️ For who: This template is made for Rappers and Producers that want to speed up their mixing and mastering process while only using stock Pro Tools plugins and free plugins. I’m Shaun, and I have mixed Hip Hop music for 10 years working with hundreds of artists and producers all over the world. Get free Pro Tools plugins now, no signups, no credit card, totally free Pro Tools plug-ins in AAX, AudioSuite and RTAS formats. Get them now for your Avid Pro Tools DAW. Sep 20, 2011 g-Snap is a vst-only plugin, which means it actually isn't supported by Pro Tools. FXpansion make a vst-to-rtas wrapper (which enables you to use vst plugs in Pro Tools) - it costs about £50 though, so prob kinda misses the point of using a free plugin! Auto-Tune Pro adds automatic key and scale detection with the new Auto-Key plugin (included with your Auto-Tune Pro purchase), a Classic Mode algorithm which brings back the celebrated “Auto-Tune 5 sound,” real-time MIDI Parameter Control, and ARA (Audio Random Access) functionality for closer integration with supported host applications.
- Free Autotune Plugin
- Is There A Stock Auto Tune Plugin In Pro Tools And Volume
- Auto-tune Plugin Download
- Is There A Stock Auto Tune Plugin In Pro Tools Download
Whether you’re a home producer or work at a major recording studio, Autotune and other pitch correction software can help deal with a weak vocal performance.
In a hurry? I love Melodyne 4 Studio from Celemony. It’s sounds incredible, leaving little to no artifacts on vocals recorded in a treated space, but are in need of a little fixing.
But Autotune isn’t reserved exclusively for pitch correction. T-Pain popularized the hard-straightened pitch, even going as far as releasing an iOS app called “I Am T-Pain.”
Pitch correction software can also be utilized for other instruments as well. I’ve even used VariAudio (the “Autotune” built into Cubase) on bass guitar parts that were slightly out of tune. The result was surprisingly excellent, with little to no audio artifacts.
There’s a lot you can do with Autotune and similar software.
With so many options for producers, how can you decide on which one to use? Fortunately, I’ve had the experience working with many pitch correction plugins to weed out the good from the bad.
I’m going to include both free and paid options, so please read on!
Have an interest in virtual instruments? Don’t miss my other roundups!
Table of Contents
1) Antares Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)
Auto-Tune is the original pitch correction software. It’s so popular that its name is synonymous and is more of a colloquial term.
Antares gives you a couple of options to pick from depending on your needs — Pro, Artist, Access, or EFX+. As you’d guess, the price moves up the more features there are.
Auto-Tune is very hands-off. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s the most straightforward plugin for correcting pitch.
Pros
- Easy to use for beginners
- Lightweight on memory
- Great-looking user interface
Cons
- AUTO mode is limited
- Difficult for beginners to use GRAPH
- A little outdated compared
When using Auto-Tune on a vocal track in AUTO mode, set the key, the retune speed, and the amount of humanization. You should be able to hit the playback button now and hear hopefully great results.
Because it’s simplicity, I find that it doesn’t perform as well as others (when using the quick settings) that require more fine-tune vocal editing.
To fix an abysmal vocal performance, use the graph mode and hand tune each note to your liking. This process is much more complicated but yields a far better result.
I am not huge on Auto-Tune (I know many are), but it can deliver exceptional results. If you take the time to learn how to use it properly, you’ll have great-sounding vocals with ease.
Auto-Tune from Antares is available at Plugin Boutique.
2) Steinberg VariAudio — Cubase Pro (Paid)
Steinberg’s VariAudio is a pitch correction software included in Cubase Pro. It’s not a standalone plugin, so you won’t be able to use it if you don’t own Cubase Pro.
But, for those of you with Cubase who didn’t realize your DAW has pitch correction, rejoice!
I love VariAudio — so much so that I couldn’t imagine switching DAWs. I’ve been on Cubase for ten years, so I know my way around, but VariAudio is the one thing that will keep me as a forever customer.
