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.

T-Pain - 'Buy U A Drank'

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.

Everytime I use auto-tune it sounds so obvious & robotic. How do I use it while still sounding natural? For example, in 'rockstar' post malone is using autotune but it sounds 100% natural. This what I want to sound like. Is he using another program like Melodyne? Here is the list of best free Auto Tune software for Windows.These Auto Tune software are basically VST Plugins for famous open source audio editors.These VST plugins are used to enhance vocal by adding various effects. Jun 25, 2009 Adding Robotic/Vocoder effect to your song using Audacity. So you need a proper sound which is in tune, unlike noise, as your carrier ( more on carriers below. 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.

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.

Robotic

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.

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.

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. Hulks voice auto tuned thor ragnarok. Check it out:

T-Pain's unplugged and Auto-Tune-free medley

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.

Oops, looks like you forgot something. Please check the fields highlighted in red.

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

Jul 08,2019 • Filed to: Record Audio • Proven solutions

Do you know Audacity AutoTune?

Audacity is known for its great audio recording and editing capabilities. It comes with effects and tools that allow you to tweak your songs and recordings in order to produce outlandish vocal effects. Among the amazing functionalities that this software program gives you is auto-tune. Nearly all radio songs are mixed using Audacity AutoTune and most live performances depend on it for correcting bad notes as well as wavering pitch. Audacity makes AutoTune available to you free of charge.

To be able to get good vocal effects with Audacity auto-tune, you need to know how to use it properly. The following is the step-by-step guide for manually auto-tuning using this software program.

1. First, you will need to make sure that Audacity is installed on your computer. You can download it for free here.

2. After Audacity has installed successfully, you will need to download its verified plugin called Audacity VST Enabler and then install it too. This plugin makes the process of adding auto-tune features to the application much easier. You can download it here .

Robotic Auto Tune Audacity Download

3. After that, download GSnap, which is an auto-tune effect. You can add it to Audacity in order to have more control over auto-tune. You can download it here.

Note: GSnap is not a software program, but rather a specific effect that can be added to Audacity in order to make the process of auto-tuning songs easier. Before using it, make sure that Audacity can find it. You can do this by exporting the GSnap zip file that you downloaded by right clicking on it, and then choose Export Zip. After that, copy the zip files that are labeled GSnap.dll and GVST License, and then navigate to C:Program Files (x86)AudacityPlug-ins, and then paste them there.

4. Once that is done, you can launch Audacity so that the new effects can be registered. When the application opens, a small window that asks to register effects will appear. There will be two lines for both GSnap and VST. Make sure that both boxes are checked, and then click OK to proceed.

5. After making sure that the effects are registered properly, you can go ahead to auto-tune with Audacity. You will need to record your voice or open a vocal file. It will be a good idea to start with a simple voice recording in order to learn how auto-tune works first before you start using it for complex projects.

6. After recording the voice or opening a vocal file, highlight the part that you would like to auto-tune. You can do this by using the Selection Tool that looks like a large upper case letter 'i' in Audacity.

7. The next thing is click on Effect, and then choose GSnap to open the auto-tune window.

8. Choose the desired key by clicking 'Select a Scale'. After choosing the key, check the button that says 'Fill Threshold'.

Audacity Autotune Vst

9. After that, set the knobs to auto-tune levels in order to get a unique sound.

10. And then click 'Apply' to start auto-tuning the vocals.

Robotic Autotune Audacity Free

Part 2. What is Audacity Vocoder?

Robotic

Audacity vocoder is an effect that combines the recording of a human voice together with a synthesized wave form in order to produce a robotic kind of effect. Audacity audio recorder includes a vocoder plug-in that allows you to produce this effect with absolute ease.

You may be wondering how the vocoder works. Well, it synthesizes a modulator, which is usually a voice, in the left channel of a stereo track with the synthesized sound on the right in order to produce a modified version of the sound in the left channel. If you vocode a normal voice that has some white noise that as a result of the effects provided, the result will be a robotic kind of voice for the special effects.

Audacity Autotune Plugin For Windows

You can use other carrier waves for voices that are subtly different, for instance a musical tone, a sawtooth tone, or a synthesized string chord. In case you do not see the vocoder effect in your Audacity software program, you will need to upgrade the software to the latest version.

Part 3. All-in-One Music Downloader and Management Software - iMusic [Highly Recommend]

iMusic is a great tool that integrates all the features you need for getting and managing music. It is able to download and record music from music sharing sites, transfer music between computer and iOS, Android devices. Here are the features that make it stand out.

Autotune

iMusic - Best Music Downloader and Management Software

  • Download music from more than 300 music sites to totally free.
  • Download YouTube music to MP3 and save to iTunes Library directly.
  • Record music from music sites, software that can play music on computer.
  • Transfer music between Mac, Windows, iTunes Library and iPhone/iPad/iPod and Android devices .
  • 1 click to transfer downloaded music and playlist to USB drive to enjoy in car.
  • Ability to burn downloaded songs and playlists to CDs with iMusic.
  • Remove music DRM protection and convert downloaded M4P music files to MP3 format.

Tutorial to Record Songs by Audacity Alternative-iMusic

Step 1: Find 'Record Music' Tab

Download and Launch iMusic on your computer, and click 'Get Music' menu on the top of the software. Next , tab the “Record' button.

Step 2: Choose Music from Website and Play It

Go to the Spotify website and find your favorite songs , then play it .

Step 3: Start to Record the Song

Click the 'Record' button and prepare to record the song you’re playling. During the process, the cover and artist for a record song will be added to the song automatically, making it quite easy for you to identify the songs in iTunes Library.

Tips: you can try the Record feature while playing songs in iTunes radio station, Spotify, BBC radio stations, and so on. It works perfectly.

Step 4: Find Recorded Songs in iTunes Library

Robotic Autotune Audacity Software

Click 'LIBRARY' menu, then the record icon on the left side to check out the recorded songs.