Free Vocal Auto Tune
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.
- Sep 06, 2018 We have not tested with Cubase. We tested and is working with: Ableton Live and FL Studio. Auto-tune Pro, Omnisphere and Keyscape are the most difficulty plugins to install available here. Please, let us know if you make it. 🙂 VSTCrack Team.
- Free Auto-Tune Demo downloads, free Harmony Engine Demo downloads plus free demo downloads for other Antares vocal plug-ins via the free AVOX Demo download. All product demos require an iLok USB key and an iLok account.
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.
Jun 16, 2018 50+ videos Play all Mix - How to use autotune in FL Studio using Pitcher For FREE! YouTube It's not just Autotune - how singers cheat today (Pop Theory) - Duration: 5:43. Autotalent by Oli Larkin is a great real-time pitch correction auto-tune Vst plugin. The Autotalent plugin ensures that only the specified notes are hit. Also, use this auto-tune Vst plugin to make Cher-like vocal effects, or use it as a simple pitch shifting / pitch correction audio effect. Vocal autotune free download - PC Autotune, Be Vocal, Vocal Remover Pro, and many more programs.
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.
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.
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.
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. Check it out:
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.
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Autotune has become ubiquitous across many modern genres of music – it’s certainly not confined to just pop music anymore. Popularised by Daft Punk, The Black Eyed Peas, Chris Brown, Rihanna and even Cher, autotune has become a vital component of modern record production.
Autotune is both a corrective and creative tool. While many vocalists would prefer for their voice to be autotuned naturally, we’re all familiar with the over-the-top autotune tone of many pop vocalists. Whatever your opinion is of autotune, it’s come along way over the last 10 or so years and is here to stay. Also, the fact is, autotune has so many practical uses that apply not just to vocals but other acoustic sources, too.
If you want to experiment with autotune and implement it as in your music software arsenal, then there are several excellent free autotune plugins available for you to download today.
Many are feature-rich and will offer great scope and functionality for trying out autotuning on vocals and other instruments. We think you’ll be surprised.
Before moving onto the list, let’s briefly cover how an autotune works and what sort of results you can expect.
The Modern Era of Autotune
Autotune is a valuable component of any producer or mix engineer’s VSTs and plugins. The days are gone where artists were scrutinised for their use of autotune and artists such as T-Pain have shaken the view that autotuned artists aren’t skilled vocalists.
Obviously, particular styles of creative autotune aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but autotune has uses outside of vocal pitch correction – they can also be used on synth patches, acoustic instruments, drums and almost any other sound with varying degrees of effectiveness. Many engineers might use autotune to alter the pitch of a few bum-notes that stick out in a guitar solo, for example.
It’s worth experimenting with autotune on both vocals and acoustic instruments as it can allow you to tighten the tonality of your performances.
What Makes an Autotune?
Free Auto Tune Vocal Software
Most autotunes are designed for the voice’s frequency range but they’ll work on other acoustic sources like guitars with varying results.
Most autotunes are simply designed for minor pitch correction. They usually feature transparent audio engines which attempt to effect the voice in the least way possible for more natural results.
Contrastingly, some autotunes produce very overt and obvious changes that can help you create digitised vocals or pitch-shifting FX on other acoustic or electronic sources. For example, you could take a monotonal vocal and pitch it around for all manner of dramatic autotuned effects. Grossbeat vst crack.
This autotune style is more commonly used in trap, hip-hop, rap and other electronic genres.
How and When to Use an Autotune Plugin
It’s rare that you’d use an autotune harshly on a whole track and instead, you’d most likely use it to address small problematic areas of a recorded waveform. Depending on your vocal, though, you could set-and-forget an autotune to tighten up elements of a whole vocal part. Experimentation is the key here.
Sometimes, you’ll be able to draw in the notes you want to correct to on a piano roll and pitch a sound around with formant control, other assorted fx and MIDI input control.
