options Clicking the Options button will bring up a window containing a number of settings that fall into the “set and forget” category.
Knob Control Lets you select how you want to control the virtual “knobs” in the Auto-Tune Live interface. • Linear Position the cursor over a knob, press and hold the left mouse button (or the only mouse button, if you’re using a one-button mouse) and move the cursor up or to the right to turn the knob clockwise or down or to the left to turn the knob counterclockwise. The current value of the knob’s parameter appears in its associated numeric display.
MIDI Input Channel This control lets you select the MIDI channel to which Auto-Tune Live responds. The choices are channels 1–16 or Omni (i.e., Auto-Tune Live will respond to messages on any MIDI channel). Additionally, you can select OFF, which turns off MIDI control, regardless of whether any controls are mapped in the section above. NOTE: Although these days virtually all major hosts allow the routing of MIDI to plug-ins, there may still be a few hosts lurking out there that do not support it.
The default Retune Speed value is 20. Double-clicking or Command (Mac)/ Control (PC) clicking the Retune Speed knob will reset it to that value. Humanize One situation that can be problematic is a performance that includes both very short notes and longer sustained notes. The problem is that in order to get the short notes in tune, you’d have to set a fast Retune Speed, which would then make any sustained notes sound unnaturally static. Luckily, the Humanize function easily solves this problem.
This function uses the same Stochastic Optimal Linear Estimation Theory as the Targeting Ignores Vibrato function (described below) to differentiate between vibrato and intended pitch changes, adjusting the vibrato depth while leaving intended pitch changes intact. The Natural Vibrato function acts independently of the pitch correction functions. Of particular note is the fact that setting a scale note or notes to Bypass still allows vibrato adjustment for those notes.
it doesn’t, it works pretty much the same way it would work if the function were ”Off.” The default state of this control is Off. When you’ve got a vibrato problem, try turning it on and see if it helps. The Edit Scale Display The Edit Scale Display is used to create custom scales or to modify any of the preset scales selected in the Scale popup. Edits made using this display are associated with each scale. That is, each scale retains its own edits independent of the other scales.
If the scale selected in the Scale popup contains exactly 12 notes (e.g., Chromatic, Pythagorean, Meantone Chromatic, Just, etc.), the Virtual Keyboard (see below) will be active and any edits to the scale notes made in the Edit Scale Display will also be reflected on the Virtual Keyboard. NOTE: Although Auto-Tune Live allows setting scale note behaviors in individual octaves, any edits made via the Edit Scale Display will affect all octaves. To edit notes in individual octaves, use the Virtual Keyboard.
D3 CORRECTED BY AUTO-TUNE LIVE C#3 ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE B2 10.0 10.5 11.0 This phrase is in D Major and, if all the pitch errors were no greater than about 49 cents, would work fine with a standard D Major scale (D, E, F#, G, A, B, C# ). However, the pitch error of three semitones at the end of the last note is so large that with B and C# present in the Scale, as the pitch fell, Auto-Tune Live would see first C# and then B as the target pitch and therefore allow the error to remain.
Set All Clicking this button sets all notes in the current scale to Scale Notes in all octaves. This function is useful as a Reset button to instantly erase all previous Remove and/or Bypass settings and reset an edited scale to its default state. Remove All Clicking this button sets all notes in the current scale to Remove in all octaves. Bypass All Clicking this button sets all notes in the current scale to Bypass in all octaves.
Keyboard Edit These buttons are used to select which state (Remove or Bypass) will be toggled when you click on a key. When Remove is selected, clicking on any key that is not currently set to Remove will set that key to Remove. Clicking on any key that is currently set to Remove will set that key to a Scale Note. When Bypass is selected, clicking on any key that is not currently set to Bypass will set that key to Bypass. Clicking on any key that is currently set to Bypass will set that key to a Scale Note.
Sample Rate Display This display indicates the sample rate of the current audio file as reported to Auto-Tune Live by the host application. NOTE: Auto-Tune Live is high sample rate compatible. If your host appli- cation and audio hardware are capable of dealing with up to 192 kHz files, Auto-Tune Live will process them correctly. However, it’s important to remember that high sample rate files require substantially more DSP power than 44.
Instance ID Some host applications assign numerical instance IDs to multiple instances of the same plug-in. If your host does this, the ID will appear in a small orange display below the Scale Edit Display. Instance IDs are useful when you are using any of Auto-Tune Live’s MIDI functions, as they allow you to be sure that you are routing the MIDI stream to the correct instance of Auto-Tune Live on the desired track.
When you have played the entire melody, press the Learn Scale From MIDI button again to end the process. The Edit Scale Display will now contain a scale containing only those notes that appeared in your melody. If you happen to have made an error during note entry, or want to try again for any other reason, simply click the Learn Scale From MIDI button and start the process again.
Octave As Played/All Octaves For both of the MIDI functions (Learn Scale from MIDI and Target Notes via MIDI), you can choose whether you want incoming MIDI notes to affect all octaves or just the notes in the specific octaves in which they are played. Simply click the desired button. The button will change color to blue to indicate your choice. Create Vibrato Functions The controls in this section are designed to add a synthesized vibrato to the input.
