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.

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:

How To Use Auto-Tune (Pitch Correction) In iOS. Setting up pitch correction and auto-tune in iOS isn’t much different from how you’d do it on the Mac. Without further ado. 1) The first thing you want to do, is hit the option, “+” on the top right-hand side of the screen when you first open up Garageband iOS. GSnap is an auto-tune effect. It can be used subtly to correct the pitch of a vocal, or, with more extreme settings, to create a robot-voice effect. It requires a monophonic input signal to operate. The GUI features a set of 12 knobs which control all of the plug-in's parameters. Nov 29, 2017 Realistic Pitch Correction With Auto-Tune Evo. Figure 1: Choose the scale that fits the key to your song. Auto-Tune’s options include multiple scales from around the world. Scale Setting the scale to the actual key of your song will help to minimize errors in automatic tuning.

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.

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 wor

Auto Tune Chromatic Setting