Pros
Free Autotune Plugin
- Integrated into Cubase
- Quick to edit any clip
- Very fast and no CPU
Cons
- Audio artifacts are very noticeable if not careful
- Limited cutting resolution
- Not intuitive at first
VariAudio functions similar to Melodyne and Auto-Tune’s graph mode. Double-clicking on a clip opens up the editor, where you can choose to enable VariAudio — no plugin required.
From here, it’s simple as using Pitch Quantize and Straighten Pitch on each clip. Cutting clips also helps pitch only individual sections of a waveform.
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The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.
I highly recommend considering Cubase Pro if you plan to switch DAWs — for VariAudio exclusively!
Steinberg’s Cubase Pro is available from Plugin Fox.
3) Celemony Melodyne (Paid)
We’re moving up the price ladder, but for a good reason. Melodyne from Celemony is one of the most utilized pitch correction plugins used by professional vocal editors and producers.
Melodyne offers (to my ears) the most accurate and musical sounding algorithm, leaving no tuning artifacts that are easily recognizable to the untrained ear.
Pros
- Incredible-sounding algorithm
- Tons of flexibility when vocals sound poor
- Zero audio artifacts in most cases
Cons
- Difficult for new users
- Rather expensive
The software has incredible note detection allowing for more accurate tuning. I find that in VariAudio, there are times that the software cannot understand individual notes, so they are omitted. It’s not too often this occurs, but Melodyne does it better.
Melodyne is available at Plugin Boutique.
4) Waves Tune (Paid)
Waves Tune operates similarly to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Before you begin tuning, the software scans the audio track and displays audio waveforms.
The process of editing is quite similar as well, though the interface is slightly dated.
When you type 42 (or whatever) as the first integer, you actually type three characters: 4, 2 and then the newline character that comes from pressing ENTER. Your first scanf reads an integer, which means that it only reads the 4 and the 2, leaving the newline character in the input buffer. When your program gets to gets, it reads a the very short line that consists just of that newline character. Dev c++ 5.11. Dev-C is a free IDE for Windows that uses either MinGW or TDM-GCC as underlying compiler. Originally released by Bloodshed Software, but abandoned in 2006, it has recently been forked by Orwell, including a choice of more recent compilers. C gets The gets function in C reads characters from stdin and stores them until a newline character is found or end of file occurs. Char. gets ( char. str ); Get string from stdin Reads characters from the standard input ( stdin ) and stores them as a C string into str until a newline character or the end-of-file is reached. Because it's declared in stdio.h (cstdio in C) header and you haven't included it. But you shall not use gets. It's a hopelessly broken function. Use fgets instead. Even better, ditch the naked pointers to char arrays and use std::string class instead.
Pros
- Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
- Relatively lightweight on CPU
Cons
- Outdated
- Difficult to use
I have never enjoyed using Waves Tune but figured it needed a mention since Waves is one of the most popular audio plugin companies.
5) Waves Tune Real-Time (Paid)
While cheaper than the regular version of Tune, Tune Real-Time offers a quick and user-friendly experience for tuning vocals. I’d compare this plugin to using Auto-Tune on AUTO mode.
Note transition is iffy at best and artifacts are present throughout (at least when I used it). The plugin isn’t smooth sounding at all, and there aren’t many parameter changes available.
I’d recommend Real-Time for two different scenarios. The first being someone new to audio production looking to fix a vocal without technical knowledge of tuning vocals. You won’t get the most professional sound, but it will be acceptable.
The second scenario is for producers working with singers in the studio who struggle to sing on pitch.
Using a pitch-correction software can boost the confidence of the singer in the booth, though I can’t say for sure if this will lead to a better sounding vocal take.
Despite the marketing of Waves Tune Real-Time, claiming instant vocal tuning, I could envision latency becoming an issue in some home studio settings.
Free Auto-Tune VST Plugins
If you’re on the fence about which one to get or want to save a little cash, try some of these free pitch correction plugins I’ve listed below.
Things To Consider When Choosing a Pitch Correction Software Plugin
Despite all the choices I’ve laid out, you still may be confused on the correct option. Here are some things to consider before making a decision.
Does the software maker provide a trial?
