key that the correction is correcting the signal to . While a transposition of the entire song from C to G as in the example above is still the same song , the particular notes that are correct within the scales used in those two cases will be different .
In the key of C , there are no flats or sharps within the scale ( assuming we are just sticking with very basic triads and scale tones for now ). If you play the C scale on a piano , it spans from the note C up only on the white keys to the next octave up C . Black keys ( flats and sharps ) are not needed . Once we jump up to the key of G , we can ’ t simply go from one G note on the piano and stay on white keys to reach the next G — we need to grab the black F # ( F sharp ) instead of the white F white key ( F natural ). See , I told you — literally a case of black and white as far as what is right and what is wrong . Why does this matter ? Let ’ s jump to what is probably the primary concept within pitch correction applications to find out . that key . Sounds easy enough ! But how quickly should the software make the correction ? Should it allow for some natural vibrato or ‘ wiggle room ’ on the scale tones ? Should it choose to go down to F or up to G ? What if the band leader said the song is in C minor instead of C ( major )? What if we did want to include F # as an acceptable note in this particular case ? All of these questions will be answered in the next article in our pitch correction primer series — stay tuned ! ( Pun definitely intended …)
* Technically , it could also be lower if we went down a fourth instead of up a fifth to land on the key of G . I ’ ve tried to keep things as simple as possible for this example and G is up the scale from C in the example presented later in the article . Music theory is fun !
Jeff Hawley A 20 + year music industry veteran — equally at ease behind the console , playing bass guitar , leading marketing teams or designing award-winning audio products . He currently heads up the marketing for Allen & Heath in the US .
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER : So what the heck does pitch correction software do again ? Now that we have some core concepts around key and scales covered , the basic gist of pitch correction software should make some sense . These tools take an input signal from a vocalist , analyse what note is being sung , and then adjusts the note as needed to align it to the key / scale of the song . If we set the software to correct to the key of C and the vocalist sang an F #, it would use a combination of other settings in the tool ( we ’ ll get to those in Part 2 ) to shift that note up to a G or down to F so that it is in the proper scale for
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