Many of us love to sing, preferring to perform our favorite songs to the soundtrack with a cut out vocal part, popularly called backing track. But sometimes the tonality in which the composition is recorded is not suitable for voice. In this case, you need to change the key of the track. However, not all so simple. Even professional programs may not give the desired result. Consider what needs to be done to get the best quality sound possible.
Changing the key: a bit of theory
In general, even when using software of the appropriate level, you can change the tonality without affecting the sound quality of the composition in such a wide range.
This will be a maximum of several semitones. Otherwise, the track will sound unnatural. Do not forget, because a change in key applies to all sounding instruments. Well, if it's some kind of melodic parts, but with the drums, the situation is much worse, because raising or lowering the main tone will lead to the very unnaturalness. It is also worth considering that all overtones, as well as post effects (for example, with a set delay or with a reverb) will undergo a change.
Changing the key of a backing track: what to use in the general case
The very process of changing the fundamental tone consists in using special plugins called pitch shifters (from the English Pitch Shifter).
At the same time, you can not only change the tonality at a given tempo, but also change the speed of sound or combine both instruments. Again, the change in pace is also made in a very limited range.
The best audio editing software and how to work with them
So, we proceed to the practical part. In the simplest case, we need the track itself (preferably having the WAV format, rather than compressed MP3) and any program for changing the tonality or an application that has such a plug-in in its arsenal. It’s better, of course, to use professional and semi-professional audio editors (the Pitch Shift tool is built-in).
Among the software packages that allow you to change the tonality of any track quickly and efficiently, it is worth noting the following:
- Steinberg WaveLab;
- Sony Sound Forge;
- Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro);
- ACID Pro;
- Audacity
- Prosoniq Time Factory;
- Acoustica Mixcraft;
- Cockos Reaper;
- Logic Pro X;
- Avid Pro Tools et al.
The last four programs are more used for professional recording in studios and information, however, tools for editing the basic tone also have.
The tonality of any track and in any program changes according to the same principle: first the whole track or part of it is selected, for which you need to change the pitch, then select the Pitch Shift plug-in from the list, the number of halftones or percentage relative to the trigger is set desired key up or down, after which the change process is activated. Then the new track can be listened to and saved.
What to use?
If you give some practical advice in the end, it is worth noting that beginners should not immediately take up professional programs. At the initial stage of mastering such processes, the Prosoniq Time Factory application is perfect, since it is the simplest of all the above. If we are talking primarily about sound quality, then professional utilities are indispensable.
However, even professionals sometimes use tools such as Amazing Slow Downer to quickly set the tone offset. In addition, if a person does not have sufficient knowledge in the field of audio processing, you can refer to many online resources that you just need to download your track to, select the desired settings, wait for the conversion process to finish, and then download the processed material to your computer.
As you can see, there is nothing particularly complicated. However, remember what was said at the beginning. Raising or lowering the tone is not recommended in the range of more than 2-2.5 semitones, since if it is exceeded, the composition will too clearly lose in sound quality and naturalness. The same thing applies to pace. It can be changed up to 10 bpm (beats per minute). If these two tools are used in parallel, the range of possible settings is significantly reduced.