Finally, formant emulates the human vocal tract. Cents are the tiny frequencies in between semitones and will help you set the appropriate pitch to stay in key with the music. Pitch shifters usually run from -12 to +12 semitones, with 12 designating a full octave down or up. Semitones are also called half-steps in music theory and let you raise or lower the signal’s pitch by a chosen interval. Most pitch shifter VSTs will have some sort of control for changing semitones, cents, and formant. You can alter the pitch of any signal by time stretching or consolidating a clip, but that also changes the length of the audio. That’s what really sets these plugins apart from manual pitch shifting. All of this happens instantly with realtime pitch shifters, and with no change in the duration of the recorded signal. When you pitch up, it shortens the waveform.

When you pitch down, it extends the waveform. What it essentially does behind the scenes is chop up the recorded waveform into dozens and dozens of small parts. They’re used on vocals, instruments, and anything else you could think of that would make something sound cool or exciting. These types of plugins are a staple of modern production in genres like pop, hip hop, EDM, and more. It won’t just raise or lower the tone of the instrument, but also change the timbre of the signal because of how it manipulates the waveform. What Is a Pitch Shifter?Ī pitch shifter is any plugin that can change the pitch of a signal up or down. Let’s explore some of the best pitch shifter VSTs, both free and paid, so you can add to your production toolkit. Auto-Tune is one of the most well known pitch shifters in history it’s also a perfect example of how correction can be subtle or extreme.

A pitch shifter is a versatile tool for both fine pitch correction as well as heavy-handed effects.

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