Step 1: Open Live, set the project tempo to 128bpm and drag your vocal onto an audio track. Duplicate the audio track by right-clicking the track name and selecting Duplicate. Name the first track Main Vocal, and the second track Processed Vocal. Step 2: Double-click the clip on the Processed Vocal track to bring up its Clip view. Transposition is what we call it when we change the pitch of a part, or an entire song, usually in semitones. Furthermore, we have the ability, in some instances, to change pitch in smaller divisions, namely cents – a cent is 1/100th of a semitone. PitchLoop89 is a new pitch-shifting device inspired by the Publison DHM 89, created in collaboration with Robert Henke. Experiment with jittery glitch effects, delayed digital shimmers and outlandish vibrato in the studio or onstage. Included in Live 11 Suite. Experiment with the vintage digital charm of a classic piece of hardware without.
With the release of Max 7, Cycling ‘74 introduced a number of new capabilities to the venerable visual programming language. Among the many innovations are a several objects and devices that offer new possibilities in real-time intonation, pitch and time correction. Since Max for Live (as of Live 9.2) is based on Max 7, we wanted to highlight some of the new devices Cycling ‘74 introduced with Max 7 in the form of this convenient, free Pack for all Max for Live users.
Max 7 Pitch and Time Machines includes the following devices, grouped by category:
Sample Playback
Classic Player – A standard stereo/dual-mono sample player. This device uses the groove~ object without pitch/time corrections. It features the basic patch structure used in some other more complex examples.
PitchTime Player – A stereo/dual-mono sample player with pitch and time correction. This device introduces some settings which control the pitch and time correction feature.
PitchCorrect Player – A stereo/dual-mono sample player with pitch and formant correction. This device introduces some settings which control pitch and formant correction.
Synced Player – A stereo/dual-mono sample player synced to transport. This device uses the time/pitch correction feature of the groove~ object in order to play in sync with Max or Live's transport.
Bit Player – A sequence-able sample player, synced to transport. This device allows for re-ordering sample playback in sync with Max or Live's transport.
Sampler Instrument – A polyphonic sampler instrument with time-stretching. This device uses the time/pitch correction feature of the groove~ object in a MIDI instrument structure. The DSP part of the patch is embedded into a poly~ container, allowing you to load an open number of instances of a patcher file, and thus allows the use of polyphonic audio synthesis, audio processing, or even control tasks.
Pitch Shifting
Simple Pitch Shifter – A simple stereo pitch shifter. This device uses the pitchshift~ object to perform sound transposition.
Pitch&Vibrato – Stereo pitch shifter with vibrato. This device uses the pitchshift~ object to perform sound transposition. We've added a double LFO which acts as a pitch vibrato.
Pitch&Echo – Stereo pitch shifter with vibrato & feedback. This device uses the pitchshift~ object to perform sound transposition. We've added a double LFO which acts as a pitch vibrato. Additionally, the device inserts the pitch transposer into a delay line to create the famous 'harmonizer' sound.
Dual Harmonizer – A dual-mono pitch shifter with vibrato and feedback. This device uses the pitchshift~ object to perform sound transposition. It is similar to the Pitch & Echo device, except that the stereo echo effect is split into two independent mono delay lines, so that each audio channel can be treated separately.
Multi Harmonizer – 10 notes/20 voices pitch shifter. This device uses the pitchshift~ object in a polyphonic patch structure, thus allowing multiple harmonizations. The DSP part of the patch is embedded into a poly~ container, allowing you to load an open number of instances of a patcher file, and thus allows the use of polyphonic audio synthesis, audio processing, or even control tasks.
Pitch Analysis
Pitch Tracker – This device uses the retune~ object to perform some pitch tracking from monophonic input sound. The detected pitch can be monitored using a simple monophonic synthesizer. The estimated pitch and velocity are transformed into MIDI notes, which can be sent to other devices using the MIDI outlet when the device is used in Max. In Live, we use a special MIDI-side-chaining device, called 'Max MIDI Receiver,' in order to catch MIDI data from other devices such as the present one.
