Autotune On Logic Pro

Antares Autotune Logic Pro X
Autotune Logic Pro X

Autotune On Logic Pro X; Autotune Settings Logic Pro X; Best Auto-tune Settings; Logic Auto Tune Settings Pro Tools; How do you use auto tune in Logic Pro? I have been watching videos of artists using auto tune to help fix their vocals and I was curious if anyone knows a good tutorial to follow. I really am interested in hip hop auto tune. For meticulous pitch and time editing, Auto-Tune 7's Graphical Mode displays the performance's detected pitch envelope and allows you to modify pitch and timing with a variety of easy-to-use graphics tools. Mar 06, 2010 How to use autotune in logic pro 9!! Rate, comment, subscribe!!

How do you use auto tune in Logic Pro? I have been watching videos of artists using auto tune to help fix their vocals and I was curious if anyone knows a good tutorial to follow. I really am interested in hip hop auto tune.

Prior to the digital age, life in the studio was all about moderating the effects of human touch.

Compressors evened out the dynamics of the bass player while a side chain feed kept them matched with the drummer. The drummer had a metronome feed playing to maintain tempo.

Singers, well, you could keep their dynamics in control, but when they sang flat, about all you could do was tell them to smile as they sang and aim above the problem notes.

Smiling has the mysterious effect of raising singers' pitch. Aiming high is probably wishful thinking on everyone's part, but sometimes it works.

The Advent of Auto-Tune

You wouldn't think earthquakes have a lot to do with singing in pitch and they don't, really.

However, it was seismi c research that provided the background for Dr. Andy Hildebrand, the creator of Auto-Tune and its parent company Antares.

He left that field and returned to his early love of music, bringing knowledge that created seismic interpretation workstations and applied it to issues arising in the early days of digital music.

Hildebrand's expertise with digital signal processing led to a series of audio plug-ins, including 1997's Auto-Tune, which could correct the pitch of a voice or any single-note instrument with surprisingly natural results.

Audio engineers now had a weapon against the occasional bum note. Rather than scrapping an entire take, Auto-Tune offered a repair tool that quickly caught on.

Auto-Tune as an Effect

It was only a year later in 1998 that use of Auto-Tune as an effect rather than repair tool happened.

Called the 'Cher Effect' after the singer's hit, 'Believe,' artificial and abrupt pitch changes came into vogue. Later, real-time pitch correction hardware brought both effects and repairs to the stage.

In the studio, Auto-Tune proved another weapon to 'fix it in the mix.'

Issues with Auto-Tune started soon after, with lines drawn between the purist and users camps. Many felt that using pitch correction was an artistic cheat, a way to bypass craft.

The arguments resemble the resistance synthesizers received in the 1970s and 80s that led Queen to note that none were used on their albums.

The other side of the argument pointed out that tools such as compressors and limiters and effects such as audio exciters had already been modifying the sound and behavior of voices throughout the history of recording. Though the anti-Auto-Tune camp seems vocal and large, rarely does a session go by without some use of pitch correction. It's nearly impossible to detect when used judiciously, nowhere near as obvious as when used for effect.

Auto-Tune is no longer the only player in the pitch correction game either. Celemony's Melodyne software substantially improves on Auto-Tune's interface and brought the full power of pitch correction to a plug-in ahead of the tool's originator, which still leads the pack when it comes to response and set-and-forget capability.

'Generic' Auto-Tune

The Antares version of the effect has achieved 'Kleenex' status. Its brand name is now synonymous with the generic effect it originated. It joins 'Pro Tools' from the audio world and 'Photoshop' from digital imaging in this manner.

Unlike some digital music signal processors, pitch correction hasn't generated a huge number of knock-offs. Melodyne is a serious contender, due to its far more intuitive interface. GSnap is an open source alternative that produces similar results. While iZotope's VocalSynth includes pitch correction features, it's more of a full vocal processor rather than a dedicated pitch correction app.

The 4 Best Auto-Tune VST Plugins

Now, lets get into the top 4 autotune plugins. Each one offers unique features and I assure you that one of these plugins have exactly what you are looking for

The originator is now a full-featured and functional vocal processor that still masters the innovative pitch correction duties it brought to the market, but adds a wide range of additional features and effects to help nail down the perfect vocal take.

Auto-Tune 7 forms the core of the Vocal Studio package, still tackling the pitch and time correction duties it always has. Since its earliest days, automatic and graphical modes handle the various chores for the main Auto-Tune module.

