Installing Auto-Tune 4

Any unique instructions for installing Auto-Tune 4 for your specific plug-in format are located in the Auto-Tune 4 Read Me file that accompanies the plug-in. This file may also contain any last-minute Auto-Tune 4 information that didnt make it into this manual. Auto-Tune 4 is designed to work with a wide variety of digital audio applications. Please refer to your host applications user manual for more information on installing and using plug-ins.

Authorizing Auto-Tune 4

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 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 cant 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 dont procrastinate too long. After those ten days are up, you will no longer be able to launch this software until its authorized.

Technical Support

In the unlikely event that you experience a problem using Auto-Tune 4, try the following: 1. Make another quick scan through this manual. Who knows? You may have stumbled onto some feature that you didnt notice the first time through. 2. Check our web page for tips, techniques, or any late-breaking information: http://www.antarestech.com 3. Call your local Antares dealer. 4. Email our tech support department by pointing your web browser to: http://www.antarestech.com/support/etech.shtml and filling in the form there. 5. Call us at (831) 461-7814 Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm USA Pacific Standard Time. For options 3, 4, or 5, please be prepared to provide the Registration Code of your copy of Auto-Tune 4.
Chapter 2: Introducing Auto-Tune 4

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 2001, Auto-Tune 3 was introduced and established itself as the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction. Today, its 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 4. Preserving the great sound quality, transparent processing, and ease of use of Auto-Tune, Auto-Tune 4 adds significant new features as well as a sleek new user interface.

How Auto-Tune 4 corrects pitch
Auto-Tune 4 provides two separate and distinct ways to approach pitch correction: Automatic Mode and Graphical Mode. The basic functionality of each is described below.

Automatic Mode

Auto-Tune 4s 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 parameter, described below and in Chapter 3.) SCALES The heart of Automatic Mode pitch correction is the Scale. Auto-Tune 4 lets you choose from major, minor, chromatic or 26 historical, ethnic and microtonal 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.
RETUNE SPEED Auto-Tune 4 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 an 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 4 can also apply a vibrato to the input sound. 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 4s Vibrato settings, you can even remove a performers own vibrato and replace it with Auto-Tune 4s 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-and-after graphic representation of the pitch of a vocal phrase that contains both vibrato and expressive gestures.

CORRECTED BY AUTO-TUNE 4 D3

C#3 ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE

B2 10.0 10.5 11.0
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 4s 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 4 from trying to correct the seriously flat tail of the last note to those pitches. See Chapter 3 for more details.)
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 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 yellow. 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 pitch-detected 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. 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 4. Set the buffer length for 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 sound. The pitch will be detected and then displayed in the Pitch Graph as a red curve. Create a target pitch function using the graphical tools and adjust the Retune Speed for the desired effect. Press Correct Pitch and play back the sound. The pitch will be corrected as specified.

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. Pelog: This seven-tone Indonesian scale is more interesting than Slendro and is now the primary scale in Balinese music. Arabic 1: This 17 tone scale is the original Arabic scale adopted from the Pythagorean scale. Arabic 2 (chromatic): This twelve-tone scale is the modern version of the Arabic scale popular in Arabic music today. CONTEMPORARY TUNINGS: Equal tempered scales with a large number of tones are typically used to play common tonal harmony with greater purity of intervals and chords. The typical approach is to analyze a passage (or less) of music and select tones from a scale that will best approximate the desired pure intervals. 19 Tone: This scale has greater purity of minor thirds and major thirds (and conversely, minor and major sixths) than twelve-tone equal temperament. A disadvantage is that perfect fifths are narrower than those found in twelve-tone equal temperament. 24 Tone: Also know as the quarter tone scale, this scale is used for variety but has no advantage in terms of ratios that better approximate pure intervals. 31 Tone: In addition to intervals that better approximate pure intervals, this scale also contains good approximations to Indonesian pelog and slendro scales. 53 Tone: Related mathematically to the cycle of fifths, the 53-tone scale has very pure major and minor thirds, and fifths and fourths. Partch: Harry Partch is considered the father of modern microtonality. This scale was devised by him and used in instrument building and performances. 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 7/4. This scale divides the octave into 15.385 steps forming intervals of 78.0 cents. Carlos Beta: This scale divides the octave into 18.809 steps forming intervals of 63.8 cents.
Carlos Gamma: This scale achieves perfect purity of the primary intervals 3/2, 4/3 and 5/4. This scale divides the octave into 34.188 steps forming intervals of 35.1 cents. Harmonic (chromatic): This twelve-tone scale is created in the partials in the fifth octave of the harmonic series. The scale degrees that correspond to the classic just intervals are the major second, major third, perfect fifth and major seventh.

