How to pitch shift midi less than a half-step (in cents)

Posted on

Member Since: May 27, 2010

How can i do this? My audio was sort of out of tune when i recorded it, and i need the midi to match. Audio seems to be flat by about 1/8 of a step, so i think that is measured in "cents" right? How can i shift the midi . i am using mixcraft software.

[ Back to Top ]


Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


May 28, 2010 12:54 am

Hi Darry, and welcome to the HRC.

While I'm not familiar with Mixcraft, most DAW or other audio editing software will have some editing features on the individual tracks, e.g. Panning and Volume. If you dig deeper into a track or channel's features, you might find some additional editing options which often includes a way to adjust pitch. And yes, often the knob values are displayed in cents. So you would need to adjust the pitch knob until the midi intonation matches the audio. Sure you can run calculations to figure out how many cents equals a semi-tone and do the math to figure out how many cents you'd need to go, but often it's quicker, easier (and debatedly better) to listen carefully, and make the adjustment by ear for each midi track.

Again, I'm not familiar with Mixcraft, so I don't know what the software's internals are like, or how to dig into the deeper functions. Searching around google didn't seem to turn up much either, but there should be a simple way to adjust the midi pitch.

If there's no pitch knob on any of the tracks, or embedded deeper in, then you might look at the instrument or VSTi that the midi is controlling, and see if that has a way to adjust the pitch. If all else fails, you can try looking through the software documentation for adjusting midi pitch, or see if there's anything in the mixcraft website/forums. Or, worst case scenario, just re-track the audio, and try to get a better intonation. Do a few takes, and go with the best one.

Hope that helps. Maybe one of the others around here has some experience using Mixcraft, and they can offer up some suggestions.

Good luck!

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


May 28, 2010 01:04 am

i'd check the softsynth itself for some kinda "tune" knob....most of 'em have 'em somewhere.

Typo Szar
Member
Since: Jul 04, 2002


May 28, 2010 06:35 am

If the pitch shift is very minute could i suggest tuning ur audio instead? It seems to be most midi would pitch shift in very locked step broader strokes or risk sounding funny. I dont know how much audio u have but live recorded sounds tend to me to retune a bit more naturally.

edit0r
Member
Since: Aug 17, 2004


May 28, 2010 06:55 am

Something like melodyne. Cubase 5 has an inbuilt auto tune function similar to melodyne. Also, under process - pitch shift, most cubase versions have an 'envelope function' that I'm pretty sure would work.

Could try speeding it up a little as well?

EDIT. Oh wait, MIDI... I'm thinking audio, never mind :-).

Member
Since: Sep 30, 2009


May 28, 2010 09:33 am

Melodyne would work for midi too. Midi is still audio. Kinda pricey though, and if this were the case i'd say use melodyne on all your audio. Easiest thing to do IMO is look around your VST program (not the midi view in your DAW, the one that actually changes your instrument). In there you may find a "cents" or "tuning" option. If not, look for a way to set how far the pitch shift bends a note.

If you're able to change how far pitch shift wheels will bend a note, set it to 1. Now any value should be close to the cents, off by a third probably (0-127? i think pitch wheels use the typical midi data).

If you can't adjust it, just do it by ear (which you'll have to do anyway) And don't go far over 50.

Now here's the clincher, you have to use mixcraft to automate the pitch wheel up to the value your ears determine and leave it there. If you don't know how to automate, read the manual. If you can't find a manual search forums on how to automate.

http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


May 28, 2010 03:34 pm

I'd re-track it.

Related Forum Topics:



If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.