Serato PITCH N TIME PRO 2.4 User Manual

Serato Audio Research

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Pro

User Manual

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What’s Inside? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

What Pitch ’n Time Pro does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Why is Pitch ’n Time Pro an AudioSuite Plug-In? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

How to launch Pitch ’n Time Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

General Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Fixed Time-stretch Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Variable Time-stretch Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Morphing Time-stretch Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Length Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Fixed Pitch-shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Variable Pitch-shift Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Varispeed Pitch-shift Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Production Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Example 1: Making a finished ad fit the available space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Example 2: Lengthening a note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Example 3: Matching loop tempos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Pro Tools Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Appendix A - Pro Tools Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

All content © Serato Audio Research. All rights reserved.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing Pitch ’n Time Pro, a professional quality time stretching and pitch shifting plug-in designed for
use with Digidesign Pro Tools.

We trust you will find this manual useful in setting up and getting the best from your Serato product. If you require
any assistance beyond the scope of this manual, including up-to-date information on troubleshooting, frequently asked
questions, and tips & tricks for Pitch ’n Time Pro, please visit our website at serato.com.

Many thanks - the team at Serato Audio Research.

What’s Inside?

Your Pitch ’n Time Pro box should contain the following items. If anything is missing please contact your dealer
immediately.

1x Serato plug-ins Installation CD
1x Pitch ’n Time Pro User Manual
1x Installation Guide + Serial Number

System Requirements

The following are the minimum system requirements for Pitch ’n Time Pro.

Digidesign Pro Tools 6
Mac OSX 10.3.9 or Windows XP
iLok key required for authorization

3

4

Basics

What Pitch ’n Time Pro does

Pitch ’n Time Pro is a high quality time stretching and pitch shifting plug-in for use with Digidesign’s AudioSuite architecture.
It offers time compression and expansion from a ratio of 1/8 through to 8 x speed, independent of pitch. Together with
pitch shifting of up to 36 semitones independent of tempo.

The time-stretching and pitch-shifting functions each have three interchangeable panels, ranging from simple fixed ratios
/ rate changes to complex tempo and pitch alterations that vary over time. You can even warp the timing of your samples
just by placing markers and moving them around.

The tempo and pitch panels can be mixed and matched to suit your application, and with a sufficiently powerful processor
previewing may be done in real time.

Why is Pitch ’n Time Pro an AudioSuite Plug-In?

At the time of writing the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) supports four plug-in architectures: TDM, AudioSuite, Real-Time
AudioSuite (RTAS) & HTDM. TDM, RTAS & HTDM are real-time architectures using DSP and/or host-based processing,
while AudioSuite is file-based.

The three real-time architectures provide the digital equivalent of “black boxes”. One of the fundamental aspects of their
design is that they require a plug-in to have a 1:1 input to output ratio, so the number of samples coming out of a plug­in must equal the number of samples being sent in. This behavior is similar to having an external box with audio inputs,
outputs and controls. In principle such a box cannot time stretch, since time stretching implies a non 1:1 input to output
sample ratio.

Being file-based, AudioSuite plug-ins have complete random access to the source data and also have no restriction on
input to output ratios. This gives a plug-in the freedom to implement such processes as sample-rate conversion, time
stretching, and time reversal. AudioSuite is the only Pro Tools plug-in architecture under which Pitch ’n Time Pro can
operate effectively.

Getting Started

How to launch Pitch ’n Time Pro

1. Bring up the Pitch ’n Time Pro window by selecting it from the AudioSuite
menu.

Note: This menu is not accessible until you have a session open.

2. The Pitch ’n Time Pro window should appear with the standard Pro Tools plug-in
controls at the top and bottom of the window.

Providing that you have some audio in your session Pitch ’n Time Pro is ready to use.

5

6

The Interface

Tempo

The time-stretch modes
are Fixed, Variable and
Morphing

Pitch

The pitch-shift modes
are Fixed, Variable and
Varispeed

Length

Shows the start, end
and output length of your
selection

The Interface

General Controls

Scale

The Lin / Log controls select the vertical scale for all automation graphs. The interpolation
between handles is not affected by this setting on the variable time-stretch panel, so in log
mode lines will appear bent. The variable pitch-shift panel alters its interpolation to match
this setting, so lines are always straight.

Grid

Show turns grid lines display on and off for all graphical views. When editing handles,
Snap makes them snap them to grid lines.

Range

At the top of the plug-in, three buttons 2x, 4x and 8x let you control the editable range of
Pitch ’n Time Pro. Note that in vocal algorithm mode, the range is limited to 2x.

Algorithm

The algorithm buttons toggle between modes biased to improve results on different types
of program material; A towards tonal sounds (e.g. organ), B towards transient sounds (e.g.
drums), and V towards vocals.

7

8

The Interface

Tone

At the top of the fixed pitch-shift panel you can select and play a reference tone along with the preview, to facilitate tuning
by ear. The note to play and detuning can be also be entered here, or the frequency can by entered in Hertz.

Gain

At the bottom of the panel two control knobs control the volume level of preview mode and the output or process gain. Any
gain change of the process gain control is applied when you press Process.