The problem is, autotune plugins have never really had a reputation for being cheap. Plugins like Melodyne can set you back hundreds of dollars. Whilst their high price is testament to how powerful they are, you can achieve professional results with free VST autotune plugins.
Here, we have 7 of the best free VST plugins available to download today.
1. MAuto Pitch
MeldaProduction has an illustrious history with the support of artists like Deadmau5. They’ve built a completely free and well-featured autotune plug-in and it really is a powerful bit of free kit.
The plug-in concentrates on the basics featuring depth, speed and detune controls. Still, it’s more fully featured than most autotunes on this list and with a modern interface, it’s definitely one of those plugins that makes you think “wow, it’s cool that I didn’t have to pay for this!”
MAuto Pitch has all of an autotune’s traditional controls. Depth essentially controls the depth of the effect – so the level of how much effect the plug-in has on the entire sound. Detune can be used to nudge the pitch up and down for fine tuning.
The speed knob is particularly important and this controls the speed of the autotune effect. Often, singer can hit the note but can’t sustain it. In this situation, it’s best to choose a slower speed so the autotune effect pulls in when the singer’s note begins to wander off.
For a more overt T-Pain-esque style tone, a quick speed setting is necessary so the autotune is immediately noticeable.
This awesome plugin also contains a lot of extra features like the width setting which can widen and stereoize your vocal. Finally, the formant setting can alter the pitch of your vocal in a way which makes it sound more masculine and deep or higher and feminine.
This autotune is equipped with a visual detector which provides a graphical interpretation of incoming notes. It’s all pretty sophisticated but it’s certainly not difficult to use!
2. GSnap
You only have to glance at this autotune to tell that it features a bit of an old-school interface by today’s standards.
Still, at the time it was a real groundbreaker and holds its own against all of the most expensive big boys and newer kids on the block.
This plugin’s MIDI functionality is superb. This means you can use a MIDI keyboard to play in the notes which you need to hit with the vocal part. You can then use this MIDI information to tune the vocal part.
GSnap’s interface is easy to use and the left-hand graphic will display your note’s pitch in red and the corrected version in green. This enables you to fine tune the corrected notes based on the information displayed.
Effects additional to your usual autotune effects include vibrato which is speed adjustable. This will add a fluttering effect to your vocal part. Other functions include a gate setting which can be used to control if the plugin effects just quiet or loud parts of a vocal part. For example, you could only autotune a loud chorus and choose to leave a quieter, more intimate verse unaffected.
Overall, GSnap is a finely crafted autotune tool which is capable of transparent results. Extra features like vibrato can really liven up a flat vocal sound.
3. Graillon 2
This recently released autotune looks a little different to most on this list. It has a greater number of quirky settings and fx and a rather futuristic-come-retro design.
Below its rather funky surface, this is a powerful autotune device. The correction module is the main component and by inserting this in an audio track and switching this on, you can get pretty good results for slightly out-of-tune tracks almost immediately. Inertia works as a speed control, controlling how quickly the autotune acts on a signal. The smooth control can help slow or quicken the transition between one note to another.
Some of the Graillon 2’s funky settings include the bitcrusher which can distort a voice with digital distortion that varies from subtle to outrageous. It’s pretty cool that Auburn decided to throw this into a free autotune plugin.
You can create some fascinating results with this free autotune that range from wispy digitised tones to full-on bitcrushed robotic voices. You can pitch shift to different pitches and octaves and alter the formant controls to change the tone of a vocal or instrument track.
Overall, this plugin really rocks! It has a sleek and modern interface and extra settings that might surprise you for a free plugin.
4. KeroVee
Japan audio company g200kg developed this autotune back in 2010. Today, it holds its own as a highly effective and fully functional free autotune VST.
This plugin has no flashy fx and its interface is more functional than attractive. Beneath its industrial-looking skin lies an ultra-intelligent autotune that can is capable of ultra-precise tunng.