While still presenting a learning curve for the new user, the Auto-Tune 7 interface remains familiar enough for experienced users. Since it's the best-selling pitch correction software going -- and by a huge margin -- there are a lot of existing Auto-Tune users. Even if you're new to the plug-in, chances are you know someone who's used it.

The rest of the Vocal Studio package focuses on vocal manipulations such as automatic doubling, harmony generation, tube amp warmth and vocal timbre adjustment. The range and nature of these adjustments takes vocal processing into some new territory.

The MUTATOR Voice Designer lets you manipulate voices from subtle to extreme, permitting organic or alien manipulations but with results that still sound like voices, though perhaps not of this world. The ARTICULATOR Talk Box produces effects such as the guitar talk box of Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh, but also Alan Parsons-ish vocoder sounds, combining the features of sung or spoken voice with an instrument's output.

While the Auto-Tune Vocal Studio remains pricey, it remains at the top of a niche market of audio processing.

Melodyne 4 Studio

If Auto-Tune has a serious competitor in the pitch correction universe, it's Celemony's Melodyne. The interface, layout and operation of Melodyne is inherently more musical than the Antares take, so newcomers to pitch correction will likely find Melodyne easier to work with.

The Melodyne 'blob' is an easy to grasp analog of a sung note. It's far more intuitive than a waveform to understand. With the focus on graphical interface, Melodyne makes sense more quickly and easily than Auto-Tune. The latter's switching between automatic and graphical modes creates a comparative disconnect between functions.

Even long-time users of Auto-Tune will find moving to Melodyne natural, as there's enough in common that, once a user gets their bearings, familiar functions remain available.

Many Melodyne functions perform on polyphony too. Correcting a track with a multi-voice choir or chording instrument can work too. It's not a perfect function, but it's uncanny how often Melodyne senses chords clearly enough to allow changing of a single element.

What Melodyne doesn't do is the advanced vocal pyrotechnics offered by Auto-Tune. The Celemony product is all about pitch and time correction and it accomplished these with grace and ease.

Those looking for an affordable entry into digital pitch correction can turn to Melodyne 4 Essential. It's a plug-in that handles the pitch and time corrections of its big brother, but with fewer advanced features and without the full-featured price tag.

Though pitch correction isn't the focus of this iZotope plug-in, it resembles the full Auto-Tune Studio package. At a fraction of the cost of the big boys in this class, VocalSynth doesn't offer the depth of control experienced with either Auto-Tune or Melodyne, yet it still manages to provide a reasonable job of pitch correction.

Logic Auto Tune Settings Windows 10

There's no graphical representation such as Melodyne's or Auto-Tune's graphical mode. That makes fine-tuning performances a little beyond the reach of VocalSynth, but for reasonable performances, it's not a major limitation. Think of the iZotope product as a first-aid kit rather than an emergency department.

The four voice synthesis modules are where the fun resides with VocalSynth. Talkbox, Compuvox, Polyvox and Vocoder modules emulate many of the vocal effects you've heard on hits from a wide range of artists. This is also just the most overt extra in the VocalSynth package.

A variety of additional modules let you tune up or tear up your vocal tracks. Add harmony, filter vocals, create radio and phone effects. These modules can either optimize your track or take it to new and exciting places.

VocalSynth may be the country cousin to the serious pitch manipulators, but it has capability with a high fun factor.

Autotune On Logic Pro X

GVST GSnap

Don't let the download page fool you, GSnap is a VST plug-in that works with any DAW platform that supports VST, not simply Windows-based DAWs. Both 32 and 64-bit support is included. Completely free, it does come with limits. While there is more graphic information than iZotope offers, it doesn't offer direct edits.

While not as flexible as pro pitch correction, it's a low-cost alternative for users who can't swing the big time prices. It's difficult to use GSnap subtly. That's not an issue for those seeking pitch correction effects, such as Cher or T-Pain. Backup vocals are also a good candidate.

This is the entry level of pitch correction, and because of that, it's included here. The effect is so ubiquitous that anyone working in the field needs to know how it works. GSnap represents the place to start.

Wrapping It Up

Love it or hate it, pitch correction is here to stay, both as tool and effect. These four plug-ins aren't the only ones out there, but they represent the spectrum of pitch correction treatment. Auto-Tune is the originator. Melodyne is the refinement. It works just as well as the Antares product in nearly every way with an interface that easy to grasp.

Autotune Settings Logic Pro X

iZotope VocalSynth represents the cream of the mid-priced plug-ins. It's capable and creative, even if it's not as flexible on pitch correction as the top-line apps. GSnap represents pitch correction for everyman. You can't knock the price of freeware.

Best Auto-tune Settings

The debate will likely rage over the ethics of pitch correction in popular music. While you wait for the dust to settle, give one of these packages a try.

