How to Autotune Your Vocals Like T-Pain, Cher or Daft Punk
Tutorial Details
- Program: VST effects, FL Studio, Antares AutoTune VST
- Difficulty: Intermediate - Advanced
- Completion Time: 1-2 hours
Twice a month we revisit some of our reader favorite posts from throughout the history of Audiotuts+. This tutorial was first published in July 2008.
Ever heard a song by T-Pain on the radio and wondered how the robotic vocal effect is achieved? By the end of this tutorial, you will own the autotuning sound that is used on so many pop records right now.
Note: this article contains embedded audio that will not display in a feed reader. Click back to the site to read the tutorial with audio, or download the audio files at the bottom of the post.
Listen to some examples of this effect in action:
Cher – Believe (First Pop Instance of Autotuning)
You may assume that it takes a masterful engineer and a lot of money in hard effects to get that autotuned sound, but that’s not the case: using only a few steps and a simple plugin you will be well on your way. In this tutorial we’ll go one step further and show you how to create an autotuning effect that sounds as good as the pros.
This tutorial assumes basic knowledge of VST effects and FL Studio. You will need Antares AutoTune VST or a similar autotuning VST to perform this effect correctly, and of course, a microphone that is able to record into FL Studio. Besides that plugin, I will be using the effects packaged with FL Studio to finish shaping the sound.
Tutorial Setup:
- iMac Core2Duo 2.16ghz
- 2GB Ram
- Audio Technica ST90 Microphone ($25!!)
- Alesis IO 26
Step 1
Make sure you’ve purchased Antares AutoTune, a similar VST, or have picked up the demo. If you’re wary of purchasing this product, I’ve found that if you are working with any sort of vocals it pays for itself almost immediately.
We are going to setup a mixer channel in FL Studio to pickup our microphone. Mine is on Blobusound Channel 2, so I select that accordingly.
If done correctly, you should have activity on the input meter. If not, you’re going to need to check your ASIO/WDM settings, or make sure that you have a soundcard or interface that can support a microphone input.
Assuming you have activity coming in and that you can hear yourself, load Antares AutoTune onto the first slot of the mixer. Notice any difference? You probably can’t–we need to change some settings before going further.
This is the raw vocal I’ll be working with in this tutorial:
raw_vocal.mp3
Step 2
At this point, you’re going to want to change the “Input Type” at the top. This helps the tuning engine accurately adjust the incoming signal (in this case, your voice) to “tune” correctly. We are going to manipulate the tuning engine by changing it to “Alto/Tenor Voice”. This will trick the AutoTuner into shifting your voice upwards, and “filling in” your missed notes with a synthesized “voice.”
With the input type changed, it is now time to change the key and scale. T-Pain’s hit song ‘Buy U A Drank’ is in B-flat minor, so we’ll change the key to B-flat and the scale to minor.
You may notice some difference here, but the key to real auto-tuned vocals is to change the “Retuning” threshold to as fast as possible, in this case “0.” With it down at zero, when your voice fluctuates from note to note, it detects what note your voice is in, then jumps it to the next note in the scale, keeping it in key. With these basic settings in place, you should be singing your robotic heart out.
vocal_autotuned.mp3
But this is just the basic effect, and through my $25 “>Audio Technica mic, it is sounding a little dry.
Step 3
The spirit of this effect is to sound a little more robotic, so what we are going to do now is further create that robotic/artificial sound using other effects. These effects will change from microphone to microphone, so it is important to experiment until you get the sound you’re looking for.
The next thing in my FX chain after the auto-tuner is going to be an EQ plugin. I’ll be using this EQ to brighten up the highs, and exaggerate the artificial effect. Using EQUO, I’ve boosted all of the frequencies past 2.5khz to about 400%. This exaggerated EQ will add even more definition to the robotic effect. This may produce too much brightness on nicer microphones, so you may want to start at 400% and work your way down until you’ve got a reasonably bright vocal.
vocal_autotune_eq.mp3
Step 4
After the EQUO, I’ll add a Reverb effect to the chain. This is my standard vocal Reverb palette, and I’ve placed it at about 50% volume to make sure that it isn’t too overpowering on my vocals.
vocal_autotune_eq_reverb.mp3
Step 5
Optional: At this point, I’ve found that inserting the newly-added Soundgoodizer plug-in after the Reverb works very, very well on autotuned vocals. Give it a shot in the effects chain to get some interesting effects due to Soundgoodizer’s limiter. It also keeps the volume level high and limited, which adds to the artificial sound.
Step 6
After the Fruity Reverb, I’ll add what is probably the most important and delicate effect in the chain, a chorus. Refer to the settings snapshot to recreate this wonderful effect: it will give your vocal plenty of depth, and it has convinced many of my listeners that I am not, in fact, recording on a $25 microphone!
vocal_autotune_eq_reverb_chorus.mp3
Step 7
Moving on from there, my next effect is the Fruity Delay Bank. I’ve kept this one simple, and it will create a little more atmosphere along with the Reverb that was added earlier in the chain. Notice that I’ve used some pretty crazy volume/mix values for the effects. Sometimes an effect becomes too overpowering at full volume, so experiment with turning it down until you achieve a nice balance.