If so, take the trial and check out the software! There’s nothing more frustrating than buying a plugin only to find out that it’s non-refundable.
Do you need graph editing functionality?
Graph editing, like seen in Melodyne and VariAudio, is for advanced vocal editors. If you need a quick tuning for a little enhancement of a track, you may not need to edit each note.
If you want to draw in the notes physically, a more advanced pitch correction software will be necessary.
Further features you may desire are formant control, MIDI input (for vocoder), and note straightness. These types of effects are often essential in a lot of today’s popular music.
Does your DAW already have pitch processing?
Mine does — that’s why I’ve included VariAudio in this list. Digital audio workstations like Propellerhead’s Reason and MOTU Digital Performer also come with their native pitch correction software.
Wrapping Up
Which one do I like most? If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive.
So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments. Thanks for reading!
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Ever since Auto-Tune first worked its way into the public consciousness in 1998 (on the Cher song “Do You Believe”), automatic Pitch Correction and Pitch Processing has been an integral part of modern music production. It’s primarily applied to vocal recordings, but of course it can be used on any instrument (guitar, bass) or audio signal, as long as it’s a monophonic melody (with one major exception—see below).
Pitch Processing has evolved from its humble beginnings—simply auto-correcting the intonation of slightly off-pitch notes—to incorporate much more powerful pitch editing features, including the capability to creatively edit individual notes within audio recordings in both pitch and time. And, as we all know, even the limitations of the technology have been adapted for creative use (or over-use) as a special effect.
In fact, Pitch Processing is so ubiquitous nowadays that there are dozens of programs and plug-ins that do it, and while they all handle the most basic (auto-correction) functions easily, when it comes to the more advanced processing tasks, they bring slightly different layouts and features to the table. And a few of the most advanced processors offer their own unique capabilities.
In this article, I’ll take a look at some modern Pitch Processors—both DAW built-ins and third-party plug-ins & standalone applications. I’ll start off by going through the features that (most) all of them have in common, then take a look at a few differences (in layout and implementation), and finish with some special capabilities of the most cutting-edge products.
Common Ground
All modern Pitch Processors have the ability to auto-correct the intonation of out-of-tune notes. Auto-correction plug-ins implement this as a realtime, non-destructive operation. You simply insert the pitch correction plug-in on the audio track, make a couple of quick settings, and hit play. The grandfather of realtime auto-correction, was, of course, Auto-Tune, but it’s now been joined by many other plug-ins, including DAW built-ins like Logic’s Pitch Corrector plug-in.
Is There A Stock Auto Tune Plugin In Pro Tools And Volume
As you can see below, the main controls are basically the same—there’s a tuning reference, and, most importantly, a Speed control (labelled “Response” in Logic).
Fig 2. Basic (and more advanced scale) controls in Auto-Tune and Logic’s Pitch Corrector plug-in.
The speed setting determines how quickly the processor reacts to the detection of an off-pitch note in the audio. This is the key to getting auto-correction to either do its job transparently, with (virtually) no noticeable side-effects, or to provide that well-known special effect. Speed settings from around 60-100 milliseconds preserve the natural imperceptible slides between notes that all singers do. If the Speed is set to its fastest setting, the pitch is fully quantized—the famous effect, something no singer is capable of.
Most auto-correction processors also usually include options for (user-adjustable) scale settings (Fig 2), which allow the user to restrict pitch-correction to only certain notes in a musical scale. Auto-Tune has even more advanced features as well, including vibrato and formant controls (Fig 2).
