Left knob
Retune speed
How quickly a note is pulled into tune once it starts. Lower is faster and more obvious. Higher lets scoops and slides through before the note settles. At 0 ms the correction is immediate.
Start at35 ms
Available for Windows · 30-day free trial
Spark AutoPitch
Vocal pitch correction for Windows. Choose a key and scale, then adjust the correction strength and speed. Use slower settings for subtle correction or Hard tune for a pronounced tuning effect.
€9.99one-time
Try free for 30 daysOr get all eighteen plugins with Spark Complete for €27.99. Your free trial starts on activation. No card, no automatic charge.
- Windows 10 and 11
- 64-bit
- VST3
- Standalone app
- Key and scale aware
- Formants: Preserve or Shift
- Mono or stereo vocal
- Resizable window
- Reports latency to your DAW
What it’s for
Suggested settings for lead vocals, hard tuning and harmony tracks. Adjust them to suit your recording.
A natural lead vocal
Set the song’s key and scale, turn Hard tune down to 0% and use a slower Retune speed. This allows more of the singer’s note transitions and vibrato through while correcting held notes.
Starting point
- Hard tune
- 0%
- Retune speed
- 35 ms
- Correction
- 85%
- Humanize
- 40%
The hard-tuned effect
Set Hard tune and Correction to 100% for abrupt note changes. Hard tune overrides the smoothing controls; Retune speed at 0 ms alone does not produce the same effect. New instances start with Hard tune at 0%; raise it for this effect.
Starting point
- Hard tune
- 100%
- Correction
- 100%
- Formants
- Shift
- Key and scale
- The song’s
Separate harmony tracks
Use an instance of AutoPitch on each harmony track. Disable unwanted notes on the Target notes keyboard to create a Custom scale for that part. In the new interface, the keyboard is available on both pages.
Starting point
- Scale
- Custom
- Target notes
- That part’s notes
- Channel mode
- Mono vocal
- Retune speed
- Faster than the lead
The main page
The new interface puts a live Pitch monitor beside the three main knobs. Key, Scale, Formants, Vocal range and Channel mode menus stay available on both pages, together with the Target notes keyboard. For a natural lead vocal, keep Hard tune at its 0% default in Detailed tuning; at 100%, it overrides Retune speed and Humanize.
Centre knob
Correction
How firmly each note is pulled onto its target. It’s the strength of the correction, not a wet/dry blend, so turning it down gives a lighter touch rather than a doubled, phasey sound.
Start at85%
Right knob
Humanize
Lets the singer’s own movement around a note, like vibrato, come through while the centre of the note is still corrected. It doesn’t add any wobble of its own.
Start at40%
First menu
Key
The root note of the song. Set it with Scale so AutoPitch only aims for notes that belong, and a flat note lands on the right pitch instead of the semitone below it.
Start atThe song’s key
Second menu
Scale
Chromatic allows all twelve notes, which is the safe choice until you know the key. Clicking notes off on the Target notes keyboard turns it into a Custom scale.
Start atThe song’s scale
Third menu
Formants
Preserve or Shift: two ways of handling the character of the voice as the pitch moves, each on its own engine. The difference, explained.
Start atPreserve
Detailed tuning
Open Detailed tuning at the top right for seven additional controls, including Hard tune and Output. In the new interface, the five menus and Target notes keyboard stay in place. Choose Back to AutoPitch to return to the monitor and main knobs.
- Hard tune
- At 100% it overrides Retune speed, Humanize, Note transition, Tolerance and Note hold, and their settings come back as you lower it.
- Note transition
- Smooths the move from one settled note to the next without dragging the melody back toward the old note.
- Tolerance
- How far from the note, in cents, a sung pitch can sit before correction steps in, 10 cents unless you change it.
- Note hold
- How long a new note has to last before AutoPitch commits to it, so quick passing notes aren’t snapped onto. New instances use 35 ms.
- Snap response
- Makes the correction more immediate and narrows the tolerance, on a continuous scale rather than in steps.
- Output
- Sets the level coming out of the plugin, 0 dB by default.
- Tuning reference
- The pitch of A4, normally 440 Hz, for tracks tuned a little higher or lower.
- Vocal range
- Available on both pages in the new interface. Pick the singer’s range when you know it, or leave it on Full range.
- Channel mode
- Available on both pages in the new interface. Mono vocal, the default, folds left and right into one centred voice before tuning, while Stereo keeps the recording’s width.
- Target notes
- The keyboard is shared by both pages in the new interface. Click any of the twelve notes to switch it off and make a Custom scale. The count shows how many remain enabled; Reset restores the selected scale’s notes.
Formants: Preserve or Shift
Formants are resonances that contribute to the tone of a voice. The Formants menu controls whether they stay in place or move with the pitch. Compare both settings on your recording.
Preserve
Default for new instancesSpark formant-preserving waveform engine
Keeps the formants in place while the pitch is corrected. Version 0.1.38 improves waveform continuity as the voice moves between notes and pauses. Preserve remains the default for new instances; existing projects retain their saved Formants setting.
Shift
Spark waveform shifter
Moves the formants with the pitch and aligns neighbouring waveform cycles as notes change. Select Shift when you want the voice’s character to move with the tuning.
Switching Formants settings. Both engines stay ready, so changing either way uses a 20 ms crossfade. Both settings report the same latency to your DAW.
Latency and monitoring
To correct a note, AutoPitch has to hear a little of it first. Version 0.1.38 delays the audio by 126 ms at 48 kHz, or 126.53 ms at 44.1 kHz. That’s the same with either Formants setting.
AutoPitch reports that delay to your DAW, which compensates on playback so the tuned vocal stays lined up with the rest of the mix. Playback compensation does not remove the delay while recording through it: the singer would hear themselves late. Use it on the vocal track when you mix, not in the headphone feed.
- Reports its latency to your DAW
- Yes
- Zero-latency mode
- No
- Live monitoring through it
- Not recommended
How the knobs work
The same on every knob, on both pages.
- Drag Click and drag to turn it.
- Mouse wheel Scroll over a knob to nudge it.
- Arrow keys Tab to a knob, then step it up or down.
- Double-click Puts it back to its default.
- Click the value Type an exact number.
Specs
System requirements and plugin details. See support for installation and DAW setup.
Go to support- Format
- VST3, 64-bit, plus a standalone app
- System
- Windows 10 and 11, 64-bitNo macOS version yet.
- Interface
- Live Pitch monitor, three main knobs, five menus and a Target notes keyboardSeven additional controls in Detailed tuning. Use your DAW’s bypass to turn processing off.
- Window
- Resizable, with a 10:7 shapeOpens at 900 × 630. Resizes up to 1600 × 1120.
- Channel mode
- Mono vocal by default, or StereoStereo keeps a stereo recording’s width.
- Latency
- Reported to your DAW126 ms at 48 kHz; 126.53 ms at 44.1 kHz, with either Formants setting. For mixing, not live monitoring.
- Trial
- 30 days freeOne trial per account and device. Starts on plugin activation; no card required.
- Price
- €9.99One-time purchase. VAT included where applicable.
More from Spark
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