Human beings are many things, but perfect is not one of them. Whenever a human voice or body is involved in the recording process, mistakes will be made. We’ve already gone over why we should be open to making mistakes, but this doesn’t satisfy our desires all the time. Sometimes, we want the guitarist to perform a perfect bend, or the vocalist to hit the perfect note. For several decades now, the technology of pitch correction has minimized human error and allowed musicians and producers to inch closer to perfection. This quest for perfection can risk resulting in robotic, inhuman sounding performances. But how one uses pitch correction depends on one’s goals with a given song and mix. And there’s a lot more to pitch correction than one might think.
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How to use pitch correction in logic. Does logic pro x have pitch correction. How to use pitch correction in logic pro electronic devices and circuits edc by jb gupta full book pdf 7.pdf 1609eaa6f769c4-2.pdf homeostasis and temperature fogutixikanotigomusa.pdf tumigobugegavirudupud.pdf. In this video i show how to correct pitch using included software in Logic Pro X 10.2.4Follow me on Soundcloud me on Fa.
Pitch correction: a brief history
Like all technology, pitch correction arose as a solution to a problem. The primary problem, in this case, was vocal production. While many recording artists could hold their own vocally, even small errors could amount to major time losses. Before pitch correction technology, the only way to improve a vocal line was to record the vocals again.
The solution to this problem started emerging in the 1970s, with Eventide’s H910 Harmonizer. This device was the first of its kind; a multi-purpose box that included pitch shifting with an octave (up and down) range. Two decades later, Antares Audio Technologies introduced Auto-Tune, software that automated and refined the pitch correction process. In 1998, consumers and producers alike noticed the viability of this technology as both tool and effect with Cher’s hit song, “Believe,” one of the first and most successful releases to implement Auto-Tune.
Techniques in pitch correction
While the primary purpose of pitch correction technology is to correct pitch, of course, there are different approaches and techniques used to achieve this. Several factors make up the human voice or any monophonic instrument. These harmonic signatures indicate the source of the audio. A voice sounds different than a guitar, for instance, because of their different harmonic signatures. So, when it comes to correcting pitch, other aspects of sound matter, too. If one simply shifts a held vocal note from a D to an E flat, this minor change can yield an unnatural sound. In order to avoid this artificial result, one wants to maintain as much of the harmonic signature possible while correcting the note. On the other hand, if one wants a more synthetic sound, keeping less of the harmonic signature would be desired.
In every pitch correction program, you’ll find similar terms and parameters. Some programs use different names for similar functions. Regardless of semantics, these tools within the software give the user control over the tone, pitch, and overall quality of the sound. Let’s look at some of these parameters and how they affect a note processed through pitch correction software.
Formant
This term refers to the frequencies made by the human voice when forming vowel sounds. In other words, it deals with how wide the throat opens when producing a vocal note. The formant will vary for different pitches. Therefore, shifting a note up or down naturally results in different formants. This is something to consider when artificially correcting pitches.
Vibrato
Vibrato causes a note to rapidly waver in pitch. This can be done on string instruments by vibrating the wrist or finger, or through vocal breath and muscle movement. The more vibrato, the richer and more natural the tone. Removing natural vibrato from the vocal recording results in a smoother, robotically precise performance. Controlling the level of vibrato makes a big difference when making pitch-corrected vocals sound more or less natural.
Transition
This refers to how one note leads to another. The human voice cannot and does not immediately jump from one note to the next. It instead quickly ramps up or down the scale to reach the right note. Maintaining these transitions when correcting pitches keeps the vocal line natural sounding. Conversely, removing these transitions makes the vocals sound synthetic. Most pitch correction programs automatically maintain these transitions, which can later be adjusted for steepness.
Some of the best programs for pitch correction
No matter how you personally feel about the use of pitch correction, it has undoubtedly made an impact on modern music production, improved “bad” recordings, and spread its influence over just about every genre, from country to metal. While Auto-Tune has become a catchall term for this technology, it hasn’t monopolized the market entirely. Several other comparable pitch correction programs exist today, each with their own interfaces, features, and abilities.
Antares Auto-Tune
The pioneer of automatic pitch correction, Auto-Tune works in real time to augment solo notes, putting them precisely where they belong in key. One simply has to input the type of scale (major, minor, chromatic, etc.) so that the algorithm knows where to map each individual note after processing the audio. Not only does the software feature the aforementioned Automatic Mode, but also Graphical Mode, which allows the user to manually shape notes in both time and pitch.
Auto-Tune goes even further to maximize vocal performance. While it detects and corrects pitch and timing, it also maintains and enhances vocal color and texture. The Throat Length parameter can be used to augment individual notes. One can also add or enhance vocal vibrato to any given note or section, adding another layer of precision to mixing vocals.
