The Steel Guitar Forum

What would be a good pitch correction software to use in my home studio that is reasonably priced? I know that there are some free ones, but are they even worth looking at?

Ha ! even the ones we pay for are not worth it !

What are you pitch correcting and how much correction do you need ?

PC is an interesting TOOL, if you only need to make a simple, small correction to save a great performance then good, but if you are trying to correct a track with multiple issues, well...it's probably not going to happen and if it does you will hear it.


IF you have a DAW , probably search an Auto Tune plug in which is compatible with your DAW. I use pro Tools, it has PC embedded and I also have a Tascam/Antares PC rack mount vocal processor. Each time I used either we reverted back to re-doing the entire track.

I have a inexpensive version of Antares and also Melodyne (that came with the version of Sonar that I have). The Antares is so so and I don't recommend it. Melodyne, on the other hand, is very popular on recording boards such as www.gearslutz.com and of course on the Cakewalk Sonar forum since it comes with the high end version of Sonar. Its available as a VST2 and 3 and RTAS, and as a standalone.

Melodyne is my "go to" to correct pitch.

Tony,

This is for vocals that are a little pitchy. Right now, as you said, I just go back and punch in.
But I would like to have a way to get around the pitchy spots. Thanks for the reply.

Jack,

I will check into the ones you mentioned. Thanks a bunch.

Eddie, I’m using PreSonus Studio One 3 Professional, and though I
haven’t used some of the pitch correction included in there, I’ve seen
videos on how it works and it looks like it works quite well... It also,
has a program or maybe just a partial program called Melodyne that
looks pretty effective.

Eddie Lane wrote:Jack,

I will check into the ones you mentioned. Thanks a bunch.

Eddie,

I've got both Antares Autotune and Melodyne. I like Autotune if I'm going to just let it run and make corrections where it wants to, but I like Melodyne for individual note correction. Also with Melodyne, you can lengthen the notes, for example, making the last bass note to last and fade it out.

I'm with Tony, it's usually easier to just punch in and make the correction, but if you're mixing and the singer is now 50 miles away, it makes sense to make the correction digitally.

Pitch correction is a tool, and just like reverb, compression, etc...overuse will make a big mess.

I think both of these have a free demo available. So, you can try them. I got an email today that Antares has a sale going now for Autotune EFX for $49. You can get it on their website.

RC

One of the amazing things about Melodyne is that it can tune just one (or more) notes out of a sour chord. Pretty incredible, actually. Do any of the others do that?

One of the amazing things about Melodyne is that it can tune just one (or more) notes out of a sour chord.

Exactly... that one bad chord on an otherwise great take. I agree, the DSP portion of that plug is pretty amazing.

I did that with Melodyne on a recording with a harmonica break. The harmonica player had one wrong note and after a couple of retakes I gave up. I fixed it with Melodyne.

in Pro Tools , I use 12 but I think this was available in 10 and 11 as well, you can do as Jim is asking with both PITCH II and Elastic Audio . If you can highlight that ONE note, and you can, you make that a separate clip and adjust it till the cows come home . Now I don't think it is possible to tune out ONE bad note in a chord which is a single recorded waveform. If it was MIDI, yes certainly.

Can Melodyne do that ? take a single recorded waveform of ONE chord and correct just one note inside the chord of that single waveform ? Neat trick !

Yes, Melodyne CAN do that! Neat trick, indeed!

Jim Cohen wrote:Yes, Melodyne CAN do that! Neat trick, indeed!

It also allows you to convert recorded sound to midi, so you can sing a melody or play it on your guitar and convert it to a midi trumpet or whatever, convert polyphonic chordal stuff on a psg to an organ, etc., whatever you can dream up. Pretty cool, and a very intuitive interface. If you haven't used it, they offer a 30 day trial. Give it a whirl.

Since the steel guitar is intentionally rarely exactly on the note ...we oscillate and slide in and out of notes ...how is the software to know when the pitch needs correcting? When it encounters someone singing the blues, how does it know that person is not intentionally letting their tone go flat?

The software does not do it automatically, Alan. It allows the user to decide which notes to tweak and which ones to leave alone.

This is not real-time pitch correction for live performance. It is for tweaking already-recorded files, on a selective basis, as needed.

Jim Cohen wrote:...This is not real-time pitch correction for live performance. It is for tweaking already-recorded files, on a selective basis, as needed.

I have a cheaper method. If I record something and it's out-of-tune, I re-record it. After all, Elvis usually recorded about 50 different takes in the studio before he got one that he was satisfied with, (much to the chagrin of the band ), and what's good enough for Elvis is good enough for me.

Elvis and everyone else in his day did it that way because they had to. What if all 50 takes are out of tune? It might be cheaper, but it's not really the same thing (although 150 minutes of magnetic tape per song is not necessarily "cheap"). Whatever suits you though, it's just a tool.

Melodyne is not pitch correction for an entire song. It is only a tool to correct the pitch on a single note or a couple of single notes.

I punch in singers to correct spots but if I find one after they have left I will use Melodyne to correct it (if possible - if not they have to come back and fix it).

OK...Guys thanks a bunch for all of the input. I will check the ones mentioned. I just need something to correct a vocal track when the person can't quite hit a high note....almost but not quite. Just enough to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Thanks again!

Jack Stoner wrote:Melodyne is not pitch correction for an entire song. It is only a tool to correct the pitch on a single note or a couple of single notes...

Melodyne can be applied to an entire song on a given track. Perhaps your larger point is, if a given take is so bad as to need a lot of tweaking, there are larger issues afoot. It should be used sparingly, and I agree with this.

Melodyne does have automated algorithms that can be applied to individual notes or chords, to small sections, or to an entire track if you so choose. It can automatically adjust the individual pitches you select (including individual pitches within a chord as mentioned) toward a chromatic tonal 'center' without altering the natural note-to-note tonal 'drift' of a performance (such as the natural scoop and vibrato of a human voice or, as Alan mentioned, the glissando of a pedal steel). You can also shift individual pitches forward and backward in time, quantize to the MIDI clock, cut and paste between sections, doubling and so on.

If used judiciously, it can enhance a good performance that might have just a couple of rough spots. It's also worth noting that the 'light' version that ships with Sonar is very limited and mono only. The full Melodyne Editor is very robust.

Melodyne

RE: Alan Brooks post, Not only is pitch correction software the absolute bane of "popular Music" in today's marketplace allowing marginal or non-existent "talent" sell records, why would anyone that plays an instrument with the integrity of the pedal steel even entertain it use? Pedal Steel is an instrument that requires absolutely impeccable touch, tone and intonation to step on stage. No amount of computer generated intervention and hoo-hah is gonna replace any of the above!

They are all just tools in the hands of the user...one person will take a nail gun and build a fine cabinet and the next will nail his foot to the floor...

John Macy, Point well taken. I stand corrected on the steel guitar part. Today's use of pitch correction vocally, not so much. I failed to take into consideration the level of artistry most steel players bring to the table, Most humble apologies, sir!