Jan 19, 2020  I will allow artists who lip-sync live performances, or even auto-tune live performances. But to qualify as the most successful non-auto-tune artist for this question, the artist has to NOT use auto-tune (ever) in the studio recordings. OK, who is it? Famous singers who use Auto-Tune likely learn new distinctions about intonation as they develop as artists. Accidents, we didn't intend non-artistic uses of Auto-Tune. Pop music is. The Gregory Brothers continue to create films pertaining to politics and current events on their YouTube channel Schmoyoho using Auto-Tune-like software, in a format much like their original Auto-Tune the News videos. After a hiatus in the series, these clips were rebranded in early 2012 under the title of Songify the News. Sometimes it can be difficult for non-singers to hear slight sharp or flat notes, or notes that aren't in the scale of the song, so Auto-Tune in many cases can actually help point out the problem areas. This is why major artists who use Auto-Tune sound really good, because chances are they can sing pretty well before Auto-Tune is even applied. Sep 17, 2018  The crucial shift with Auto-Tune came when artists started to use it as a real-time process, rather than as a fix-it-it-in-the-mix application after the event.

Auto-Tune may have initially been invented by a mathematician, but it is now used in pretty much every pop song, sometimes subtly, other times so blatantly that it becomes an instrument itself. Aug 14, 2019  Auto-Tune Mobile. This app is an App Store newcomer, but this is not a deal-breaker by any means. Auto-Tune Mobile is supported by Antares, a well-known company that provides professional audio production software. And it works and looks very similar to some stage and studio-ready apps.

Some product names like Xerox, Photoshop, and Kleenex are instantly identifiable by nearly anyone. Similarly, a lot of people who aren’t into music production know what Auto-Tune is and what it does. It was the first pitch correction tool and has become ubiquitous in recording studios for enthusiasts and experts alike. Many artists use it as an effect, while producers use it as a tool. Now in its 9th iteration, Auto-Tune Pro brings new features to users, regardless of how you use it.

What’s New

This new version comes with two plug-ins: Auto-Tune for tuning, and Auto-Key. the latter can detect the proper key of the song, an especially helpful tool for users without a background in music theory. It can also be used to program multiple instances of Auto-Tune with the correct key signature. There’s also ARA support for compatible DAWs, which allows for graphical editing without the need to ‘capture’ the audio into the plug-in first.
Also new — or old — is the Classic Mode, which switches to the legacy Auto-Tune 5 algorithm. AT5 had a unique sonic personality, especially for those who use it as an effect. Essentially, if you want to ‘hear’ Auto-Tune, you’ll love Classic Mode.
The Auto-Tune plug-in has a more refined 'sharp and dark' interface. If you've ever used AT in the past, using AT9 will be a breeze. It has Auto Mode for tightening pitches in real-time without capturing or rendering, plus Graph Mode for surgical editing.

Using Auto-Key

To automatically detect the key signature of a song, insert Auto-Key on your DAW master output. You can also insert it on a single track or group bus so long as the source material contains melodic elements. The display will then read, 'Listening...' When you play back the song, the key will be detected and shown in the display. The notes in the scale will appear in blue on the virtual keyboard, and clicking the Send to Auto-Tune™ button will publish the results to every loaded instance of the AT9 plug-in. You can also manually select from all of the major and minor scales from a drop-down menu, or load/save a preset by clicking the File button.

I found that Auto-Key is exceptionally accurate, although songs with heavily overdriven guitars can cause a few missed detections. For genres like that, try inserting Auto-Key on a bass, keyboard, or vocal track rather than the master bus.

Auto Mode

Non Auto Tune Artists Near Me

For those situations where the track needs a hint of correction, that's where Auto Mode shines. It has four basic controls. Retune Speed alters the pace at which the pitches are corrected. Songs with fast tempos and phrasing need a higher speed, while a slower correction can sound invisible when applied to tracks with slower rhythms or more extended phrasing.

