How to make VOCAL PITCH Correction sound NATURAL

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How to make Vocal Pitch Correction sound NATURAL

Pitch correction is necessary for a great recording, no matter how talented your vocalist is.
In fact, pitch correction doesn’t really work all that well with vocalists who have serious pitch issues.
But the secret to making it sound great… is to make it sound natural, like it’s not even happening!
Today, I’ll share some of my best tips for natural-sounding vocal pitch correction, using a VariAudio (included in Cubase Pro!)

Let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to share your best pitch-correction techniques!

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:35 My preferred pitch correction tool
1:00 The quickest way to best pitch correction results
1:55 How to open VariAudio on a track
2:30 VariAudio tools overview
4:30 Using your ears for pitch correction
5:15 A word on making pitch corrections in context
6:40 Splitting an audio segment into sections
7:45 How to freely move notes (without snapping to pitch)
11:05 A word on vibrato
11:50 Avoiding the Cher sound
12:15 Creating a buffer zone on a pitch segment
13:25 Correcting long notes

Some of the gear and plugins I use in the studio:

STUDIO MONITORS:
HEADPHONES:

VIDEO FILMING GEAR
Video gear shared in this video

[frankhowell]

Thanks Chris. I finished going segment by segment on a vocal yesterday. Probably over did corrections but I did it without artifacts. Lots of splitting and tweaking! This video makes the process much clearer! Thanks!

[realraven]

Nice one! Probably going to watch later, but rule 1 is obviously use Cubase Variaudio :) I do find doing format correction with more extreme moves (whole notes and larger) really helps as well when you're working on harmony stacks. I am generally a lot gentler with things like smoothing, pitch correction on lead vocals, and more heavy handed on harmonies/ backing vocals for tightness.

[robcurtismusicaljourney]

This was very useful. As a beginner, I thought I should be straightening curves and bringing things down that were beyond the box, and wondered about the extra boxes that wouldn't be on a score of the vocal.

[jpdrumming]

Do you have any tips on bleed when pitch correcting for example vocal tracks from a band live recording?

[DonnieDistortion]

Chris, I discovered your channel last year and I have to say, it is a gold mine of information and tips for a Cubase user like myself. Merci 1000 fois! 🤘

[nexis]

Great video Chris! I didn't know that you could easily revert a section back to default settings! Thank you!

[watchaddicts]

Very helpful! I can't see exactly HOW you are "going back one step" or "going back to" or just UNDOING in general. What are you clicking on to do this?
I note the whatever plus function steps you describe near video's end. Earlier in the video, I keep thinking you're using some quicker UNDO shortcut, ..because I don't see your cursor move as you undo.

[adrianjaroszsoundlab]

After last update Cubase released Melodene in essential version, I like to use both Variaudio and Melodyne, different algorithms give different possibilities but Melodyne in this version has no curve adjustment

[troutstudio]

Hi Chris. Love your videos. Please can you share how you export a final vocal - say to a mix engineer - with VariAudio written to the file. I’ve tried everything; but still the result does not match the same values as the original. I have purchased your courses before and I’d pay for this help. Thanks very much.

[petew-berg]

Yes, this was very helpful. Thank you sir!

[indyartmusic]

Another great video Chris, thanks for sharing ! Going to be mixing a hell of a lot of vocals pretty soon, so this has come just at the right time! This will really help me, especially as i have not mixed a lot of vocals before, so your video will be invaluable i feel! Thanks again. Take care.

[DanielStefanescuStudio]

Hi Chris ! I use Cubase 12 to mix and master almost all my audio projects. Only that I've ran into a little problem. I recorded a Christmas Carol with my fiancee and the problem is that she cannot hit a few notes I mean the right way. So I tryed to fix her problem with VariAudio but still not what I was hopping for. How can I fix this and make her sound more natural without sounding robotic?

[Elvin.c]

Please why is it that if i want to do pitch correction, once i shift it one key up or down, the voice will start sounding so weak, and will go away from the normal sound, pls help me

[lahattec]

Seems like that long vocal part is asking for a delay throw. :)

[julianokhoshaba]

Your videos are too long because you repeat yourself over and over and over and over

[bryantwalley]

lol. You want it to sound natural? Sing it in key….

[CycloneBoshmaster-czyw]

Please we don't wanna see you don't bother turning the camera to you