Audio Example 1: A vocal line: the original; subtly auto-corrected, first with Logic’s Pitch Correction plug-in; then with Auto-Tune; then run through Auto-Tune with the Speed set to 0 (fastest) for the classic pitch-quantized Auto-Tune (“Cher”) effect:
Off The Grid
Non-realtime (offline) graphic pitch editing capability is included with some auto-correction plug-ins (Auto-Tune features both modes), and many DAWs have both realtime (plug-in) and offline (graphic) features. Graphic pitch editors are, by now, pretty familiar—they all resemble a MIDI piano roll editor, with the individual detected notes represented as bars (or “blobs”, in Melodyne), which can be dragged around freely by hand. These graphic editors also usually incorporate an auto-correct mode, but their main purpose is more specific tweaks. This is where the application of pitch processing shifts from simple correction to more creative uses. Besides the Auto-Tune plug-in’s Graphic mode, graphic Pitch Processing can be found in most DAWs these days—Logic’s Flex Pitch and Cubase’s VariAudio are perfect examples of this. And standalone applications (which can often be sync’d to the DAW) also offer it, like Synchro Arts’ Revoice Pro, which has some unique capabilities, and, most notably, Celemony’s Melodyne (Editor), which, even offers polyphonic pitch processing (see below), and is available in both plug-in and standalone form.
Fig 3. Graphic Pitch Processors (clockwise from top left): Auto-Tune’s Graphic mode, Logic’s Flex Pitch, Cubase’s VariAudio, Melodyne, Revoice Pro’s Warp Process.
In all cases, the audio must first be analyzed, and the individual pitches detected, before editing can begin. Once this is done, the note bars can be dragged freely, or snapped to discrete pitches (and of course, in all these graphic displays, timing can also be simultaneously tweaked, though here I’m just focussing on pitch). But besides manual note adjustments, graphic editors provide the ability to tweak more than just the basic pitch of the notes. Curves within each note block display pitch variations within and between notes—(unsteady) pitch drifting, sliding in or out of notes (or from one note to another), and even vibrato (see Fig 4). These curves can also be dragged, again, for either corrective or creative purposes, or to compensate for artifacts that might result from changing pitches. Most editors even feature the ability to alter the formants of the the notes (formants are fixed resonances that give each singer his/her unique vocal tone).
Fig 4. Additional pitch-related parameters that can be edited in graphic displays (shown in Flex Pitch).
Graphic pitch processing allows for customized creative edits, like the manual creation of particular harmonies, from a copy of the original melody. And since the pitches are already detected (to make the processing possible), most graphic pitch editors also include an Audio-to-MIDI conversion feature, which generates a string of MIDI notes from the audiofile, saved as a Standard MIDI File, which can then be imported back into the DAW for creative applications, like doubling a vocal line with an instrument, or replacing a less-than-steller-sounding instrument recording with a MIDI-triggered sample (Audio Ex. 2).
Audio Example 2: A bass audio track converted to MIDI, triggering a sampled bass (original audio, then MIDI conversion):
Auto-tune Plugin Download
Differences and Special Features
Now, so far, I’ve been describing features that are common to Pitch Processors—so what are some differences among them? Well, I’d say differences fall into two main areas—sound quality, and special features.
As for sound quality, most realtime auto-correction plug-ins get the job done with little significant audible difference when it comes to the most basic corrective tasks. However, they may require different settings for the best results. For example, I’ve found that Auto-Tune does its best work with Speed settings around 60 milliseconds or less, while Logic’s Pitch Correction plug-in may sound a little effect-y at that speed, typically achieving its best results with speed (Response) settings of 100 milliseconds or so.
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With the graphic editors, the biggest sound-quality difference is usually how far they can pitch-shift a note away from its original pitch before it begins to sound unacceptably artificial/processed (munchkinization). Typically, with most of the processors I’ve used, this is about three or four semitones at most, and then at least some hint of artifact begins to creep in. In the past, I felt Melodyne was the clear winner here, but lately, it seems that all the Pitch Editors are quietly improving their algorithms bit-by-bit, version-by-version. Since pitch-shifting quality varies considerably depending on the particular voice/recording, it can be handy to have a couple of Pitch Processors available—one’s algorithms may simply be a better match for a particular audio file than another.
