Audio Pitch Changer

Mastering Audio Pitch: A Detailed Guide

The Adiminium Pitch Changer puts professional audio tuning capabilities in your browser. Pitch shifting is the process of changing the perceived "note" or "tone" of an audio signal. Whether you are correcting a singer who was slightly flat, creating funny voice effects, or tuning a sample to match the key of your song, this tool provides precise control over frequency.

How Pitch is Measured: Semitones and Cents

Musicians divide an octave (the distance from one C note to the next higher C) into 12 distinct steps called Semitones. However, for fine-tuning, we need even smaller units.

• Semitone (Half Step): The distance between two adjacent keys on a piano.
• Cent: The standard unit of microtonal pitch. One Semitone = 100 Cents.
• Octave: 1200 Cents. Doubling the frequency.

Our tool uses Cents for maximum precision. A value of +100 shifts the pitch up by one piano key. A value of -50 shifts it down by a quarter-tone (often used in Middle Eastern or Blues music).

Common Use Cases

1. Vocal Tuning: While not a full Auto-Tune suite, slight adjustments (+/- 20 cents) can fix a vocal performance that feels slightly "off" or flat.
2. Beat Making (Sampling): Producers often sample old records. To make a sample fit the key of a new beat, you might need to pitch it up or down by 200-300 cents.
3. Voice Anonymity: Pitching a voice down by -300 to -500 cents creates a deep, disguised voice often used in documentaries or privacy interviews.
4. Chipmunk Effect: Pitching up by +600 cents or more creates the classic high-pitched cartoon voice.
5. Gender Swapping: Subtle shifts (+/- 150 cents) can sometimes make a male voice sound more feminine or vice versa, though formants (throat resonance) play a role here too.

The Science Behind It

This tool currently uses a technique called Resampling with Detuning. By playing the audio faster or slower at a micro-level, we alter the wavelength.

• Formula: New Frequency = Original Frequency * 2^(cents/1200)

Note that because we are resampling, this method affects the playback speed inversely. Pitching UP makes the audio slightly shorter. Pitching DOWN makes it longer. This is identical to how tape machines works. We are developing a Phase-Vocoder engine to enable independent pitch shifting in the future!

User Guide

• Fine Tuning: Use small values (+/- 50 cents) for subtle corrections.
• Key Changes: Use 100-cent increments for musical key changes. (+200 cents = Whole Step UP).
• Extreme FX: Max out the slider to +/- 1200 for sound design and alien effects.

Frequently Asked Questions