Flex-Tune controls how much of the original pitch is retained and can leave a singer's (or other musician's) pitch nuances intact. (Tip: If you want the Auto-Tune effect, set each of these to zero, full-clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively.) When using fast Retune Speeds, the Humanize control can make sustained notes sound more natural, and the Vibrato knob can increase or decrease the vibrato in the original performance. Double-clicking a knob will reset it to its default value. The Pitch Change meter is in the center of the UI and shows the root pitch as well as how sharp or flat the note is, +/- 100 cents. The Hold button momentarily freezes both the Pitch Change meter and keyboard display for instant pitch analysis.

At the top of the control panel are the settings for Input Type (alto, tenor, etc.), key, and scale where you'll find much more than Western scales. You can also transpose in +/-12 semitones, and retune the entire plug-in from 415.3 to 466.2 Hz. The Tracking control can be useful if the clip you're retuning is noisy, has breaths or other human-induced noises.
By using a MIDI keyboard, you can have Auto-Tune follow the notes you play live or on a pre-recorded MIDI track. However, if you've pre-selected a key and scale, the keyboard will be dimmed out. To enable it, set the key to chromatic. The keyboard has both Latch (note stays on even after lifting off the MIDI note-on) and Momentary (traditional MIDI note-on/off) settings.

Turning on the Advanced mode reveals all the Vibrato settings, as well as the tuning of each note in the scale. You can also remove or bypass each note to prevent them from being retuned, and you can play the scale in from a MIDI keyboard.

Classic Setting

Is there such a thing as vintage software? In the case of Auto-Tune Pro 9, the answer is yes. One of the most frequent requests from long-time users was to bring back the sound characteristics of Auto-Tune 5. Many appreciated its bright sonic personality and distinct retuning characteristics. When you enable Classic, the Flex-Tune knob will be dimmed because that feature wasn't available in version 5. The retuning will sound a little more obvious, so if you want a more 'invisible' pitch correction, disable Classic Mode.

Formant Correction

Formants are the changes in tonal characteristics determined by the shape of a human's throat. (Any animal's throat, in case you're recording non-humans.) When the Formants button is on, you can alter the shape with the Throat control. Formant correction is especially useful when you're transposing from one key to another. (Note: Be aware that Formant Correction does not work in Classic Mode.)

Graph Mode

Graph Mode is designed to be an offline process, in that it doesn't work in real-time. Instead, you record or 'capture' the timing and/or pitch of an audio clip into the plug-in, then apply the edited version back into the DAW. (Note: Both Studio One and Mixcraft are ARA-compatible, meaning you don't have to capture the audio for AT to edit in Graph Mode.) By using the correction curves, lines, and objects, you take full control over each pitch and vibrato element, as well as the timing.

Graph Mode showing the original pitch (red), correction object (blue), and resulting pitch correction (green).

The plug-in has its own undo/redo buttons, and there's a Clear All option for deleting all the time and/or pitch corrections you've made. I found the standard zoom setting of the pitches to be very small, even on a 1080P display. Fortunately, you can zoom the display, and also recall up to six zoom states. Alt/Option-clicking will memorize your own zoom setting into the corresponding state. If you go into 'Settings' > 'Preferences', you do have the option to type in a larger size to increase the size of the interface, which of course is especially useful on 4-5K monitors.

Conclusion

With nearly every DAW including some sort of built-in pitch correction tool, I'm sure many have pondered the need for Auto-Tune. It's a fair question. But AT9 offers many more features than most DAWs provide, plus you now get the contemporary sound of version 9 or the vintage sound of AT5 in one plug-in that is compatible with modern operating systems. If you're still on the fence, download the trial version at antarestech.com. (iLok account and USB iLok required.) If you need more pitch correction capabilities than your DAW provides and you like new features in version 9, Auto-Tune Pro is certainly worthy of your investment.