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Logic Auto Tune Settings Pro Tools

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Autotune is the perfect example of a signal processing method that can be used in overdrive as an effect or used properly in a transparent way to improve a performance. More artists than you'd realize use this tool undetectably, while others make it very obvious.

Learn more about Auto-Tune, the music industry standard for pitch correction and vocal effects. Shop and learn about the best plug-ins for pitch correction, vocal effects, voice processing, and noise reduction. Auto-Tune Pro, Auto-Tune Artist, Auto-Tune EFX+, Auto-Tune Access, Harmony Engine, Mic Mod and more. Faheem Rasheed Najm (born September 30, 1985), better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and streamer.His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005.In 2007, T-Pain released his second album, Epiphany, which reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. His third album, Thr33 Ringz, was released in 2008. Logic Pro X Tutorial – AutoTune. Mitchel Pigsley. How to get auto-tuned vocals with the LPX Flex-Pitch tool and the Pitch Correction plugin. Thanks for watching! Support: this video I explain how to achieve the auto-tune effect on vocals. For this technique I use the flex-pitch fe. Why Should you use Autotune? Autotune is a pitch correction software that corrects the pitch/tune of the vocalist’s voice to perfection. It is a device or software to tune something automatically, like a piece of computer software that would help you use the correct. Ion of an out-of-tune vocal performance.

Take artists like Cher or T-Pain, or even Lil Wayne when rapping, who nearly sound like robots during their songs. It's my opinion that the 2010 decade will be considered a 'dark age' of music, partially due to this effect that many artists will come to regret in the future.

Then you consider all of the artists you think aren't using it. Let me tell you, they all are, but their mixing engineers are doing such a fantastic job with it you wouldn't know. The main contributing factor to an 'invisible' autotune is a great vocal performance.

In order to push the effect into overdrive you have to purposefully have a bad performance to a certain degree, which is why it works so naturally well for rap artists in terms of singing to the correct pitch.

There are three levels of autotune, as far as I see it:

Purposefully too much - like Cher, T-Pain, and Lil Wayne
Too much needed - modern Pop and Country music
The perfect amount - every other genre that you don't notice it in

The only difference between the second and third stage is how good of a vocalist the artist is. Most pop artists are selected based on their overall marketability (looks, ability to perform, above average vocal talent) as opposed to being chosen based on a supreme skill in singing.

I'm going to show you how to achieve all three stages, from sounding like a robot, to sounding like a synthesizer, to undetectable perfection.

What is Autotune?

Autotune is an audio signal processor tool originally used to correct off-key pitches in vocal performances (or any other instrument). It's also used as a sound effect applies pitch correction so aggressively that it sounds unnatural and synthetic.

The term Autotune has become synonymous with pitch correction, but it's actually a trademarked word and tool created by Antares Audio Technologies. Many DAW plugins exist that all have their own names and are referred to as such, but the effect is now commonly and simply called 'autotune.'

While disguising off-key pitches by slightly adjusting them to lock on key was the initial intention, Cher changed pop music for every with her 1998 single Believe. It uses the effect over-dramatically and inspired musicians like T-Pain to make it their signature sound.

How to Autotune

In this section I'll be telling you exactly how to use autotune, but I'll do it from the perspective of polishing an already great vocal performance. The key to having a transparent and musical use of this plugin is to create as best of a vocal track as possible.

This usually means singing the same section of a song dozens of times and creating a 'best of' composite track. Only after the absolute best performance has been pieced together from many takes should you fix the final errors with pitch correction software.

Note: Any vocal recording or instrument you want to use pitch correction on must be a mono track. Stereo tracks don't work out. It also needs to be free of reverb, delay, and other audio effects.

1) Apply the Plugin to the Track & Familiarize Yourself With It

I have to assume you know how to use your digital audio workstation software and how to add a plugin to a track in the multitrack. What I can't assume is which plugin you'll be using. In this case I'll be showing you the Logic Pro Pitch Correction plugin. They all work the same but look different.

Though I'll show you Logic Pro's default plugin, I'm going to use terminology that's more likely to appear in all of the plugins. You'll be able to figure out what's what, since I give several names for each parameter you can adjust.

If you aren't familiar with the settings at all, please scroll down to the next main section of the article called Autotune Settings. I define each setting and also provide some suggested starting points for the three levels of pitch correction mentioned above.

2) Select the Key, Scale, & Input Type

You'll typically have two choices. You can manually select a key (like G Minor) and a scale (Melodic minor scale), or you can punch it in manually on the provided keyboard. Sometimes, instead of a key they'll ask you for the root note of your scale, which would be G if using G Minor or G Major.

