Pitch correction

Pitch correction is the process of correcting the intonation of an audio signal without affecting other aspects of its sound. Pitch correction first detects the pitch of an audio signal by looking for a periodic repeating waveform and then calculating the time difference from these periodic waveforms. The widest use of pitch correctors is in Western popular music on vocal lines.

History

For a long time, music producers have been able to use slow studio processes to manually tweak the pitch on a track. The Auto-Tune Pitch Correcting Plug-In was introduced by Antares Audio Technology in 1997 and continues to be among the leading pitch correction software programs, and was the first pitch correction technology that worked in real-time, allowing it to be used during a live performance instead of just as a studio touch-up tool ^[1]. Celemony's Melodyne, with its Direct Note Access, is another popular pitch correction tool. Originally available as a software plugin exclusively for use in Pro Tools, pitch correction is now being included with digital audio editing software such as Apple Logic Pro and Adobe Audition. It is also available as rackmount hardware, such as the TC-Helicon VoiceOne.

Uses of pitch correction

Besides correcting out-of-tune vocals, pitch correction has numerous other applications and is commonly used to add a harmony to certain words or phrases without re-recording those words or phrases again and again at the necessary pitches. Depending on the specific model used, various vocal effects can be added and the better quality devices can be adjusted to allow expression to remain in the music with some pitch correctors even possessing the ability to add vibrato.

With extreme parameter values, pitch correction has also become popular as a distinctively electronic voice effect. A notable example of Auto-Tune-based pitch correction is the Cher effect, named for Cher, who originated the effect in her 1998 hit song "Believe".^[2]

Criticism

One criticism of pitch correction is that it allows recording engineers to create a perfectly in-tune performance from a vocalist who isn't skilled enough to give one, adding a level of dishonesty to music. ^[3] This concept was featured in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "New Kids on the Blecch" in which a cartoon representation of a pitch corrector (labeled "Studio Magic") is used to replace the total lack of singing talent in a manufactured boy band of which Bart Simpson is a member.

In 2003, Allison Moorer attached stickers to her album Miss Fortune reading "Absolutely no vocal tuning or pitch-correction was used in the making of this record." ^[4]

Neko Case in an 2006 interview with Pitchfork Media gave an example about how prevalent pitch correction is in the industry:

I'm not a perfect note hitter either but I'm not going to cover it up with Auto-Tune. Everybody uses it, too. I once asked a studio guy in Toronto, "How many people don't use Auto-Tune?" and he said, "You and Nelly Furtado are the only two people who've never used it in here." Even though I'm not into Nelly Furtado, it kind of made me respect her. It's cool that she has some integrity.^[5]

See also

• Pitch shift
• Auto-Tune plugin by Antares Audio Technologies

References

External links

• Is it live or is it… 'auto-tuned'?
• Antares Auto-Tune - Pitch correction software
• Celemony Melodyne - Pitch correction software
• VisualVox VST - Pitch correction software
• GSnap - Free pitch correction software
• Autotalent - Free and Open-Source pitch correction software
• WikiRecording's Guide to Direct Note Access, polyphonic pitch correction

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