In today’s article, you’re going to see how to build and set up live auto tune for worship.
Antares recently released a new addition to their Auto-Tune range called Auto-Tune Artist that replaces the old Auto-Tune Live plug-in. Rather than just test the new Auto-Tune Artist on its own we thought it would be more helpful to measure its performance and capabilities against a rival real time tuning plug-in, the Waves Real-Time Tune. Nov 25, 2016 Waves Audio 1,147,170 views. How to get the best autotune settings - Duration: 10:53. Help Me Devvon 131,895 views. Trap Rap Auto-Tune Live Vocals - Duration. Today, pitch correction tools such as Waves Tune and Waves Tune Real-Time are used in nearly every style of music recording and even in live shows. The following tips will help you understand the basic characteristics of pitch and how to affect it, both for natural-sounding correction and for creative effects. Auto-Tune Artist (formerly Auto-Tune Live) is designed to meet the demanding needs of working musicians, producers, and live sound engineers. It includes all of the advanced real-time pitch correction features of Auto-Tune Pro, and is optimized for low latency performance on stage or in the studio. Tell me your experiences with Waves Tune RT for achieving the auto tune sound. If you dont use Wave Tune, tell me what you are using to achieve it. Note: I am not an advanced melodyne user, but I use most controls except the formant. Am I selling the software short? 3 points 1 year ago.
We’ll be covering:
Uses and purpose of auto tune in worship
Gear required for auto tune
Setting up auto tuning
Testing the signal flow
Before we jump in, don’t forget to check out and download our Worship Ministry Toolkit. This will provide you with a list of all the gear we talk about so it will help you follow along.
Uses and Purpose of Auto Tune in Worship
We know that auto-tune can be a divisive issue, but here are a couple things to keep in mind:
Auto-tune should never be used to compensate for poor singing
Auto-tune is not, and should not be used to ‘make up’ for wildly incorrect pitches, it is only there to give that extra push if necessary. We’re all for excellence in worship, and we encourage our band to practice and be the best that they can. Auto-tune is just a tech-savvy way of eliminating small mistakes or distractions.
Auto-tune works best with great singers
It can ‘tune’ them up to make dense, difficult harmonies that much better. Not everyone sings perfectly on pitch all the time and auto-tune is able to take those small inconsistencies and correct them in a natural, non-artificial sounding way. A part of gospel-centered worship is crafting the best ministry we can and we believe that auto-tune has a place in that vision.
Gear Required for Auto-Tune
I’m going to give you a brief overview of the gear you’ll need to set up auto-tune. I’ll go more in-depth in the next section, but the Ultimate Guide to Worship Tech 3-pt. Series will be helpful if you don’t already have some of this gear.
Digital Mixing Console
You’ll need a console that is comparable to the Midas X32 or M32. We use the M32R at our church, but you can use your preferred console so long as it can do the following:
Can connect to computer via USB or Dante
Has multiple inputs and outputs
Can send raw audio data to the computer and then receive it back once it’s tuned
Pretty much any modern digital mixing console can do this, but just be aware so you don’t spend money on the wrong gear.
Dante Expansion Card
Now, this is not necessary, but it is extremely helpful for getting your auto-tune up and running. Dante helps you manage your inputs and outputs in a really straightforward way, making it easy for setup. You don’t need to use it, and can do just fine via regular USB connection, but we do think it makes managing your signal flow a lot easier.
Here’s a brief overview of our signal path:
Signals from the three vocalists come from the sound console via Dante, to Ableton
Signals get tuned and sent back to the sound console
The sound console sends those signals and the tuned vocals come out of the PA
By utilizing the Dante network, all our gear can talk to each other and create the flow that you need. We put our auto tuning in Ableton, but on a computer that’s completely separate from our slides, clicks, tracks, etc. Because we have Dante, the computers can talk to each other and the mixing console so that they all work together and keep our signal paths uncluttered.
Auto Tune Plug-Ins
The two most popular tuning plug-ins are Auto-Tune and Waves Tune by Waves. 3utools chimera. We recommend Waves because it does everything Auto-Tune does but for a fraction of the price. Install the Waves Plug-In into Ableton and you’ll have vocal tuning up in no time.
Setting Up Auto Tuning
Now that we’ve gone through all of the gear, we’ll walk you through how to set up auto-tuning for one vocal mic.
Building in a Safety Net
This step isn’t necessary, but is a good practice just in case anything goes wrong. What we do is create two channels, one for the raw vocals and one for the tuned vocals. This is so if anything goes wrong with Ableton, the sound engineer can easily mute the tuned vocals and turn up the raw signal. Again, it’s not necessary but might be good to keep in mind when building your setup.
So here’s how we set up those channels:
Raw signal from our stage box goes into our sound console (we also use this for the in-ear monitoring because it’s not good to monitor your tuned sound)
The second, tuned signal is coming from the back of the board into Ableton where it’s tuned Descargar auto tune vst.
It’s then fed back into the console and goes out to the PA system
Routing Overview
Routing the signal to the stage box:
Mic takes the sound and it goes to the XLR cable and into the stage box
The stage box then goes to the back of the mixing console
Sending Audio to Ableton
Since we’re using Dante, we send the signal from the mixing console through the Dante network
The network picks up the signal and goes into the Dante Sound Card and into Ableton Live
This gives you the ability to see and modify all of your channels with ease
Sending Signal Back to the Console
You’ll be able to see the Dante Sound Card plug-in in Ableton
It will give you access to all of the inputs/outputs, and you can modify which channels you want
Once you’ve done that in the preferences, the signals will go back through the Dante Network and into the console
Configuring Your Auto Tuning Preferences
Now that you’ve made sure all of your channels and routing are correct, you’re ready to dive into Waves.
Go into the Ableton Plug-Ins tab and drag Waves down into the screen
Once it’s open, hit the ‘wrench’ icon to open up your settings
Now you can modify your pitch correction for your desired effects
Once your in the settings, you can play with everything from the tuning mode to the speed of the note transition. You can set them to anything you want, but we’ve found that the default settings already sound pretty natural. Any further tinkering is all to need or taste.
We’ve kept ours in the chromatic mode, which will correct the pitch to the closest chromatic note. We have competent singers so 99.99% of the time, the tuning corrects a slightly sharp or flat note to the desired pitch.
Testing the Signal Flow
Before you start using auto-tuning in your services, you’ll want to test it first.
Go back into Dante and make sure all of your channels, inputs, and outputs are correct. You should be able to see your inputs match up properly so that they’re all routed into the sound console. If you’ve done two channels like we do, you’ll be able to turn up or down each channel so you can hear the difference between the raw and tuned signal.
Wrap-up
The great thing about this setup is that you can customize it to exactly what you need. Auto-tune can empower even the best musicians sound even just a bit better, helping you to craft a gospel-centered and tech-savvy worship service.
To continue building a great worship ministry, feel free to connect with me and my team at Worship Tech School.
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.
Waves Tune Tutorial
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
- 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.
The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.
Best Settings For Auto Tune Live Waves Video
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.
Pros
- Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
- Relatively lightweight on CPU
Cons
- Outdated
- Difficult to use
Waves Tune Free Download
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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