How to Autotune Your Vocals Like T-Pain, Cher or Daft Punk

Jul 8th in Production by Nic Bertino
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.

Author: Nic Bertino

Nic Bertino is a professional producer and recording artist from Sacramento, California, with over 9 years of production experience.

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:

T-Pain – Buy U A Drank

Cher – Believe (First Pop Instance of Autotuning)

Daft Punk – One More Time

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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User Comments

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  1. Bugsy July 8th

    great content.

    i’m new to the audio world and this is helping me to understand it. i’ll never be a top selling producer, but maybe i can mix a nice audio track for someones wedding dvd or something someday.


  2. Daniel Richard July 8th

    I can see a talkshow hosted by one author who autotunes his voices to various characters coming up shortly. :)

    Great tutorial there Nic!


  3. jyesmith July 8th

    I just finished doing this only last week with a new recording of mine. Just hit ‘limit to key’ in GarageBand and mac sure your vocalist can slide between notes with force!

    Great tut!!!


  4. red July 8th

    Hahaha, Soungoodizer! Where can I get this one. I can’t find a way to get on the flstudio site…


  5. Skellie July 8th

    @ red: Soundgoodizer is included with FL Studio 8 :). http://www.flstudio.com

    Cheers!


  6. Felon July 8th

    Well explained, and the information regarding Antares Autotune will benefit users of all sequencers/production suites.

    However, this effect is generally possible with any vocoder plugin - it’s not specific to Autotune.


  7. Martín July 8th

    Cool, a software talkbox :)


  8. Allan July 9th

    Awesome


  9. Androo July 9th

    FELON: Oh, it is forsure specific autotune. A vocoder will only mix a tone or chord with a voice signal. It is up to the player/sequencer to choose when to change tone (or chord). An autotuner gets that very specific sound character, almost like gliding (from detuned to tuned i asume) which would be pretty hard to get with traditional vocoders.

    I have tried for years to achieve this with vocoders obtaining terrible results, this is the correct way of achieving Cher’s gliding pitch shifts.


  10. Nic Bertino July 9th

    Urg, it is neither a talkbox nor a vocoder. A vocoder works by taking something like a synthesizer and running it against your voice (or anything else) to create a talking effect. A talkbox works by routing a synthesizer sound through a small amplifier, which then goes through a tube which you place in your mouth. The sound bounces off of the back of your throat, and you “mouth” the words to achieve talkbox stardom. You may have already known this, but a lot of people get autotuners, talkboxes, and vocoders mixed up…

    *Off to write a vocoder tutorial.. :)*


  11. Appox July 9th

    Fantastic tutorial


  12. w00p July 9th

    It’s amazing the difference between the raw vocal and the finished product! Jeez, we don’t even need to know how to sing anymore!


  13. serpentemx July 9th

    Great tut I’ve always wanted to mock this effect but with Adobe Audition and so the results were pretty disappointing . Thanks bro!


  14. Skellie July 9th

    @ serpentemx: We’re always happy to facilitate mocking here! hehe. I guess that’s the thing, with some of these trademark genre effects generally you either love them or you hate them :).


  15. MarcusFromPhilly July 9th

    Can I do this using Propellerhead Reason 4?


  16. Nu Digi July 9th

    I’m glad to see this published. But… I think artist integrity will prevent me from doing this to my own voice. or at least… OVER doing it…


  17. Felon July 9th

    @ Androo & Nic Bertino: I see where you are coming from, however I merely meant that you can create a similar effect with a vocoder, which would allow you to tweak the notation of the vocal via midi… it would obviously sound different from Autotune, as the processing is different.


  18. Alex July 11th

    Got a question: Where do I get this little “audio player” from? That green flash player you are using to preview all of the audio files. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.


  19. Skellie July 11th

    @ Alex: Just in case you don’t see my answer on the other post, http://www.wpaudioplayer.com/


  20. Alex July 11th

    @ Skellie: Thank you SO MUCH!!! Keep up the great work!!!


  21. ali July 17th

    audiotuts is the coolest site.


  22. Jim Jones July 17th

    WOW THIS ACTUALLY WORKED!!!!!!!!! too bad i got nuthin to sing about :(


  23. jboozket July 19th

    Great Tuto! Thank you!
    Actually, I’m on my quest to find how this voice was made:
    http://pylepro.free.fr/I%20cant%20wait.mp3
    I know it’s maybe autotune but it sounds more exaggerated, more synthesized.
    I come from a french Talkbox Forum
    http://mo.cheez.free.fr/forum/index.php
    It’s funny, in french autotune means money right now!
    Best regards

    J.


  24. zach August 15th

    Aye do u kno how to do this in adobe audition 2? Cuz I dnt wanna download all those things!


  25. jay September 2nd

    i already have autotune & i am useing it in cool edit , well i am trying to figure out how i can use the auto tune without haveing to record myself first , i hear people singing into the mic on the chat rooms & u tube useing autotune . what do i need to do that?


  26. 13Moons Records September 8th

    good job, you have teaching skillz & the layering of effects shows depth of artistry…

    this autotune vocoder thing is just the reevival of the whole consiousness expansion thing..people always wanna blow there minds…just wait til folks find out about cymatics & brainwave entrainment for music…


  27. Mike September 21st

    Hey I been messin with this thing for about a year now…I actually got pretty good with it too. But I’d hafta’ say that the main thing with using auto tune is setting the retune speed to 0 & relaxing the options but the most important part (wich I’m 100% sure) is finding THE EXACT KEY TO UR SONG. Now I’m not a “musician” but I know a thing or two about audio & recording. I don’t know how to read notes by ear & whatnot…But the point I wanted to get at is simple, what is a good way to find the key of my song? Is there something that can do it for me automatically? I actually have something that does this but it’s not accurate at all. Can I get some suggestions? Thanks.


  28. David November 2nd

    Mike

    You lazy sob. We all just wanna ‘produce’ music without even doing anything huh?!

    An automatic key finder?!? I’m sure it’s out there but surely surely surely you can find the key ‘your’ song is in by ear?

    Music you read, THUS WITH YOUR EYES! Do you read books with your ears? Do you read books?

    Get a piano or simple midi keyboard and hit every note between middle C and the next untill you find one that sounds in tune to every aspects of your chord progression. Voila, the key, the idiiot way anyway.

    Sheesh….next people will want software that inspres them, writes lyrics, sings it for them, produces the track, mixes it and presses it to CD, distributes it and this all automatically and of course gives them all the credit while they sit on the couch scratching their nuts…fuggin lazyass.


  29. pix November 18th

    people, this stuff is easy.
    first of, give yourself time to understand sound, listen and then listen again. it gets to a stage where you just listen a sound and detect its key with ease(train your ear)
    As a producer and a singer, it sure does work for me.
    Autotuning depends on individual voice texture because mr. A’s preset might work or Mr B.


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