Rate Sets the rate of the vibrato over a range of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. The default Rate setting is 5.5 Hz. Double-clicking or Command (Mac)/Control (PC) clicking the Rate knob will reset it to that value. Variation Sets the amount of random variation that will be applied to the Rate and Amount parameters on a note to note basis. Useful for humanizing the vibrato by adding random “errors.” The range is from 0 (no variation) to 100 (maximum variation). The default Variation setting is 20.
Onset Example: As an example of the above parameters, assume an Onset Delay of 1000ms and an Onset Rate of 750ms. In that case, each time a new note starts there will be no vibrato at all for the first second (1000ms) followed by a 3/4 second (750ms) period during which the vibrato depths will increase from none to the full amounts set in the various Amount parameters — for a total of 1.75 seconds from the beginning of the note to the time full vibrato depth is reached.
ANOTHER NOTE: As mentioned above, although we perceive vibrato primarily as a variation in pitch, in most cases there is also matching (though more subtle) variations in amplitude and timbre. Setting Auto-Tune Live’s Retune Speed to 0 will remove an existing vibrato’s pitch variation, but the amplitude and timbral variation will remain. If you then apply a new vibrato using Auto-Tune Live’s Create Vibrato section, the results may be less than convincing.
Chapter 4: Auto-Tune Live Tutorials T This chapter introduces you to how Auto-Tune Live 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 Live, your will find the required files in the “Tutorial Audio” folder on the installation DVD ROM.
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. Play “A2-A3-A2 sweep” again. You will now hear the effect of not correcting the E.
Tutorial 2: Targeting Ignores Vibrato Function This tutorial will demonstrate the purpose and use of Auto-Tune Live’s Targeting Ignores Vibrato function. Begin the tutorial by doing the following: 1. Load or import “wide_vibrato” into a track of your host program. This is a recording of a male voice singing a sustained “G” with a pronounced vibrato. Play the track so that you are familiar with the original audio.
Tutorial 3: Natural Vibrato Function This tutorial will demonstrate the use of the Natural Vibrato function using the same audio file we used in the previous tutorial. Begin the tutorial by doing the following: 1. Load or import “wide_vibrato” into a track of your host program. This is a recording of a male voice singing a sustained “G” with a pronounced vibrato. Play the track so that you are familiar with the original audio. 2. Set up Auto-Tune Live to be an insert effect on that track. 3.
Chapter 5: The Auto-Tune Vocal Effect I In addition to its adoption as the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction, Auto-Tune has also gained renown as the tool of choice for what has become one of the signature vocal sounds of our time. Since there seems to be a lot of mythology about how it’s accomplished, we thought we’d provide the official Antares version here. What is it? Quite simply, the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect is what is technically known as “pitch quantization.
5. Don’t forget your host’s Bypass function. Limiting the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect just to specific phrases can provide sonic contrast in your song.
Chapter 6: The Auto-Tune Live Scales T The following are brief descriptions of the scales available in Auto-Tune Live: MODERN EQUAL TEMPERAMENT These first three equal-tempered scales are the ubiquitous scales typically found in Western tonal music: Major: A seven-tone equal tempered major scale. Minor: A seven-tone equal tempered minor scale. Equal Tempered chromatic: A twelve-tone equal tempered chromatic scale. HISTORICAL TUNINGS Ling Lun: A twelve-tone scale dating from 2Live00 B.C. China.
Vallotti & Young chromatic: A twelve-tone scale. Another derivative of the Pythagorean scale designed to allow arbitrary keys. Barnes-Bach (chromatic): A twelve-tone scale. A variation of the Vallotti & Young scale designed to optimize the performance of Bach’s WellTempered Clavier. ETHNIC TUNINGS Indian: This 22-tone scale is used in India to perform ragas. Slendro: This five-tone Indonesian scale is played by ensembles called gamelans.
Carlos Alpha: Wendy Carlos performed extensive computer analysis to devise a number of equal tempered scales with good approximations for the primary harmonic intervals and their inversions. This scale is good at approximating the primary intervals including Live/4. This scale divides the octave into 15.385 steps forming intervals of Live8.0 cents. Carlos Beta: This scale divides the octave into 18.809 steps forming intervals of 63.8 cents.
Index A Amplitude Amount 38 Antares Audio Technologies 2 Auto-Tune Vocal Effect 44 B Bypass 25, 29 Why set Scale notes to “Bypass?” 29 Bypass All 31 C Cents 30 Continuous Controls 18 Controls Bypass 25 Continuous Controls 18 Edit Scale Display 28 Formant Correction 22 Input Type 19 Key Selection 20 Options 23 Pitch Correction Functions 25 Sample Rate Display 33 Scale Detune 21 Scale Selection 20 Select Pitch Reference 20 Targeting Ignores Vibrato 27 Throat Length 21 Tracking 19 Virtual Keyboard 31 copyrig
L R Latency 17 Learn Scale From MIDI 34 Rate 37 Remove 29 Why set Scale notes to “Remove?” 29 Remove All 31 Retune Speed 25 M MIDI Control Assignments 24 MIDI Functions 33 Instance ID 34 Learn Scale From MIDI 34 Octave As Played/All Octaves 36 Target Notes Via MIDI 35 MIDI Input Channel 25 N Natural Vibrato 26 O Octave As Played/All Octaves 36 Onset Delay 37 Onset Rate 37 Options 23 Knob Control 24 MIDI Control Assignments 24 MIDI Input Channel 25 Save as default 25 P Pitch Amount 38 Pitch Change Amo