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, AutoTune 4 would see first C# and then B as the target pitch and therefore allow the error to remain. With C# and B removed from the Scale, Auto-Tune 4 continues to see D as the target pitch for the entire duration of the note and therefore pulls the phrase up to the correct pitch.
CENTS The number in the Cents column is the associated notes interval, in cents, from the root note of the scale. Its provided for reference purposes and to help you choose which notes of a microtonal scale to include or remove.
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.
SET MAJOR SCALE/SET MINOR SCALE When any scale that includes more than seven notes (i.e., any non-diatonic scale) is selected, the Set Major Scale and Set Minor Scale buttons will appear. Clicking on either of these buttons will Remove all notes from the scale except for those notes closest to the notes of a traditional diatonic major or minor scale (depending, of course, on which button you clicked).
VIRTUAL KEYBOARD The Virtual Keyboard displays Auto-Tune 4s pitch detection range and acts as a realtime display of the currently detected pitch, a display of the current Scale settings, and as a tool for setting target note behaviors in specific octaves. NOTE: The keyboard is only active for scales with exactly twelve notes. It will be grayed out (hence inactive) when any other scale is selected. But wait! you might be thinking, I want to edit Major and Minor scales in individual octaves and the keyboard is grayed out when I select either one. No problem. Simply select Chromatic, then use the Set Major or Set Minor button to set up the scale of your choice and edit away.
KEY COLORS The color of the keys of the Virtual Keyboard indicate their current state as follows:

COLOR STATE

Blue White or Black Invisible Brown
The currently detected input pitch Scale Note Remove Bypass KEYBOARD EDIT These buttons are used to select which state (Remove or Bypass) will be toggled when you click on a key.

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 drawing the target pitches. If you wish to change them, 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. PITCH GRAPH SCALE The Pitch Graph Scale Buttons control the horizontal (time) and vertical (pitch) scaling of the graph. Clicking the appropriate + button causes the view to zoom in, while clicking a - button causes it to zoom out. NOTE: The horizontal scale buttons always control the Pitch Graph. They also control the Envelope Graph when it is set to Tie (see below). CURSOR PITCH DISPLAY The exact pitch value of the cursor position on the Pitch Graph is constantly displayed as a note name +/- cents. This display is always relative to the currently selected scale (i.e., only scale notes will appear in the pitch display). THE ENVELOPE GRAPH DISPLAY The Envelope Graph displays the amplitude (loudness) envelope of the sound whose pitch is shown in the Pitch Graph. ALL/TIE BUTTONS The Envelope Graphs horizontal (time) scale is controlled by the All and Tie buttons. Clicking the All button causes the envelope graph to display the entire time scale represented by the current buffer setting. This is useful for locating and selecting various portions of audio spread over the duration of a song. Clicking the Tie button slaves the position of the Envelope Graph to that of the Pitch Graph. When this setting is selected, the horizontal scale of the Envelope Graph is controlled by the Pitch Graph horizontal scale buttons.

The Graphical Tools

The graphical tools are used in conjunction with the edit buttons to create the desired target pitch contour. NOTE: In addition to clicking on the various tools, if your host passes key presses to plug-ins, you can also select the various tools by pressing the number keys 1-7*. * NOTE ALSO: Some hosts reserve the numeric keypad for host keyboard shortcuts even when a plug-in window is active. For that reason, the tool selection shortcuts mentioned above are specifically assigned only to the number keys that appear above the letter keys on the QWERTY portion of your keyboard. THE LINE TOOL (1) The Line Tool is used to draw multi-segment straight lines on the Pitch Graph. Start the process by selecting the Line Tool and clicking anywhere on the Pitch Graph to set an anchor point. As you move the cursor, a line will extend from the anchor point to the cursor position. Click again to set a second anchor point and define the first segment of your pitch contour. Continue clicking and defining lines until your contour is complete. End the process by double-clicking on the final anchor point or pressing <esc> on your keyboard. Pressing Option/Alt on your keyboard during line entry will force the current segment to be perfectly horizontal. Pressing the Shift key on your keyboard while drawing a line causes the line to snap to the nearest semitone. If you move the cursor outside the Pitch Graph during point entry, the graph will automatically scroll. To delete the last anchor point entered, press <delete> on your keyboard (you can do this repeatedly back to the very first anchor point). Only one pitch contour object (line or curve) can exist at any time point on the Pitch Graph. When you complete the entry of a line object, any object(s) that previously existed at the same time will be deleted.