If you choose a key and scale from the list, you'll still want to adjust which notes are available as targets for tuning on the keyboard. Sometimes vocals doen't use all of the notes in a scale and you don't want them available, especially if a performance is extra 'not good.'

Alternatively, if you're going for the goofy robot rap vocal sound then choose the chromatic scale, which means all possible notes are available as pitch correction targets.

Antares Autotune Logic Pro X

3) Choose Your Retune Speed

Now that you've defined the allowable notes for the effect, it's time to make it actually work. We're now going to focus on the retune knob or slider. A slower speed, like 400 ms to half of a second, will be completely undetectable but entirely too slow to even do anything in most cases.

Loop the vocals in solo mode (so you can only hear the singer) and start the retune at the slowest amount allowed. Slowly increase it and you'll begin to see the meter show which note is being detected and how sharp or flat it is in cents. That amount is how much pitch correction needs to be applied.

The retune speed defines how quickly it applies that amount of pitch correction. So if you need to slide a note up by 50 cents, that can occur instantaneously at zero milliseconds, or over 100 ms, as examples. You'll have to choose the right amount that provides the sound you want.

For electronic music, you may want it to be slightly noticeable. For the robot effect set it to zero. For a transparent use of the effect, you'll have to toy with it, but it'll be a slower setting than faster. It's impossible to tell you what the right amount is. You have to use your ears!

4) Decide How Perfect You Want the Vocals to Be

Regardless how quickly you're 'snapping' to the correct pitch, you have more choices to make about how impeccable and perfect you want the vocals to be. No human can hold a perfect note. Even the best will waver by a few cents. If you remove that wavering, it will sound unreal.

If you want to add the human element back into the vocal track, use the Flex Tune option if it's available. Logic Pro's Pitch Correction has no such option. It allows the vocals to be off-pitch by the amount you define, basically telling the processor to not change the pitch if it's 'close enough.' A small amount of this can bring your track back down to reality.

Now focus on the Humanize knob if you have it or something similar. It tells the plugin to hold to a specific note if the vocals start to waver too far, rather than correcting to a different, unintended note. Think of it like a release on a compressor. Use this when your singer holds onto notes for a long time at the end of phrases.

Natural Vibrato is another option that's not always available. It detects when the vocalist is using purposeful vibrato and allows you to increase or decrease the intensity of it. In my opinion, I wouldn't bother using this. This is a choice that needs to be made while recording the vocals.

5) Unsolo the Vocals & Tweak in Context of the Full Mix

This is your last step. You want to unsolo your vocals so you hear the backing tracks, too. Now listen to your work in the context of the full mix. From here, the only thing you'll likely want to tweak is the retune speed.

For electronic-based music like dubstep or EDM, you may even want a slight robotic sound. For classical, jazz, rock, or pop, which are more organic sounding genres, you'll want it to be less noticeable, so you'd choose a slower retune speed.

From here, your vocal's pitches may sound great, but you may still have other issues with the tracks. Check out our article on how to mix vocals to get a walkthrough that will revolutionize your quality. You'll want to apply those principals on every vocal track, every time.

Autotune Settings

Now I want to do two things. I want to define what each of the settings on your plugin does, and I want to provide some starting settings where possible that match each of the three styles of pitch correction I mentioned before.

Pitch Correction Options

Each pitch correction plugin with have various parameters (knobs) you can adjust. For the most part you'll be confronted with five options:

Key, Scale, & Input Type
Retune Speed (Response Time)
Flex Tune (Smoothness)
Humanize (Release Time)
Natural Vibrato (Vibrato Adjustment)

These are what they're called on the official Autotune plugin and are (typically) what you'll find on the other ones, even if they're renamed to a degree.

Key, Scale, & Input Type - Without telling the software which key and type of scale you're using, it won't know which pitches to adjust towards. You can choose these from a selectable list (like major scale, harmonic minor scale, etc.) or punch it in yourself on the available keyboard layout.

The input type will vary in complexity from simply offering the two choices of Normal (higher vocal registers) or Low (Bass and Baritone). Some will actually let you choose from terms like Soprano, Tenor, Alto, etc. This just helps the software expect certain octaves so it can process faster and more accurately.

Retune Speed (Response Time) - This is measured in milliseconds and will let you go to zero, meaning instantaneous (how you get the robot sound). This speed controls how quickly a bad note is retuned to the correct one. If you set it too fast it will sound obvious and come with glitches as well.

