Pitch and rhythm correction and manipulation

A vocal take in the key of G major has three flat sustained notes but nice slides into phrases you want to keep. Describe how to correct it transparently.

1. 01Set the scale

   Set the pitch corrector to G major so it targets the intended notes and does not pull anything to a wrong pitch.

2. 02Slow retune speed

   Use a slow retune speed so the expressive slides into notes pass through unaltered and only the sustained pitch is settled.

3. 03Correct selectively

   Work in the graphical editor and correct only the three flat sustained notes, leaving the good notes and the slides untouched.

4. 04Preserve formants

   Keep formant preservation on so the corrected notes keep the singer's natural timbre and size.

Result: Set G major, use a slow retune speed, correct only the flat notes graphically and preserve formants - the fix is inaudible and the phrasing survives.

From a single sung line, create (a) an obvious hard-tuned lead and (b) a three-part harmony, in the key of A minor. Describe the settings.

1. 01Hard-tuned lead

   Duplicate the line and apply pitch correction set to A minor with the fastest retune speed, so the pitches snap audibly to the scale for the robotic effect.

2. 02Generate harmonies

   On another copy, use a harmoniser locked to A minor to add a diatonic third and fifth above (and perhaps an octave), creating a three-part harmony from the one line.

3. 03Humanise the harmonies

   Add slight timing and pitch variation and keep formants natural so the harmony voices sound like separate singers, not clones.

4. 04Combine

   Blend the hard-tuned lead with the harmony stack to build the hook, using the same tools creatively rather than correctively.

Result: A hard-tuned lead (fastest retune in A minor) plus a harmoniser-generated diatonic three-part harmony turns one line into a full vocal hook.

A live drum take drags slightly on the sixteenth-note fills but you want to keep it feeling human. Describe the quantise approach.

1. 01Set the grid

   Set the quantise value to sixteenth notes so the fills are corrected at the resolution where they drift.

2. 02Check detection

   Verify the transient detection has sliced at each real hit and not on spill or ghost notes, correcting any errors first.

3. 03Use partial strength

   Apply a quantise strength of around 60-80% rather than 100%, so the hits are pulled most of the way to the grid but keep a little of their original timing.

4. 04Audition

   Play it back: the fills now lock to the groove but still breathe, because the partial strength preserved some human feel.

Result: Quantise to a sixteenth grid with checked transients and a partial strength (~70%) - tight enough to lock, loose enough to stay human.

A drum loop was recorded at 100 bpm and must play in time with a 120 bpm project without its pitch changing. State the process, the amount and what to watch for.

1. 01Identify the process

   The duration must shorten (to speed the loop from 100 to 120 bpm) while the pitch stays the same, so this is time-stretching, not varispeed.

2. 02Direction and amount

   The loop must be sped up by the ratio 120/100 = 1.2, so it is compressed to 100/120 = 0.83 of its original length - a modest stretch that most algorithms handle transparently.

3. 03Choose the algorithm

   Use a time-stretch mode optimised for rhythmic/percussive material, which preserves the sharp transients of the drum hits.

4. 04Watch for artefacts

   At this modest amount artefacts should be minimal; check the transients are still crisp and not smeared, which would signal the wrong algorithm or too extreme a setting.

Result: Time-stretch the loop by a factor of 0.83 (to go from 100 to 120 bpm) with a percussive algorithm, keeping the pitch fixed and the transients crisp.

You must tune a supplied vocal for a Component 4 corrective task and, separately, create a signature hard-tuned hook for a Component 2 composition. Contrast your use of the pitch corrector.

1. 01Component 4 - transparent

   Use a slow retune speed, correct only the wrong notes graphically, keep formants natural and preserve the slides, so the tuning is inaudible and the performance sounds naturally in tune.

2. 02Component 2 - deliberate

   Use the fastest retune speed on the whole line, locked to the scale, so every note snaps audibly - the hard-tuned effect as a chosen sound.

3. 03Same tool, opposite settings

   Both use the same pitch corrector; the difference is entirely in the retune speed and how much is corrected - intent and degree.

4. 04Justify

   The corrective task is marked for naturalness, so invisibility wins; the composition wants a signature sound, so audibility wins.

Result: The same corrector is set slow and selective for invisible Component 4 repair, and fast and total for a deliberate Component 2 effect - intent and degree decide.