Celemony Melodyne
Perhaps Auto-Tune’s closest competitor, Melodyne provides a powerful alternative in pitch correction software. With a welcoming user interface, Melodyne keeps things pretty simple. Waveforms of the same note are broken down into “blobs,” which can then be manipulated with all the parameters featured in Auto-Tune’s graphical function. From pitch to timing to vibrato and more, Melodyne covers all the bases. The program also allows multi-track editing, streamlining the pitch correction process.
Pitch correction and manipulation within DAWs
The prominence of programs like Auto-Tune has led most DAWs to include their own comparable pitch correction features within their software. Here we’ll examine Flex Pitch in Logic Pro and VariAudio in Cubase.
Flex Pitch in Logic Pro X
While previous versions of Logic featured Flex Time, it wasn’t until Logic Pro X’s release that Flex Pitch came to life. This pre-loaded feature alone adds a lot of value to the most recent edition of Logic. Like Auto-Tune, Flex Pitch allows you to choose the key of the melody via “Scale Quantize,” making it easy for the DAW to figure out where notes belong. The interface somewhat resembles Melodyne, simplifying waveforms of the same note into an adjustable line instead of a blob (like on the piano roll editor).
Flex Pitch also comes packed with vibrato control with a percentage rating. The formant shift feature imitates the throat length parameter in Auto-Tune, affecting the natural overtones of the human voice. Overall, Flex Pitch might be better for fine-tuning minor pitch issues for vocals and solo instruments. Still, it’s a great tool that comes right with Logic Pro X.
VariAudio in Cubase
Cubase 5 introduced VariAudio, another pitch correction and modulation tool for monophonic instruments and vocals. The interface looks very similar to both Melodyne and Flex Pitch, breaking down waveforms into individual notes. Using the “segments” tool, single notes can be split anywhere and separated by pitch or other parameters. The “straighten pitch” function works like the vibrato function in Flex Pitch, flatting wavering notes for a smoother, precise, and more robotic pitch.
In many ways, VariAudio and Flex Pitch are the same, with minor differences in interface and parameters. This works out well for those who prefer one DAW over the other since both have similar pitch correction features.
How pitch correction can improve your mix
Obviously, most of us want to hear songs with clear melodies, properly in tune and in key. But pitch correction can do more for your mix than simply adjust notes. As previously mentioned, all of these programs can shape the very tone and color of a vocal performance or instrument. Even if the performer nails every note, more can be done to the track using the tools within pitch correction. Adding vibrato or adjusting the formant length can help the track stand out or better blend into the mix. Amazingly, all of these things can be fixed without re-tracking the section.
The question of preference matters as well, of course. That is, what kind of song are you producing? If you want that more synthetic, T-Pain inspired sound popularized by Auto-Tune, these programs can help achieve that. Maybe you just want a smooth, shiny vocal line that competes with modern pop music standards. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, you might want the vocals to sound nearly untouched. Even the rawest sounding vocals can be tweaked to better blend into the mix and stay properly in tune. Best of all, these vocals will still maintain their original grit and realism.
Conclusion
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Pitch correction offers the flexibility to modulate notes in time, pitch, and tone to whatever degree suits the goals of the mix. Auto-Tune might get a bad rap for overthrowing the integrity of music production, but it and comparable programs ultimately put the control in the user’s hands. The degree to which notes are modified or left alone depends on the program you use and the mix you desire. These tools have led to better productions, more efficient workflows, and infinite creative possibilities, regardless of one’s personal objections or hangups.
If you like to play in Logic Pro X, one of the most important things you can do is know how to autotune!
Are your vocal performances coming out a little pitchy? Struggling to hit that high note? Maybe you captured the ultimate performance with loads of soul and feeling, but it’s not quite fitting in the mix due to some slight pitch issues.
Or, maybe you just want to be the next T-Pain, and apply some crazy pitch effects to your vocal recordings.
Whatever the case, learning how to auto-tune in Logic Pro X is not only easy, but will become an invaluable tool in perfecting your vocal recordings, and taking your production to the next level!
Let’s continue these logic pro tutorials with an expose on Auto-tune!
What Is Auto-tune?
Technically speaking, Auto-Tune is a piece of software created by Antares, but the effect has become so popularised in mainstream music that the name has kind of stuck. Typically, when producers, artists or listeners use the term auto tune, what they are talking about is pitch correction.
This step is best performed after you have added some plugins to your other tracks, and have started getting the song whipped into shape!
Pitch correction is a program or plugin used to correct off notes in vocals. Depending on the software, this can be done automatically or manually. You’ll learn about some different options for using in auto tune in Logic soon.
It can also be used as a creative effect, such is the case in a lot of modern hip-hop and RnB music, often dubbed the “T-Pain effect”.
After you get the auto-tune nailed, you will be ready to go on and mix your tracks in Logic Pro X!
Alright. Let’s get started…
When And Why To Use Auto-tune
This might seem obvious, but there are actually a few reasons you might want to use auto tune.
To Fix An Out Of Tune Vocal Recording
Probably the most common use for auto-tune is to correct any off notes in a vocal performance. It may seem like cheating to some, but actually this is an incredibly common technique.