Vocoding
Mono Vocoder – A dual-mono vocoder. This device uses the retune~ object to force a monophonic signal to a given pitch, thus acting like a vocoder device. Pitch correction can be tweaked with some dedicated parameters, according to the type of sound that is processed.
Poly Vocoder – 10 notes/20 voices vocoder. This device is similar to the Mono vocoder device, but uses a polyphonic patch structure, thus allowing multiple harmonizations. The DSP part of the patch is embedded into a poly~ container, allowing you to load an open number of instances of a patcher file, and thus allows the use of polyphonic audio synthesis, audio processing, or even control tasks.
Retuning
Autotuna – A scale-based microtonal auto-tuner that can use Scala files. This device uses the retune~ object to tune the audio to a given scale. Scales can be either entered by hand, or loaded from Scala files – a file format for musical tunings that is a standard for exchange of scales. Learn more about Scala.
Ableton Pitch Bend
Microtuner – A table-based microtonal auto-tuner that can use Scala files. This device is similar to the Autotuna example device, except that scales are entered using a graphic function whose shape can be curved, thus providing some unexpected pitch scales.
MIDI-Side Chaining
Max MIDI Sender & Max MIDI Receiver – In Live, audio and MIDI tracks don't communicate any MIDI data to each other. However, in some cases sending MIDI data to an audio effect might be useful: for instance, if you'd like to send a MIDI chord to a vocoder or harmonizer device using a MIDI keyboard.
Experiment with the vintage digital charm of a classic piece of hardware without having to track down and invest in the original. The DHM 89 pitch-shifting delay unit was released in 1979 by the French manufacturer Publison. PitchLoop89 takes its cues from the hardware, preserving some original limitations for creative reasons, while making some contemporary enhancements for sound control, versatility and performability.
Ableton Pitch Hack
Jumps, jolts and jitters
The device contains two independent pitch-shifting delays. These circular delays hold short snippets of audio, the length of which changes according to the bandwidth selected. In the original hardware this was due to a RAM limitation, but it’s now a creative feature, as switching between sample rates creates octave jumps, and low sample rates can change the character of the sound and create interesting sonic artifacts. Changing the speed and direction of playback in the delays allow for pitch shifting and segment reversal.
The two pitch-shifting devices can function independently, or as a single stereo effect, and new filtering and feedback routing enhancements allow control over sound that wasn’t possible with the DHM 89. Shape the sound of each channel with low pass and high pass filters, and play around with the routing options – L/R keeps the channels independent, Sum combines both signals, and Cross sends each signal into the opposite pitch shifter channel. Experimenting with different routing options in combination with different pitch shift settings can create fascinating outcomes such as rising and falling pitch patterns and complex cascades of feedback.
Other notable functions include a hold button, a vibrato LFO, and a position modulation LFO. The hold button lets you freeze and loop the audio of one or both of the channels. Playing around with freezing and unfreezing different audio signals can create shuddering glitches, jolting rhythms and fractured textures. The vibrato LFO can be set to either sine or square wave for smooth or robotic pulsation, and the position modulation LFO has seven waveform options including move – a smooth random movement. Modulating the position with either the LFO or the random button can create effects ranging from spacious pseudo-reverbs to strange rhythmical warping.
Tactile sound design
PitchLoop89 was designed to be playful and tactile, and the real fun starts when it’s used with Push or a MIDI controller. It has deep Push integration, with all parameters set up to be controlled via six menu banks. It’s easy to get lost tweaking parameters to create textures out of samples or transforming organic sounds into fields of digital pointillism. Recording this output in the studio gives you endless variation to work with. Onstage, it’s an exciting and versatile effect to wield in order to deconstruct rhythmic material on the fly, conjure synthetic dronescapes or just add a pinch of digital character to your sounds.