Price: $399

Pros: Sounds great as an effect or utility, Auto-Key makes setting the key signature a breeze, new tuning features add welcome sonic refinements, Classic Mode for the legacy Auto-Tune sound.
Cons: It costs more than some popular DAWs, Graph Mode is small and constricted on high-resolution, non-scaled displays.

Web: https://www.antarestech.com/product/auto-tune-pro/

Learn more about vocal production and mixing: https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=new-releases

What I find most fascinating about Antares Auto-Tune is that everyone and their mother knows what it is, despite the fact that it's just another digital audio plugin used in bedroom and professional studios alike. Even people who have no clue what an EQ or compressor does somehow at least know of the word 'Auto-Tune' and even the general effect it has on the human voice.

But even though Auto-Tune has evolved to become this cultural phenomenon, very few artists or producers truly understand how to get it to sound like the way it sounds on major records.

In case you don't know what it is, Auto-Tune, in a nutshell, is a pitch correction software that allows the user to set the key signature of the song so that the pitch of the incoming signal will be corrected to the closest note in that key (and does so in real time). There are other pitch correction programs out there that do similar functions: Waves Tune, Waves Tune Real-Time, and Melodyne (which is pitch correction, but not in real time), but Auto-Tune seems to have won the standard for real-time pitch correction.

Auto-Tune traditionally is used on vocals, although in some cases can be used on certain instruments. For the sake of this article we will be discussing Auto-Tune and its effect on the human voice. Listen to this early example from the 'King of Auto-Tune,' the one artist who did more to popularize its effect than any other, T-Pain.

Working as a full-time engineer here at Studio 11 in Chicago, we deal with Auto-Tune on a daily basis. Whether it's people requesting that we put it on their voice, something we do naturally to correct pitch, or even for a specific creative effect. It's just a part of our arsenal that we use everyday, so over the years we have really gotten to know the ins and outs of the program—from its benefits to limitations.

So let's delve further into what this software really is and can do, and in the process debunk certain myths around what the public or people who are new to Auto-Tune may think. If you were ever wondering why your Auto-Tune at home doesn't sound like the Auto-Tune you hear from your favorite artists, this is the article for you.

To set the record straight, as I do get asked this a lot of times from clients and inquiring home producers, there really are no different 'types' of Auto-Tune. Antares makes many different versions of Auto-Tune—Auto-Tune EFX, Auto-Tune Live, and Auto-Tune Pro—that have various options and different interfaces, but any of those can give you the effect you're after. Auto-Tune Pro does have a lot of cool features and updates, but you don't need 'Pro' to sound pro.

I wanted to debunk this first, as some people come to me asking about the 'the Lil Durk Auto-Tune,' or perhaps that classic 'T-Pain Auto-Tune.' That effect is made from the same plugin—the outcome of the sound that you hear depends on how you set the settings within the program and the pitch of the incoming signal.

So if your Auto-Tune at home sounds different from what you hear on the radio, it's because of these factors, not because they have a magic version of Auto-Tune that works better than yours at home. You can achieve the exact same results.

In modern music Auto-Tune is really used with two different intentions. The first is to use it as a tool in a transparent manner, to correct someone's pitch. In this situation, the artist doesn't want to hear the effect work, they just want to hit the right notes. The second intent is to use it as an audible effect for the robotic vocals you can now hear all over the pop and rap charts.

But regardless of the intent, in order for Auto-Tune to sound its best, there are three main things that need to be set correctly.

1. The correct key of the song. This is the most important part of the process and honestly where most people fail. Bedroom producers, and even some engineers at professional studios who might lack certain music theory fundamentals, have all fallen into the trap of setting Auto-Tune in the wrong key. If a song is in C major, it will not work in D major, E major, etc.—though it will work in C major's relative minor, A minor. No other key will work correctly. It helps to educate yourself a bit about music theory, and how to find the key of a song.