RETUNE SPEED The Retune setting is used only during the Correct Pitch process. Its similar in function but separate from the Retune control in Automatic Mode. In Graphical Mode, the target pitch is not the scale tone nearest to the input, but rather the yellow target pitch curve. The Retune Speed control allows you to specify how quickly AutoTune 4 will change the pitch of the input to that of the target pitch curve. A value of zero will cause the output pitch to precisely track the target pitch curve. Depending on the target pitch curve, this may or may not provide the desired results. Slower values will have the effect of smoothing out the target pitch curve. As ever, you should let your ears be your guide to selecting the proper value for a particular performance. The default Retune Speed is 20. Double-clicking the Retune Speed knob will reset it to that value. NOTE: Slower Retune Speed values may also allow you to use simple horizontal line segments to define the target pitches while still preserving the natural pitch gestures of the original performance. See Chapter 4 for details.
Chapter 4: Auto-Tune 4 Tutorial
This chapter introduces you to how Auto-Tune 4 works by guiding you through a number of brief tutorials. These tutorials make use of a number of audio and MIDI files. (We will assume that you are familiar with loading audio and MIDI files into your host application.) If you purchased a packaged version of Auto-Tune 4, your will find the required files in the Tutorial Audio folder on the installation CD ROM. If you purchased your copy of Auto-Tune 4 via download, you will have to separately download the Tutorial Audio files from the same web page that you downloaded Auto-Tune 4.
Tutorial 1: Automatic Mode Basics
This tutorial will guide you through the basic Automatic Mode functions using the file A2-A3-A2 sweep. This is a simple synthesized waveform sweeping slowly from A2 up to A3 and back to A2. While it is unlikely that youd ever need to process such an input with Auto-Tune 4, it provides a very clear example of what each of the main Auto-Tune 4 controls do. Begin the tutorial by doing the following: 1. Load or import A2-A3-A2 sweep into a track of your host program. Play the track so that you are familiar with the original audio. 2. Set up Auto-Tune 4 to be an insert effect on that track. 3. Set Auto-Tune 4 to Automatic Mode. 4. Set the Key to A and the Scale to Major. 5. Set the Retune Speed to zero. 6. Set A2-A3-A2 sweep to loop continuously and put your host program into Play mode. What you will hear is an A major scale. This is because Auto-Tune 4 is continuously comparing the input pitch to the notes of the A major scale and instantaneously correcting the output pitch to the nearest of the scale tones. Now do the following:

13. Select the Scissors Tool and click on an existing line or curve to break it in two at that point. A stacked pair of anchor points will be created at the point you click. Select the Arrow Tool again and use it to drag each of the new end points in turn to new positions. 14. Select one or more objects and play with the Edit Buttons (Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Select All). This would also be a good time to see if the Edit Button keyboard equivalents work in your host application: Command/Control-Z Command/Control-X Command/Control-C Command/Control-V Command/Control-A undo cut copy paste select all

Tutorial 5: Precision

This tutorial is actually more of a demonstration to show the extraordinary precision with which Auto-Tune 4 can track and correct intonation problems. If this doesnt sound interesting, feel free to proceed to Tutorial 6 below. (By this time, well assume youre comfortable loading files and calling up Auto-Tune 4.) 1. Arrange the files C2 Ahhh v3 and C2 Ohhh v1 so that they are on separate tracks and can be played simultaneously. 2. Assign a separate instance of Auto-Tune 4 to each of the two tracks and select Automatic Mode for each of them. 3. In each Auto-Tune 4, set the Retune slider to 0. 4. In each Auto-Tune 4, set the Key pop-up to B-flat. 5. Do whatever your host application requires to bypass both instances of Auto-Tune 4. 6. Play back the files so you can hear them together without processing. Believe it or not, these vocal samples from a sample CD are supposed to be the same pitch. Yikes! 7. Now enable Auto-Tune 4 on each of the tracks and play the files again. If youve done everything right, you will hear the samples so well in tune that they sound like one voice.
Tutorial 6: The Make Curve Function
This tutorial will introduce you to the Make Curve function. The Make Curve function gives you by far the most precise control over pitch accuracy and inflection. 1. Setup to process the file Crowd All through Auto-Tune 4. 2. Select Graphical Mode. 3. Press the Track Pitch button. 4. Play the Crowd All file. 5. Select the Magnifying Glass Tool and drag out a box on the Pitch Graph that encloses the red curve for the -gether part of the last word, together. You will see something like the following:

