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Section 7: Optimizing Hybrid
TM
Pitch Shifting
where the voice is predominant in the mix, artifacts
significantly degrade the perceived audio quality.
Understanding Hybrid
TM
Shifting
parameters
Each Pitch mode (Correct, Shift and Freestyle) has six
common parameters that control the shift quality.
Modeling Optimization
To support legacy type pitch shifting, modeling optimization
can be turned off. In this state, transitions can be heard
when turning off various Character blocks. However, in this
state, the legacy pitch shift sounds used for effects like
“monster pitch shifts” can be produced. It can also be
useful to turn modeling optimization off when doing small
pitch shifts in, for example, pitch correction applications.
Formant Correct Amount
Formants affect the naturalness of a pitch shift. In VoicePro
formants and pitch can be shifted separately. The Formant
Correction Amt control sets the amount the formants are
corrected/shifted. When set to "0", formants are shifted with
the pitch like an instrument shifter. When set to "100", the
formants are not shifted like a PSOLA shifter. When set to
Auto, the amount of formant correction is modified as a
function of shift amount to sound the most natural.
Formant Offset
The overall formant structure of the voice can be shifted up to
sound more feminine or chipmunk like. Or formants can be
shifted down to sound more masculine to monster like. This
control moves the formants independently from the pitch shift.
UV Shift Attenuation
This parameter allows the un-voiced (sibilant) signals to be
attenuated when pitch shifting. The effect is more
noticeable when shift intervals are larger.
UV Shift Amount
This parameter determines the amount that the unvoiced is
shifted relative to the voiced signal. When this parameter
is set to "100" the algorithm shifts unvoiced signals by the
same amount as the voiced signals. When this parameter
is "0", the algorithm will not shift the unvoiced sections
regardless of the amount the voiced signal is being shifted.
Intermediate values of this parameter will shift the unvoiced
by a fraction of what the voiced signal is being shifted.
When this parameter is set to "auto", the UV shift amount
is set automatically for you.
Downshift Quality
This parameter can adjust the tonal quality of large down
shifts. The effect of the parameters becomes more
apparent for large down shifts.
Working with small shift intervals
A small interval is considered anything less than 2
semitones.
1.Select or create a preset that only has the Pitch block
enabled, and the VirtuaLead Level set to "0dB”, and dry
and harmony turned off.
2.Navigate to the Pitch Mode Tab. Use the Edit Knobs to
select "Pitch Shift" for the mode parameter.
3.Set the Pitch quality parameters within the guidelines
below:
4.Navigate to the Pitch Shift Tab and select a small interval
shift using the Coarse or Fine Shift parameters.
5.Modify the Pitch parameters above based on their
ranges to further tune the shift.
Working with large up-shifts
A large up-shift is considered a shift interval more than 2
semitones above the input voice. The range of values will
change as you move beyond an octave.
1.Select or create a preset that only has the Pitch block
enabled, and the VirtuaLead Level set to "0dB", and dry
and harmony turned off.
2.Navigate to the Pitch Mode Tab. Use the Edit Knobs to
select "Pitch Shift" for the mode parameter.
3.Set the Pitch quality parameters within the guidelines
following:
4.Navigate to the Pitch Shift Tab and select a large up-shift
using the Coarse or Fine Shift parameters.
6.Modify the Pitch parameters above based on their
ranges to further tune the shift.
Working with large down-shifts
A large down-shift is considered anything more than 2
semitones. The ranges of values will change as you move
beyond an octave down-shift.
1.Select or create a preset that only has the Pitch block
enabled, and the VirtuaLead Level set to "0dB", and dry
and harmony turned off.
Parameter
Modeling Optimization
Formant Correct Amount
Formant Offset
UV Shift Attenuation
UV Shift Amount
Downshift Quality
+2 to +12
On
Auto
0
0
Auto
0
+12 to +36
On
Auto
0
20 to 60
0 to 100
N/A
Shift Interval
Parameter
Modeling Optimization
Formant Correct Amount
Formant Offset
UV Shift Attenuation
UV Shift Amount
Downshift Quality
On
Auto
0
0
Auto
0