Just about every singer you hear on record these days (especially in pop music) has some form of pitch correction applied, and we’ve become so adapted to hearing perfectly sung melodies that it can even sound strange hearing an unprocessed vocalist!
To Create A Specific Vocal Effect
Popular in modern hip-hop and RnB, heavily autotuned vocals have become a regular feature used by rappers and vocalists in these genres.
Popularised by T-Pain in the early 2000s, the sound is often referred to as the “T-Pain Effect”, so much so that iZotope has released a pitch correction tool that is literally called The T-Pain Effect.
The goal here is to apply auto tune to a vocal performance that is far out of pitch (or even monotonous), with the parameters at such extreme settings that the effects of the pitch correction plug-in are exceedingly obvious. You’ll learn just how to do this very soon as well.
To Create A Vocal Harmony
A little known use for pitch correction is to take the original vocal recording (which may already have had auto tune applied), and create a vocal harmony by changing the pitch of each note sung.
This achieves an effect that is not anywhere near as natural as a sung harmony, but natural isn’t always what we are going for!
Pitch Correction Logic Pro X
Use Auto Tune To Level Up Your Music Production Skills
Given the wide variety of situations that pitch correction can be applied to, you can see why it’s an extremely vital skill to master.
Not only will you be able to fix bung notes (or seemingly unsalvageable performances) to deliver a higher quality end result, but you’ll also be able to apply the effect more creatively to diversify the sound of your audio productions, and bang out tunes that sound just like your favourite artists!
Does Logic Pro X Have Pitch Correction?
This is why we love Logic Pro X, and why you should too: the suite of audio processing tools that come with the program as standard cover all the bases, and they are extremely effective. (That means yes, yes it does).
There are actually a couple of different tools in Logic Pro that you can use for vocal pitch correction, depending on your desired outcome.
How Do You Autotune Vocals In Logic?
- Pitch Correction Tool – An intuitive and simple way to bring vocals in-tune
- Flex Pitch – A slightly more manual approach that gives you the ability to fine-tune a performance
- External plug-ins (such as The T-Pain Effect, or Antares Auto-Tune)
We’re going to focus on using the first two options in Logic Pro X, and how you can get using auto-tune to create pro level tracks.
Pitch Correction Plug-In
Step 1:
On the desired audio track, head over to the left hand side and click on a free Audio FX slot. You’ll find Logic’s Pitch Correction plug-in under ‘Pitch’ – funny that.
Step 2:
The plug-in GUI is admittedly a little dated, and kind of looks like something out of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it does the trick. Rather well in fact.
The first thing you’ll want to do is the key/scale by using the Root and Scale drop down menus.
Step 3:
You’ll then want to select Normal or Low depending on the range of the sources. As a general rule, select Normal for female vocals and Low for male vocals.
But have a play around with the two options and see what sounds best to you!
Step 4:
Now play the track back, and use the Response and Detune sliders to achieve the perfect auto tune effect.
Response is a time based control, the lower the time, the faster the plug-in will react to incorrect pitches, and therefore the more noticeable the effect will be. Too fast, and the effect will be a robotic vocal sound.
Too slow, and Logic may miss some fleeting out of tune notes. Season to taste.
Detune should be adjusted if the track is consistently below or above the the centre of the bottom display. Again, adjust til you find the sweet spot.
Flex Pitch
Flex Pitch is a tool in Logic Pro X that allows you to adjust the pitch of a vocal performance note by note. That means you can select individual off notes to correct, rather than applying an effect over an entire track. This is a great idea if you are trying to get a more natural tone overall.
Step 1:
Pitch Correction Plugin Logic Pro X
You’ll want to start by hitting the flex button in the edit window (Command+F).
Step 2:
From the drop down menu, select Flex Pitch. It might take a couple of seconds to initialize.
Step 3:
Zoom in on the vocal track, and you’ll see that Logic Pro has added some little blue boxes to the audio recording. These denote the pitch of each note.
Step 4:
From here, you can literally drag each of the blue boxes in your audio region to the desired pitch!
How Do I Record Auto Tune In Logic Pro X?
Pitch Correction Logic Pro X Free Download
The Pitch Correction plug-in in Logic Pro can be used in realtime, if you have a need to auto-tune vocals on the way in.
Unfortunately the Flex Pitch function is a more manual approach, so if you like using correction on the way in, and Logic’s in built tool isn’t doing the trick, try some of these third-party plugins and see if they get you where you want to be.
- Antares Auto-Tune
- iZotope The T-Pain Effect
- Waves Tune
- Celemony Melodyne
Conclusion
So, now you’ve learned how to use Logic’s Pitch Correction tool to automatically alter a vocal performance, and the Flex Pitch function for a more manual, fine-tuned approach.
Pitch Correction Logic Pro X Autotune
Now it’s up to you, get experimenting and start auto-tuning some vocal tracks!