6. Use the I-beam Tool to drag a selection of -gether in the Pitch or Envelope Display. The result will be something like the following:
7. Click the Make Curve button. Auto-Tune 4 will compute a new yellow curve object from the existing pitch data. (The new curve may be difficult to see at first because it will exactly overlay the red curve.) Click the I-beam Tool on the background of the Pitch Graph to cancel the area selection. 8. Both anchor points of the new curve will be selected. Select the Arrow Tool and click precisely on the left end of the curve to select only the left anchor point (youll know youre over the anchor point when the cursor changes to the four-pointed arrow cursor). Drag this straight up, stretching the curve so it is centered around the D3 graph line. (If you press Option/Alt on your keyboard before clicking the anchor point, your movement will be constrained to the vertical, assuring that you maintain the time relationship of the curve.) 9. Move the Arrow Tool over the body of the yellow curve so that the cursor changes to the horizontal bar. Press and hold Option/Alt on your keyboard (to constrain movement to the vertical) and click and drag the curve straight down so it is centered on the C3 graph line. The Pitch Graph should now appear as follows:
10. Set the Retune Speed to 0 and play back the sound. Note that the errant note is now in tune. To continue, here is an alternative approach to the same pitch problem using the Line Tool. 1. Click the Select All button and then the Cut button to delete the yellow curve created above. 2. Use the Line Tool to draw a horizontal line as shown below (press the Option/Alt key to constrain the line to horizontal):
3. Set the Retune Speed to 20 and play back the sound. Experiment with other Retune Speeds to hear their effects. Vibratos and other pitch gestures typically occur with related loudness gestures. Specifically, with vibratos, some vocalists produce mostly pitch variations and little loudness variations while others produce small pitch variations and a lot of loudness variations (the latter is often called tremolo). Nonetheless, almost all voices seem to produce a combination of both pitch and related loudness variations. Therefore, trying to take an existing vibrato and change it (say speed it up) often sounds unnatural because the new pitch variation does not correspond to the original (and still present) loudness variation. These considerations are also important when correcting pitch. Its rarely effective to draw in a new pitch gesture at the desired pitch, even though that gesture may have worked well in another performance. As this tutorial has demonstrated, the following two techniques are the most commonly successful approaches to Graphical Mode pitch correction: The first technique uses the Make Curve button to create a curve of the existing pitch, allowing you to drag that curve up or down, or stretch it by dragging one end vertically. The Retune slider can then be set very fast (0 to 5). This will force a precise re-tuning, but will sound extremely natural since the target pitch curve will precisely synchronize with the original loudness gestures of the voice. The second technique is to draw a flat line segment across the duration of a tone at the desired pitch and then set the Retune Speed in the range of 20 to 40. This has the effect of gently moving the input pitch towards the desired pitch. The slower values of 20 to 40 will let through a vibrato but still draw the overall pitch closer to being in tune. The average pitch will eventually settle to the given line and the pitch gestures will occur both sharper and flatter relative to that line. The settling time is about twice the Retune Speed setting (in milliseconds). 20 to 40 will let through about one-half of a typical vibrato. Slower settings will let through more vibrato but will cause the new pitch to be reached more slowly. 55

