ANTARES Auto-Tune 5 Owner’s Manual

Auto-Tune 5

Pitch Correcting Plug-in

Owner’s Manual

Hi Five!

©2006 Antares Audio Technologies.
All rights reserved. Certified Isinglass-free™
All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Antares Audio Technologies
231 Technology Circle, Scotts Valley, California 95066 USA
www.antarestech.com
Printed in USA Rev 1.0 PN P23035-0906-M01

The Obligatory Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

The Antares Auto-Tune 5 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 5 software
and its documentation. Use of Auto-Tune 5 is
limited by the following license agreement.

Please carefully read all the terms and
conditions of this license agreement. At
the time of installation of the Auto-Tune 5
software you will be presented with a copy
of the agreement and asked whether or not
you agree to it. Continuing with the installation
process beyond that point constitutes such
agreement.

Auto-Tune 5 License Agreement

Antares Audio Technologies grants you a
non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use
Auto-Tune 5 under the terms and conditions
stated in this agreement. Use of Auto-Tune
5 indicates your agreement to the following
terms and conditions.

License

You may:

1. Use Auto-Tune 5 on only one computer
at a time. Transferring your license from
computer to computer requires the use of
an iLok USB smart key.

You may not:

1. Make copies of Auto-Tune 5 or of the
user manual in whole or in part except as
expressly provided for in this agreement.
Your right to copy Auto-Tune 5 and the
user manual is limited by copyright
law. Making copies, verbal or media
translations, adaptations, derivative works,

or telecommunication data transmission
of Auto-Tune 5 without prior written
authorization of Antares, is prohibited by
law and constitutes a punishable violation
of the law.

2. Make alteration or modifications to Auto­Tune 5 (or any copy) or disassemble or
de-compile Auto-Tune 5 (or any copy), or
attempt to discover the source code of
Auto-Tune 5.

3. Sub-license, lease, lend, rent, or grant
other rights in all or any portion of Auto­Tune 5 (or any copy) to others.

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 5 from all machine-readable
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.

Limited Warranty And Disclaimer

AUTO-TUNE 5 AND ACCOMPANYING
MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Antares Audio Technologies does not warrant
that the functions contained in the program will
meet your requirements. The entire risk as to
the use, quality, and performance of Auto-Tune
5 is with you.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED
WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS
WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL
RIGHTS. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER
RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM JURISDICTION
TO JURISDICTION.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL ANTARES BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF
DATA, LOST PROFITS OR OTHER SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR
INDIRECT DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE
USE OF AUTO-TUNE 5 OR ACCOMPANYING
MATERIALS. THIS LIMITATION WILL APPLY
EVEN IF ANTARES OR ITS AUTHORIZED
AGENT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. YOU
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE LICENSE FEE
REFLECTS THIS ALLOCATION OF RISK.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY
FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION
MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Whew! Now that that’s over, let’s get on to
the good stuff.

Contents

Chapter 1 Getting Started

What’s New in Auto-Tune 5 3
Installing and Authorizing 5
Technical Support 6

Chapter 2 Introducing Auto-Tune 5

Some background 7
A little bit about pitch 7
How Auto-Tune 5 detects pitch 9
How Auto-Tune 5 corrects pitch 9
Automatic Mode 10
Graphical Mode 12

Chapter 3 Auto-Tune 5 Controls

Common Controls 15
Automatic Mode Controls 18
MIDI Functions 23
Graphical Mode Controls 30
Pen Tablet Input 39

Chapter 4 Auto-Tune 5 Tutorial

Tutorial 1: Automatic Mode Basics 41
Tutorial 2: Targeting Ignores Vibrato Function 42
Tutorial 3: Natural Vibrato Function 43
Tutorial 4: MIDI Functions 44
Tutorial 5: Graphical Mode Basics 45
Tutorial 6: Precision 46
Tutorial 7: Make Curve Function 47
Tutorial 8: Import Auto Function 49

vi

Chapter 5 New Features Quick Start Guide 51
Chapter 6 Creative Applications 57

Welcome!

1

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 5, the
most powerful intonation correction tool in the
world. Before you proceed any farther, we’d
like to strongly encourage you to register and
authorize your copy of Auto-Tune 5. (You can
skip ahead to the Authorization and Installation
instructions on page 5. We’ll wait.) Also, if
you’re planning on discarding that lovely
Auto-Tune 5 box, it’s probably a good idea to
write down the serial number that appears
on the bottom of the box for future reference.
(The inside cover of this manual would be a
good place.)

As an Auto-Tune 5 owner, you are entitled
to receive notification of any software
upgrades, technical support, and advance
announcements of upcoming products. But
we can’t send you stuff unless we know who
and where you are. So please, register.

At Antares, we are committed to excellence
in quality, customer service, and technological
innovation. With your purchase of Auto-Tune
5, you have created a relationship with Antares
which we hope will be long and gratifying. Let
us know what you think. You can count on us
to listen.

Again, thanks.

The Whole Antares Crew

2

Chapter 1: Getting Started

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 5 does and how it does it.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Auto-Tune, you will find that

most of what you’re already doing will continue to work in Auto-Tune 5, only
better. To get up to speed quickly, just check out the new feature overview below and then refer to
the detailed New Feature Quick Start Guide in Chapter 5, which will tell you everything you need to
know to make use of Auto-Tune 5’s new capabilities.

