Time and pitch manipulation effects

The Automatic Pitch Correction effect is available in both the Waveform and Multitrack editors. In the latter, its parameters can be automated over time using keyframes and external control surfaces.

Choose Effects > Time and Pitch > Automatic Pitch Correction, and set the following options:

Specifies the scale type that best suits the material: Major, Minor, or Chromatic. Major or Minor correct notes to the specific key of the music. Chromatic corrects to the nearest note regardless of key.

Sets the intended key for corrected material. This option is available only if Scale is set to Major or Minor (because the Chromatic scale includes all 12 tones and isn’t key‑specific).

Controls how quickly Adobe Audition corrects the pitch toward the scale tone. Faster settings are usually best for notes of short duration, such as a fast, staccato passage. An extremely fast attack can  achieve a robotic quality, however. Slower settings result in more natural‑sounding correction on longer sustaining notes, such as a vocal line where the singer holds notes and adds vibrato. Because source material can change throughout a musical performance, you can get the best results by separately correcting short musical phrases.

Defines the threshold beyond which notes aren’t corrected. Sensitivity is measured in cents, and there are 100 cents per semitone. For example, a Sensitivity value of 50 cents means a note must be within 50 cents (half a semitone) of the target scale tone before it is corrected automatically.

Choose a source channel in which pitch changes are most clear. The effect analyzes only the channel you choose, but applies the pitch correction equally to all channels.

Sets the Fast Fourier Transform size of each pieces of data that the effect processes. In general, use smaller values for correcting higher frequencies. For voices, a setting of 2048 or 4096 sounds most natural. For short, staccato notes or percussive audio try a setting of 1024.

Specifies the tuning standard for the source audio. In Western music, the standard is A4 at 440 Hz. Source audio, however, may have been recorded using a different standard, so you can specify A4 values from 410 to 470 Hz.

When you preview audio, displays the amount of correction for flat and sharp tones.

Manual Pitch Correction effect

The Manual Pitch Correction effect lets you visually adjust pitch with the Spectral Pitch Display. The Spectral Pitch Display shows the fundamental pitch as a bright blue line, and overtones in yellow to red hues. Corrected pitch appears as a bright green line.

Pitch bender effect  

Use the Pitch Bender effect to change the tempo over time to vary the pitch. The effect now uses a keyframe edit envelope laid across the entire waveform, similar to the Fade and Gain Envelope effects.

Choose Effects > Time and Pitch > Pitch Bender, and set the following options:

In the Editor panel, click the blue envelope line to add keyframes, and drag them up or down to change amplitude. To quickly select, reposition, or delete multiple keyframes, see Adjust automation with keyframes.

Controls the quality level. Higher quality levels produce the best sound, but they take longer to process. Lower quality levels produce more unwanted harmonic distortion, but they take less time to process. Usually, you won’t notice harmonic distortion for levels from Very Good and higher. Aliasing still occurs, however, when you shift the pitch up, but the higher quality levels greatly reduce the distortion when you shift the pitch down.

Sets the scale of the vertical ruler (y-axis) as semitones (there are 12 semitones to an octave) or as beats per minute. For a range in semitones, the pitch changes logarithmically, and you can specify the number of semitones to shift up or down. For a range in beats per minute, the pitch changes linearly, and you must specify both a range and a base tempo. You can specify the exact tempo of a selection to change to different rates, but this isn’t required.

Pitch shifter

The Pitch Shifter effect changes the musical pitch. It's a real-time effect which can be combined with other effects in the mastering rack or the effects rack. In the Multitrack View, you can also vary pitch over time by using automation lanes.

Choose Effects > Time and Pitch > Pitch Shifter effect, and set the following options:

Contains options that adjust pitch:

• Semi-Tones Transposes pitch in semi-tone increments, which equalmusical half-notes (for example, the note C# is one semi-tone higher than C). A setting of 0 reflects the original pitch; +12 semi-tones is an octave higher; -12 semi-tones is an octave lower.
• Cents Adjusts pitch in fractions of semi-tones. Possible values range from -100 (one semi-tone lower) to +100 (one semi-tone higher).
• Ratio Determines the relationship between shifted and original frequency. Possible values range from 0.5 (an octave lower) to 2.0 (an octave higher).

Determines sound quality, with theHigh setting taking longest to process. Use the Low setting for 8-bit or low-quality audio, and use the High setting for professionally recorded audio.

Control how audio is processed:

• Splicing Frequency Determines the size of each chunk of audio data. (The Pitch Shifter effect divides audio into very small chunks for processing.) The higher the value, the more precise the placement of stretched audio over time. However, artifacts become more noticeable as values go up. At higher Precision settings, a lower Splicing Frequency may add stutter or echo. If the frequency is too high, sound becomes tinny and voices have a tunnel-like quality.
• Overlapping Determines how much each chunk of audio data overlaps with the previous and next ones. If stretching produces a chorus effect, lower the Overlapping percentage. If doing so produces a choppy sound, adjust the percentage to strike a balance between choppiness and chorusing. Values range from 0 to 50%. 
• Use Appropriate Default Settings Applies good default values for Splicing Frequency and Overlapping.

Stretch and Pitch effect (Waveform Editor only)

The Time And Pitch > Stretch And Pitch effect lets you change the pitch of an audio signal, the tempo, or both. For example, you can use the effect to transpose a song to a higher key without changing the tempo, or you can use it to slow down a spoken passage without changing the pitch.

Choose IZotope Radius to simultaneously stretch audio and shift pitch, or Audition to change stretch or pitch settings over time. The iZotope Radius algorithm requires longer processing but introduces fewer artifacts.

Higher settings produce better quality but require more processing time.

Indicates how long the audio will be after time-stretching. You can either adjust the New Duration value directly, or indirectly by changing the Stretch percentage.

Overrides custom or preset Stretch settings, instead calculating them from duration adjustments.

Shortens or extends processed audio relative to existing audio. For example, to shrink audio to half its current duration, specify a Stretch value of 50%.

Tonally shifts audio up or down. Each semitone equals one half‑step on a keyboard.

Changes the initial Stretch or Pitch Shift setting over time, reaching the final setting at the last selected audio sample.

Stretches audio to reflect pitch changes, or vice versa.

Stretches audio to reflect pitch changes, or vice versa. Final Stretch or Pitch Shift settings are unaffected.

Click the triangle to access these options:

More quickly processes a solo performance.

Maintains realism in speech.

Determines how formants adjust to pitch shifts. The default value of zero adjusts formants together with pitch shifts, maintaining timbre and realism. Values above zero produce higher timbres (making a male voice sound female, for example). Values below zero do the reverse.

Maintains timbre of solo instruments or vocals. Higher values reduce phasing artifacts but introduce more pitch modulation.

Click the triangle to access these options:

Determines how big each chunk of audio data is when you preserve pitch or tempo while stretching a waveform. The higher the value, the more precise the placement of stretched audio over time. However, artifacts are more noticeable as rates go up; sound can become tinny or have a tunnel‑like quality. With higher Precision settings, lower splicing frequencies may add stutter or echo.

Determines how much each chunk of audio data overlaps with the previous and next ones. If stretching produces a chorus effect, lower the Overlapping percentage, without going so low that you produce a choppy sound. Overlapping can be as high as 400%, but you should use this value only for very high speed increases (200% or more).

Applies good default values for Splicing Frequency and Overlapping. This option is good for preserving pitch or tempo.

Preserves the sound of vowels in stretched vocals. This option requires substantial processing; try it on a small selection before applying it to a larger one.