HOLD BUTTON Clicking and holding the Hold button while Auto-Tune 4 is processing audio will freeze both the Pitch Tuning display and the blue Detected Pitch indication on the keyboard for as long as you hold down the button. This is useful for figuring out exactly whats going on with a particular note in a performance that would otherwise pass too quickly to see. VIBRATO Auto-Tune 4 includes a plethora of new vibrato functions to allow the creation of much more convincing vibratos. And for the adventuresome, they can be abused to create some interesting effects. The controls are: SHAPE: Selects the shape of the vibrato. RATE: Sets the rate of the vibrato. VARIATION: Sets the amount of random variation that will be applied to the Rate and Amount parameters on a note to note basis. ONSET DELAY: Sets the amount of time (in msec) between the onset of a note and the beginning of the onset of vibrato. ONSET RATE: Sets the amount of time (in msec) between the end of the Onset Delay set above and the point at which the vibrato reaches the Amounts set in the Pitch, Amplitude and Formant Amount settings. PITCH AMOUNT: Sets the amount of pitch change. AMPLITUDE AMOUNT: Sets the amount of change in loudness. FORMANT AMOUNT: Sets the amount of formant variation.

Graphical Mode Features

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS Larger Pitch Edit Display Seriously reworked Graphical Editing Tools Multi-level Undo/Redo Vibrato Scaling Cursor Pitch Display (back again by popular demand) Streamlined navigation controls DETAILS PITCH EDIT DISPLAY The larger size should be pretty evident. And, as mentioned above in the Options Dialog section, you can choose three different color schemes. Other new features of the display include:
STREAMLINED NAVIGATION: We have rearranged the various scrolling and scaling controls such that they all cluster around the lower lefthand corner of the display. This should result in less mousing. The Envelope amplitude display is now auto-scaling, allowing us to eliminate its previous scaling controls. The scroll handles now size proportionally to the current display scale. AUTO-SCALING: After tracking, the pitch display will automatically scale in such a way as to include all of the tracked audio. No more hunting around looking for your pitch curves. Auto Mode Vibrato Settings Reflected in Make Auto Curves: If you are adding pitch variation using the Automatic Modes Vibrato function, the variation in pitch will be visually reflected in the yellow curve when you Make Auto. However, since there is no easy way to visually represent specific changes in amplitude or formant, if you have used the Automatic Modes Vibrato function to introduce amplitude and/or formant variation, the Make Auto curve will be blue rather than yellow to remind you that these elements will be introduced into your Graphical Mode output CURSOR PITCH DISPLAY: The exact pitch value of the cursor position is constantly displayed as a note name +/- cents. This display is always relative to the currently selected scale (i.e., only scale notes will appear in the pitch display). UNDO/REDO Up to 20 levels of Undo/Redo are available. Simply click the appropriate buttons. VIBRATO SCALING The purpose of this function is to quickly and easily change (either increasing or decreasing) the amount of an existing vibrato, while preserving the original shape and character of the vibrato. To use this function, select the I-beam tool and highlight the range of audio youd like to edit. When a range of audio is selected, the Make Vibrato Curve button becomes active. Set the desired amount of change using the Scale Vibrato Amount knob and then click the Make Vibrato Curve button to create a correction curve. Audition the result. If its not exactly what you wanted, click Undo and try again.