2. The input type. You have the option to choose from Bass Instrument, Instrument, Low Male, Alto/Tenor, and Soprano. Bass Instrument and Instrument are, of course, for instruments, so ignore them if you're going for a vocal effect. Low Male would be selected if the singer is singing in a very low octave (think Barry White). Alto/Tenor will be for the most common vocal ranges, and soprano is for very high-pitched vocalists. Setting the input type correctly helps Auto-Tune narrow down which octaves it will focus on—and you'll get a more accurate result.

3. Retune speed. This knob, while important, is really all dependent on the pitch of the input source, which I will discuss next. Generally speaking, the higher the knob, the faster it will tune each note. A lower speed will have the effect be a bit more relaxed, letting some natural vibrato through without affecting a vocalist's pitch as quickly. Some view it as a 'amount of Auto-Tune knob,' which isn't technically true. The amount of correction you hear is based off the original pitch, but you will hear more effects of the Auto-Tune the faster it's set.

So let's say you have all of these set correctly. You have the right key, you choose the right range for the singer, and the retune speed is at its medium default of 20ms. You apply it on the singer expecting it to come out just like the pros. And while their voice does seem to be somewhat corrected, it's still not quite corrected to the right pitch.

Auto Tune Artist Free

Here's why your Auto-Tune doesn't sound like the pros:

The pitch of the vocalist prior to Auto-Tune processing must be close enough to a note in the scale of the key of the song for Auto-Tune to work its best. In other words, the singer has to be at least near the right note for it to sound pleasing to the ears.

Whether you're going for a natural correction or the T-Pain warble, this point still stands. If the note the singer originally sings is nowhere near the correct note in the key, Auto-Tune will try to calculate as best it can and round up or down, depending on what note is closest. And that's when you get undesirable artifacts and hear notes you weren't expecting to hear. (Here is an example of how it sounds when the incoming pitch isn't close enough to the scale, resulting in an oddly corrected pitch.)

So if you put Auto-Tune on a voice and some areas sound good, some sound too robotic and a bit off, those are the areas that the singer needs to work on. Sometimes it can be difficult for non-singers to hear slight sharp or flat notes, or notes that aren't in the scale of the song, so Auto-Tune in many cases can actually help point out the problem areas.

Artists Who Use Auto Tune

This is why major artists who use Auto-Tune sound really good, because chances are they can sing pretty well before Auto-Tune is even applied. The Weeknd is a great example of this—he is obviously a very talented singer that has no problem hitting notes—and yet his go-to mixer, Illangelo, has said before that he always uses at least a little bit of Auto-Tune on the vocals.

If you or the singer in your studio is no Weeknd, you can correct the pitch manually beforehand with a program like Melodyne, or even with built-in pitch correction tools in your DAW, where you can actually go in and change the pitch of each syllable manually. So if you find yourself in a situation where you or an artist you are working with really want Auto-Tune on their vocals, but it's not sounding right after following all the steps, look into correcting the pitch before you run it through Auto-Tune.

If you get the notes closer to the scale, you'll find the tuning of Auto-Tune to be much more pleasing to the ears. For good reason, T-Pain is brought up a lot when discussing Auto-Tune. Do you want to know why he sounds so good? It's not a special Auto-Tune they are using, its because he can really sing without it. Check it out:

Autotune Free Download

Hopefully this helps further assist you in your understanding and use of Antares Auto-Tune, and debunk some of the myths around it. Spend some time learning some basic music theory to help train the ear to identity keys of songs, find which notes are flat and which notes are sharp. Once you do, you'll find you'll want to use Auto-Tune on every song, because let's face it—nearly a decade after Jay-Z declared the death of Auto-Tune on 'D.O.A.'—it still sounds cool.

Non Auto Tune Artists List

Auto Tune Artist Download

We understand the importance of online privacy and are committed to complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. To reflect our commitment, we updated our terms and conditions. By continuing to use Reverb, you agree to these updates, and to our cookie policy. Learn More