Audio Example 3: The same harmony line created by pitch-shifting with Logic’s Flex Pitch, Melodyne, and Revoice Pro:
(1) Original audio; (2) Logic harmony line; together; (3) Melodyne harmony; together; (4) Revoice harmony; together
To Each His Own
While the layout and feature set of most graphic pitch editors is pretty similar, some present a little differently. Pro Tools’ Elastic Pitch is a considerably simpler affair than Logic’s or Cubase’s—it does not offer graphic editing capability (as opposed to their Elastic Audio (time-shifting) feature, which does, and is as full-featured as any). Elastic Pitch is an offline pitch-transposition that can be applied to individual regions (via the Elastic Properties window), but it doesn’t offer auto-correction, a graphic mode, or any of the extra pitch tweaks I mentioned above. Most critically, it doesn’t have any Formant compensation, so it’s really best suitable for small pitch corrections and transpositions of no more than a semitone or so.
Logic’s Flex Pitch and Cubase’s VariAudio both have the full set of graphic editing features I described, as does Melodyne, and the Warp Process feature in Revoice Pro, though there are slight differences in implementation here & there. With Audio-to-MIDI conversion, both Cubase and Melodyne convert not only the notes, but velocities as well (from the level of the audio wave for each note), while Logic currently does not, setting all the converted MIDI notes to a fixed velocity. While all the editors have the same note(block)-dragging capabilities, the way the extra performance gestures (slides, vibrato) are addressed can vary slightly. For example, Logic and Cubase feature draggable curves on top of the note blocks, while Melodyne employs different tools for these various editing functions (Fig 7).
Fig 5. Editing features in Logic, Cubase, and Melodyne.
Special Sauce
Two Pitch Processors that have particular and unique extra features are Revoice Pro and Melodyne.
Revoice Pro is a specialized application—its primary purpose is to synchronize dubbed dialog to location recordings—that is, to match the timing of one take precisely to another. But it also handles pitch, and can precisely match the pitch, spoken or sung, of one take to that of another with a single stroke, a unique capability that can come in very handy. Revoice Pro also has a full-fledged graphic time & pitch editor (Warp Process) like the others here, which provides note blocks and pitch curves that can be dragged for more specific editing. The latest version, 3.1, adds a new pitch editing feature for tweaking pitch curves in the Warp display—the Pencil Tool. Most pitch editors let you grab a pitch curve and drag to shift it, or to compress/expand the degree of pitch variation—Revoice has this too. But the new Pencil Tool lets you draw your own new curve from scratch over the original (performed) one—this can be a powerful and convenient feature, on those occasions when it’s needed.
Fig 6. Revoice Pro 3.1’s Warp Process has a new Pencil Tool for pitch curve editing.
Polyphonic Power
Probably the most impressive pitch-processing feature is Melodyne’s DNA—Direct Note Access. While all the other pitch processors restrict their magic to monophonic (one note at a time) melodies, Melodyne’s DNA is alone in its ability to process polyphonic material, with full control over simultaneous notes within chords. DNA has been around for a while now, but this capability is still unique to Melodyne. This means you could go into, say, a polyphonic recording of acoustic guitar chords, and manually fix or alter individual notes within the chords—you could even perform scale-based edits, like turning major chords into minor, for example, and there are presets for doing just that.
Fig 7. Melodyne’s DNA—Direct Note Access—polyphonic pitch processing feature in action (the red “blobs”)
Audio Example 4: Major-key acoustic guitar chords pitch-corrected and changed to a minor key with Melodyne’s DNA:
The DNA feature represents the current cutting edge of pitch processing technology—it’s only limitation is that it can’t process polyphonic audio from different instruments that are already mixed together. But who knows—there are already software packages on the horizon that promise to be able to do that, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
But for now, the various tools that are currently available provide a wealth of editing possibilities when it comes to tweaking pitch in our audio recordings. Whichever DAW, plug-in, or application you choose, you’ll have no shortage of features for everything from quick & efficient realtime pitch correction to in-depth manual fine-tuning and creative tweakery. Most of the editors I’ve mentioned here have demo versions, so if you need to get up to speed on the current state-of-the-art in pitch processing, you should be able to find just the tool to suit your needs.
Watch Video Courses on Melodyne HERE.
Watch Video Course on ReVoice Pro 3 HERE.
Watch Video Course on Logic Pro X's FLex Pitch HERE.
Watch Video Course on Cubase HERE.