NOTE: This function uses the same algorithm as the Auto Modes Improved Targeting function to attempt to differentiate between vibrato and intended pitch changes. Therefore, you can typically select a portion of your audio containing both vibrato and intended pitch change and the Scale Vibrato function will scale the vibrato while leaving the intended pitch changes alone. But again, depending on the actual performance, sometimes this will work better than others. If Scale Vibrato seems to be making changes to parts of the audio youd like to leave alone, simply Undo the scaling and use the I-beam to select only the vibrato portions you wish to edit. GRAPHIC PITCH EDITING TOOLS As mentioned above, this is the one area where we have made substantive changes to previous functionality. We realize that it will undoubtedly cause some initial frustration for seasoned AT veterans while they have to relearn the new functionality, but it is our experience that the new tools provide both increased power and increased ease-of-use once you get used to them. So, without further ado, the new tools: NOTE: In addition to clicking on the various tools, if your host passes key presses to plug-ins, you can also select the various tools by pressing the number keys 1-7*. * NOTE ALSO: Some hosts reserve the numeric keypad for host keyboard shortcuts even when a plug-in window is selected. For that reason, the tool selection shortcuts mentioned above are specifically assigned only to the number keys that appear above the letter keys on the QWERTY portion of your keyboard. LINE TOOL (1): Works like current Auto-Tune 3 Line Tool, plus: Pressing Shift while drawing a line causes the line to snap to the nearest semitone. CURVE TOOL (2): Works exactly like the current Auto-Tune 3 Curve Tool. ARROW TOOL (3): In the pitch display, works as it does in Auto-Tune 3 with the following additions: Double-click anywhere on an existing line to add an intermediate handle point Double-click on an existing handle point (except for end points) to remove it and cause a straight line to be drawn between the now adjacent handle points. The Arrow Tool has no function in the Envelope display
SCISSORS TOOL (4): Click anywhere on an existing line or curve to break it in two at the point clicked. Although it will look like there is only one handle created at the break point, there are actually two (one for each of the two newly created line or curve segments). Simply move the top handle to reveal the other one. MAGNIFYING GLASS (5): Drag in the pitch display to zoom into that area (as in Auto-Tune 3) Click in the pitch display to increase both horizontal and vertical zoom factors one step (if possible). Cursor shows default + Option(Mac)/Alt(PC)-Click in the pitch display to decrease both horizontal and vertical zoom factors one step (if possible). Cursor changes to - while modification key is pressed. Drag in the Envelope display to have that time range appear in the pitch display (most useful for navigating when the Envelope display in in all mode). The pitch range of the pitch display will be automatically scaled such that all of pitch information in that time range is visible on the screen. I-BEAM TOOL (6): Drag in either the pitch or Envelope display to select an area for Make Curve or Make Auto or Vibrato Scaling. The selection area is reflected in both displays. HAND TOOL (7): Drag in any direction in the pitch display to move the area displayed. Drag in the Envelope display to move the area displayed horizontally. NOTE: This only works if Tie is selected. If All is selected, the icon will have an X through it to indicate that movement is not possible. Have fun!

Chapter 6: Creative Applications for Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune 4 works on vocals so well you may think thats all it can do. Actually, lots of instruments can use it to great advantage. Fretless bass, electric violin, trombone, even the theremin, all feature continuous pitch potential, unconstrained by frets or keys. Here are some other ideas for using Auto-Tune 4: Produce instant double tracking in one take! Record onto two tracks, processing only one of the tracks through Auto-Tune 4. If youre going for a tight double track, set Retune Speed rather fast and Detune Auto-Tune 4 slightly. Increase both of these parameters to broaden the doubled effect. You can also use some Vibrato to make a more dynamic effect (small depth and rate values are best, with medium delay). Of course, you can also decide to record a single virgin track, and bounce that to another, processing through Auto-Tune 4. This way you can dial in the effect while auditioning the mix. Recording with two mics (as above) while improvising can also produce heterophonic effects (the effect of two players and instruments playing the same melody, which actually varies with some different pitch material). The more constrained your scale is in Auto-Tune 4, the morevariation there will be between the two performances. To set up a drone or ambient aura behind a melodic performance, try sending some of the signal to Auto-Tune 4 with an extremely constrained scale (for example, in the key of C: C, F, G, A#) and then on to a lush, long reverb. The effect produced will be a steady backdrop of chanting tones behind the main melodic material. Dont be afraid to use just as little of Auto-T une 4 as you need. Its quite possible that a performer has really quite good intonation, but fails consistently on one or two notes. In this case, use Auto-Tune 4s individual Bypass function (using the Edit Scale display or on the Virtual Keyboard) to bypass all the notes except the one(s) which need the retuning. This way, Auto-Tune 4 is working in a completely transparent mode, and only when needed.

Bypass 15

Antares Audio Technologies contacting iv Authorizing Auto-Tune Auto-Tune 4 background 5 what it is 5 Automatic Mode 2, 9 Controls 17 Retune Speed 10 Scales 9 Vibrato 10 Automatic Mode Controls 17 Bypass 21 Bypass All 23 Cents 22 Edit Scale Display 20 Hold Button 32 Improved Targeting 29 Key Selection 17 Knobs 17 Octave as Played/All Octaves 27 Pitch Change Indicator 32 Remove 21 Remove All 23 Retune Speed 28 Scale Detune 27 Scale Selection 17 Set All 22 Set Major Scale/Set Minor Scale 23 The Scales 18 Tracking 28 Vibrato Section 29 Virtual Keyboard Common Controls 13 Bypass 15 Correction Mode 14 Input Type 14 Options 15 Sample Rate Display 13 Select Pitch Reference 14 Correction Mode 14