What’s New in Auto-Tune 5

The following are the key new features that have been added in Auto-Tune 5:

General Features

• Improved pitch detection algorithm:

While Auto Tune’s patented pitch detection
technology has always provided unmatched
speed and accuracy, Auto-Tune 5 introduces
improvements in performance with marginal
quality (noisy, poorly isolated, etc.) audio.

•

A sleek new interface: As Auto-Tune’s
features have proliferated from version to
version, we have continually focused on
maintaining its ease of use. With Auto-Tune
5, we have undertaken a complete graphic
redesign. The result is both easy on the
eyes and logically groups related controls for
intuitive functionality.

•

Consolidated Pitch Tracking control:
The previously separate Automatic and
Graphical Mode Tracking controls have
been consolidated into a single control and
relocated to the Options dialog for set-it-and­forget-it simplicity.

Automatic Mode Features

• Humanize function: For those concerned

about pitch correction that is “too perfect,”
the Humanize function allows you to set
a fast retune speed for short notes, while
still allowing natural variation in held notes,
for results that are even more natural and
realistic.

•

Realtime natural vibrato adjustment:
The new realtime Natural Vibrato function
allows you to modify (either increasing or
decreasing) the depth of any vibrato that is
present in the original performance.

Graphical Mode Features

• Larger Pitch Edit Display: As you’ve no

doubt noticed, the Pitch Edit Display is now
bigger. Lots bigger.

•

Sync to host transport (host
dependent): For hosts that provide valid

time information, Auto-Tune 5 will now
maintain sync with the host program.
Once you have tracked audio and created
correction curves, you can move around in
your track at will. No more having to always
start playback at exactly the same location.

3

4

• Selectable Clock Source: For hosts that do

not provide valid time information, Auto-Tune
5’s clock display and selection functions let
you use an internal time reference for Auto­Tune 4 style operation.

•

Realtime pitch tracking display: During
the Track Pitch process, the graphic
representation of the pitch will be displayed
in realtime as the audio plays.

•

Full-time correction mode (host
dependent): Whenever Auto-Tune 5 is not

specifically tracking audio (and correction
curves exist), Auto-Tune 5 will be operating
in correction mode. There is no longer any
need to press a “Correct Pitch” button.
Besides being convenient, that makes
possible the following feature:

•

Multiple simultaneous Graphical Mode
instances (host dependent): You can

now have multiple instances of Auto-Tune
Graphical Mode operating on different
tracks simultaneously, even if their windows
are not open. In previous versions, since
you had to have plug-in windows open
to engage Correct Pitch mode, only open
instances could be active. No longer.

•

Editing functions no longer modal: You
can now use all of the graphical editing
features while Auto-Tune 5 is either tracking
or correcting pitch.

•

Enhanced Envelope Display
functionality: We’ve made some changes

to the Envelope Display to make it much
more useful for quick and easy navigation
around your audio:

When in “ALL” mode, the display

automatically scales to precisely encompass
the tracked audio (rather than defaulting to
the entire length of the buffer).

The behavior of the various editing tools

has been changed such that for every tool
except the I-Beam, moving the cursor onto
the Envelope Display causes the tool to
temporarily change into the Magnifying
Glass Tool (perfect for quickly moving to
another portion of your audio without having
to manually change tools).

Using the I-Beam to make a selection on the

Envelope Display now automatically causes
the Pitch Graph Display to move to the
selected audio.

•

Realtime graphical vibrato depth
adjustment: The Adjust Vibrato control

allows you to modify the depth of vibrato
in your audio while preserving the contour
of the original vibrato. Moving this control
results in a real-time graphical representation
of the resulting vibrato contour.

•

Dedicated Snap To Note button: When
using the Line Tool, clicking this button
constrains the tool to exact scale notes.

•

Dedicated Clear All Data function:

Provides a convenient method to instantly
clear all saved tracked audio and correction
curve data.

How To Use This Manual

If this is your first experience of Auto-Tune, you
will find that Auto-Tune 5 has a very friendly
user-interface and is extraordinarily easy to
use. However, because Auto-Tune 5 does
things that have never been done before, a
few aspects of the user-interface may not
be immediately obvious. You should at least
read either Chapter 3, Auto-Tune 5 Controls,
or Chapter 4, Auto-Tune 5 Tutorial, to learn the
essential information you will need to operate
Auto-Tune 5.

And as we mentioned above, if you are
upgrading from Auto-Tune 4, go straight to
Chapter 5, the New Feature Quick Start Guide,
to learn everything you need to know (about
Auto-Tune’s new features, anyway).

5

The Contents Of This Manual

Chapter 1: Getting Started

The chapter you are reading.

Chapter 2: 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 3: Auto-Tune 5 Controls

This chapter is reference information for all of
the controls used in the Auto-Tune 5 interface.

Chapter 4: 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 Auto­Tune 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.

6

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.

7

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 sound­generating 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

8

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 twelve­tone 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 NEA RBY RATIO IN
RATIO 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.

9

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 non­periodic, 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.

10

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.)

Scales

The 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.

11

10.0 10.5 11.0

D3

B2

ORIGIN AL
PERF ORMAN CE

CORR ECTED BY
AUT O-TUNE 5

C# 3

Retune Speed

Auto-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-and­after 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.)

12

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 pitch­detected 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.

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