To smooth everything out after the Fruity Delay Bank, I’ll throw a Fruity Compressor onto the channel and you are recording-ready and set to sound like T-Pain!
Listen to the final product:
vocal_autotune_eq_reverb_chorus_delay_compression.mp3
Download the Play Pack for this tutorial (1.4MB)
Contents:
- All audio files
- Printable PDF tutorial
- Bonus audio: autotuned vocal acappella.
Nic Bertino is a professional producer and recording artist from Sacramento, California with over 9 years of production experience.
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man thankx alot first i saw all tha texts then i thout it was alot of work so i was kinda lazy thn i decided to try and it was just pushn me til i finished it and its fukn awsome an kinda betr thn t-pain and wen i tried setting while talking it wasnt tht beter but after i recordd it was tha coolest thing ever i played it over and over it wil help me a lot cause am an undergroung producer and u can send me ur email and i send u my songs
dude i so need to try this!!
I downloaded it, and i don’t know how to work it…i’m to lazy to read the instructions…
i want to try this
I’ll give it a shot
شكراً جزيلاً لك يارجل انت فنان ومميز شكر خاص من السعودية KSA
Thanks man you stars
Thanx a lot…but i use gsnap..it still gives that robotic sound…bt nw i will enhance it with those fl studio plugins..thanx a lot.!
THANKS ALOT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! It worked, you’re the best…….
Sounds coooool! but do you really have to buy that 300$ alesis IO 26?
hate autotune !!!!!!!!!!!!!! coz it is like a god of untalented
Hey you! I just found what I’ve been looking for for ages! It sounds awesome… Now I have a problem, I don’t have FL studio yet. I use NHC mixpad and/or Audacity for recording. Is anyone of them compatible with Antares Auto Tune VST or is there a VST that is compatible with them. I’m still saving to purchase my FL studio…haha
I think i can help ya with dat. E-mail me now… ayt!
Mehn it’s gud dough i knw hw 2 use auto tune b4 nw but it’s nice tryin out some kul stuff i just learnt…
THANKS MAN. IT’S CLEARLY DEFINED, GONNA TRY DA NEW STUFF I JUST LEARNT.
I was finding a perfect autotune T-Pain effect n i didn’t find it anywhere till now……… this is the best tut od autotune ever….. love u mayne…….
Heaven! I think that’s what you just showed me. I’ll run into the street to search that auto-magic man.I’ve always envissioned T-pain and you just bought me a ticket to paradise. My friends are gonna be jealous. You wont go unrewarded.
ok i did do it to sound like tpain,but what i wanna know is how to record tpain voice with only cbase coz with fl i can record?
me gusta. i like it, es justo lo que buscaba, its just what im searchin’ 4. thanks!!! gracias!!!
nice work buh how can i use autotune with audacity? Coz thats wot i use in recording
Hi Kiddykaz. There are a few YouTube videos that show you how. Here’s one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_rP6ArZ7bQ
Where can I download this.Can somevone tell me the link
that was cool . i appreciate the tutorial but next time do it using cool edit please
Cool stuff. I tried it out and it worked, although I don’t know why T-Pain is asking all artists who are using auto-tune to pay him royalties. That’s messed up. But apart from that, great work. I just tried it out and it’s like, the coolest thing ever. But can it also work with Cakewalk’s Sonar X3?
Great tip! Thank you very much dude! Cheers!
GEE!!! THANX MAN I THINK ILL TRY IT,SOUNDS LIKE AN ANSWER 2 MY PRAYERS.
Thanx 4 d tut, u ar ma hero man, time 2 dig up some gdamn crazy recordin!! Luv ya
ok…… but it dosnt show the nine years experience you have. … one of my 15 yrs old friend sound so real on at. .. but you only make it crap the first track is only worth listening rest is all shit…. it dosnt matter what mic you use for tute- if you know not to abuse plugins. … i hope you will learn from my feedback..
10 efx for 1 track is totally shitty…
I hate vocoded vocals (espacially singing)… Anyways good tut man :)
Excellent site and excellent post. Thank you.
I got linked here from a cracked.com article about inventions that make you want to kill the inventor. How appropriate.
After reading almost three full pages of comments, an interesting trend emerges:
The negative comments regarding autotune and overproduced pop music are generally correctly spelled, free of excessive profanity and making a coherent point. The positive comments read like strings of incoherent DudeBro txt-speak typed by a bunch of retarded monkeys. Or they’re asking “how can I expend absolutely zero money or effort to get this effect using a freeware recording program”. Or “LOL I am totally a pro DJ/producer posting on a random internet site and I love this LOL”.
It’s kind of sad really. T-Pain et al. have convinced a generation of idiots that you can have absolutely no talent and still make a hit song as long as you have the right plugins. They’re going to very disillusioned when they try every trick in the book and discover that their music still sounds like shite.
Thanks man, after heard it from daftpunk, i thought wow, and sites had all the creazy ways of doing it, only 3 yrs before t pain, we got it, but your version is nicer than the SOS one, though i hate the thing now, but I am glad that, people who trying this are/might be learning beyond the Tpain fx,
- like to eq the voice for a bit of shininess
- the use of reverb in voices
Thank you again
Yeah you are saying the truth but mind you am not a musician; if you mind you can still
give me any kind of an auto tuner.I trust in you my helpers please try your best.