The interface displays graphical info about a sound, including what it started as and what its autotuned version looks like. You can select the relative note which you want the plugin to tune to and with the calib setting you can adjust the overall pitch of your recording.
With many fine tuning controls including formant control, the KeroVee offers an array of more in-depth options than most other free autotunes. It has a unique nuance setting which can allow you to leave natural variations in a singers’ voice like vibrato.
This plugin doesn’t have flashy FX banks or many advanced controls but what it lacks in functionality it makes up for in precision. It’s clear that most of the programming work has gone into making a transparent-sounding autotune that can naturally tighten a vocal.
5. X42 Autotune
Free Voice Auto Tuner
This plugin sports a rather inauspicious early-2000s looking interface but it’s very capable of fixing slightly out of tune vocals without much hassle.
It works via resampling and therefore, it’s not possible to transpose audio and harshly affect its pitch. This also means that you can’t alter a sound’s formants. Still, this plugin is designed for easily fixing a vocal part and that’s ultimately what it excels at.
Unique to this plugin is its bias and offset features which both give you the ability to retain some natural characteristics in your recorded voice. Bias keeps a note natural if the singer deliberately alters the pitch of its sustain and offset adjusts how far a vocalist can stray from inputted notes before the plugin kicks in.
With its MIDI input, you can assign the notes you want to correct your vocal to with your keyboard.
This plugin is one of the most dated in the list but with MIDI and audio sidechain inputs and a host of extra features, it definitely brings some of the best functionality to the autotunes in this list.
6. Autotalent
Autotalent’s interface will put many off from the get-go but it was originally manufactured by the wonderfully talented engineer Tom Baran before being reprogrammed for VST/AU by Oli Larkin – this honestly is one of the best autotune VSTs in the world.
Scraping below the surface of this industrious-looking plugin reveals its wealth of features. You can use it for anything ranging from light tuning and correction to full-blown robotic mashes and chiptune-style effects.
When setting this plugin up, you want to exclude notes in the scale with a “-1” and leave notes that you want to correct to with a “0”. Once you’ve found your way round its basic effects, it’s easy to start experimenting with its advanced settings and FX.
The LFO section of this plugin can generate some incredible sounding effects and combined with its vibrato control, you can really add life to a vocal performance or acoustic instrument.
Further than that, you can use its LFO feature to generate bit-mashed or chiptune effects.
With lots of extra controls including formant controls, this plugin offers a really high-level of corrective and creative effects. If you can get below its rather crude surface, it can serve you for almost any auto-tuning and pitch shifting purpose.
7. AAS Autotune
This autotune has no GUI! That means it has no interface at all. Yep, you’re right in thinking that you just set this on a track and leave it – it’s invisible.
Manufactured a while ago by Arguru, this autotune pushes sounds pretty hard to get that T-Pain or Chris Brown style autotune.
Since you just set it and forget it, this plugin is very simple to use and sometimes it’s just right. It’s always worth trying out if you want a digitised hip-hop, trap or other EDM-driven vocal sound.
It’s extremely lightweight, easy to use (obviously) and it provides results – what more can you ask for?
Conclusion
So there we have 7 of today’s best free autotune plugins – if you were thinking you probably needed to fork out $$$ for an expensive autotune plugin then hopefully you’re relieved!
Autotune is here to stay and we all know it! Of course, not every genre needs autotuned vocals but it’s generally agreed amongst even veteran engineers that most vocal parts benefit from just a bit of autotune tightening.
Autotune can be used creatively as well as correctively. Autotune can help you fatten up a vocal sound, improving its impact, sustain and vibrato. Because of the power autotune can bring to a vocal, we’re used to hearing strongly autotuned vocals in many tracks across genres of EDM, hip-hop and pop music but though many engineers wouldn’t like to admit it, it’s used lightly in jazz, blues and even classical music.
Autotune has become an important component of the mixing process and therefore, you may as well embrace the change and equip your DAW with some of these awesome free autotune plugins!
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