Most of the time you will want subtlety, so you'll use a slower value so that the listener doesn't detect the changes. This is how you'll achieve a natural sound, while the faster times will begin to sound 'too good,' and if the performance is bad enough it will sound unnatural.

Flex Tune (Smoothness) - This kind of option isn't always available. Think of this option as adding smoothness to a processed track that required a faster retune speed due to how off pitch the vocalist was. It tries to smooth out the transitions and make them sound more gentle and less detectable.

You may think this would fight against the retuning but it's more like adding an allowable margin of error. It basically lets you decide that if a note is close enough to the correct pitch, to leave it alone and not process it. It helps you maintain the human element to the track rather than making it unnaturally perfect.

Humanize (Release Time) - I like to think of this as a release time (similar to what you find on a compressor). It tells the pitch correction to hold fast during long notes. If your vocalist doesn't hold out long, sustained notes at the end of phrases you may not need this.

What it's for is to correct unintentional vibrato during long notes. When the singer's voice wavers by accident, it won't be 'pitch perfect' like purposeful vibrato is. If the note wavers too far it'll snap to a different note. This option keeps that from happening.

Natural Vibrato (Vibrato Adjustment) - You won't always find this option either. It's kind of the opposite of the Humanize option above in that it can introduce vibrato that is otherwise missing. It takes talent to sing vibrato and to do it correctly. If your singer can't do it but the song calls for it, this option can add it in at varying amounts. It can also reduce the intensity of the natural vibrato.

Autotune Settings for Singing

Above I mentioned the three levels of pitch correction, which are basically 'complete overkill,' 'too much is needed,' and 'perfect and unnoticeable.' Here are some starting points to you can use, but please note that you'll have to adjust them to taste for each and every vocal track. What's needed will change each time!

For a purposefully over-dramatic use of the effect like Cher or T-Pain, set the retune speed and flex tune speeds to zero. This will snap the notes instantaneously to the pitches they should be at. Set the humanize knob to the maximum and reduce natural vibrato as much as you can.

This will cause the vocals to sound like a synthesizer. You can make it even more dramatic by purposefully singing off pitch when recording. You should be close but nowhere near perfect in order to make the plugin really put in the work to re-pitch each note.

For the current expectation for pop and country music, try setting the retune speed around 5 ms to 15 ms, with barely any flex tune. A little bit is good to keep the track sounding realistic. What you'll end up with is a pitch-perfect track but one that doesn't 'snap' quickly to the notes so it still sounds like a human performance.

For natural, realistic sounding autotune, you'll want a slower retune speed (set it to where you barely hear it and then back it off a bit more) and maybe 10% flex tune to allow some wavering. That's it. Leave the other settings alone.

Pro-Tip: You can add pitch correction to only parts of a performance if you don't want to use it much but certain parts definitely need fixing. Add the plugin to an automation track with a very slow retune speed, then on the parts you want to fix, crank up the retune speed so it actually acts on the vocals quickly enough to correct the pitch.

The Differences Between Autotune Plugins

I mentioned there being a lot of pitch correction plugins, which may have left with the questions of which is the best and what are the differences. They all do the exact same job, though some have more options, while one has an unbelievable amount of extra choices.

Heres a list of some of the most popular pitch correction plugin choices:

Celemony Melodyne
Antares Auto-Tune (various versions)
Wave Tune (various versions)
Zynaptiq Pitchmap
Melda MAutoPitch
Synchro Arts Revoice Pro
Izotope Nectar
Logic Pro Pitch Correction
Steinberg PitchCorrect
Cakewalk/Roland V-Vocal
Mu Technologies Mu Voice

There's a lot more, but those are your most popular choices in no particular order other than Antares Auto-Tune being the most popular. Celemony Melodyne is another great but costly choice that provides some unbelievable choices, especially with the visual user interface. Look at this thing:

The differences here are that the paid versions will have more choices, and as you move into the 'Pro' versions of each one they'll introduce more options for you. Many users will find they don't need the most advanced choices, especially when not adding pitch correction in real time.

Pro-Tip: Melodyne is very transparent. You can correct the pitches and tweak the cents very close to perfect and bounce the track. From there you can then apply Autotune to the 'almost perfect' track and end up with a godly vocal performance that sounds very natural.

That's How to Use Autotune!

The process is very simple. The challenge is understanding what each setting does, because the short names can't possibly be self-explanatory due to the complexity of the software. Once you understand what the knobs do, the rest is a piece of cake.

With our walkthrough and explanations above, you should have know how to use autotune as well as any professional. Finding the correct settings is as simple as slowly turning the knobs and using your ears. It's truly a revolutionary plugin, not only in its power but in its simplicity.