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Pitch Perfect With VariAudio

Steinberg Cubase Tips & Techniques
Published in SOS August 2009
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Technique : Cubase Notes

In VariAudio, Cubase 5 users have a sophisticated

pitchcorrection tool.
John Walden

ariAudio is one of the headline features of Cubase 5,

but you really need some experience with it to get the
best results. Steinberg included a short series of
tutorials on VariAudio in Cubase 5's Getting Started manual
(based around some sample projects on the install DVD),
and these offer a good introduction, so in this column I'll
focus on additional tips to improve your VariAudio work
process.

Fully Comp

Oops! This recording of someone whistling

a series of short notes has been poorly
detected by VariAudio probably due to a poor
signal level, too many plosives (breaths at the
start of each note) and not enough clear pitch
information.

The most obvious application for VariAudio is pitch correction

of vocals and instrumental solos, and while it may seem
tempting to get straight in there, in the context of a real
project it's usually more efficient to do a little editing work on your parts first. For example, when recording
vocals, most people record several takes and compile a 'best of' version as their final performance. Such
'comping' is best done prior to any work with VariAudio, so that you get the best performance you can in
terms of both pitch and expression, before doing any pitch correction.
With the performance compiled, it's easy to bounce it down (using the File / Export / Audio Mixdown
option with the vocal parts soloed, or Audio / Bounce Selection) to create a single consolidated audio
event. As VariAudio is accessed by opening an audio event in the Sample Editor, this makes for a simpler
workflow, because all the pitch correction can be done in a single instance of the Sample Editor window.
Depending on the recording level and/or quality of the performance, it might also be worth applying a little
compression, EQ or gating during the bounce process (don't overdo it, though, as you can't undo it): it's
useful to get as clean and even a signal as possible before applying VariAudio's pitch-detection process.

Sorting Segments
In the Sample Editor, selecting VariAudio's Pitch & Warp or
Segments tools will prompt Cubase to analyse the audio and
extract pitch information from it. There's no user control over
how this process operates, and while it does a good job
generally, it's not foolproof. Two common problems occur.
First, there might be sections of your performance for which
no segment or pitch curve is created. This generally happens
when the pitchdetection algorithm doesn't have enough
information to go on (for example, with a weak audio signal or
sections of the audio that have little clear pitch information,
such as plosives, sibilant or strongly sounded consonants).
Second, as mentioned in the Getting Started tutorials,
VariAudio might not always generate the ideal number of
segments for a particular word or phrase.

On the left, the pitch curve suggests the green

segment actually contains two different notes.
On the right, the segment has been split into
two using the scissors tool and the segment
boundary aligned with the change in the pitch
curve and waveform.

Although the Segment tool can be used to expand an

existing segment so that it includes a section of the performance that has not been detected by the initial
analysis process, there's little benefit in doing this for sections with no relevant pitchbased content. If there
ought to be pitchbased content (that is, the section is part of a sung melody) but none is detected, it may
be that the audio signal is not of sufficiently good quality. If this is the case then rerecording the offending
section is likely to be a much better approach.
Dealing with the second issue by manually finetuning the segments that have been generated is more

Fully Comp
Sorting Segments
Quick Fix Pitch?
Straight & Narrow
Melody Writer
And Finally.

straightforward. Obvious things to look for are individual

segments in which the pitch curve shows a pitchshift of
a semitone or more, but another possibility is to split
segments that span two or more words, where the melody
stays on a single pitch. Splitting these into single-word
segments can give you greater flexibility to experiment with
variations on your melody. The scissors tool is probably the
easiest means of splitting the segment at the appropriate
point. It's worth comparing the positioning of segment
boundaries relative to your audio waveform: providing there's
not too much of a clash with obvious shifts in the pitch curve,
the segment boundaries can be suitably tweaked to coincide with the waveform envelope for each word.

Quick Fix Pitch?

Once you've sorted out any obvious segment issues, it might
be tempting to select all the segments and apply a dollop of
Pitch Quantize. Although this might be appropriate if you
have a decent singer to start with, or if you're subtle in the
degree of pitchcorrection applied, when you want to achieve
natural results it's much better to use your ears than to rely
on the visual display. Some of the perceived character of a
performance is often to do with subtle pitch variations, which
means that making things too perfect can result in an
undesirably mechanical feel. I find that it's generally best to
focus in on specific problem notes and apply quantising to
those, rather than blanketprocessing everything.

On the left, the first red segment actually

contains three words. On the right, this has
been split into three segments and these could
now be shifted individually if you wanted to
experiment with an alternative melody.

Currently, VariAudio doesn't offer scalespecific quantising

options, so the other obvious thing to watch out for is
segments getting quantised towards a note that's not in the
key of the song. This can be a particular problem with short
passing notes, where the singer is moving up or down
through a series of notes, without holding any of them for very
long. In most cases, this can be easily fixed by positioning the
segment by hand, but there will inevitably be times when this
approach leads to obvious and undesirable audio artifacts,
and it can simply be best to leave the short note uncorrected
for a more natural result.

Straight & Narrow

VariAudio also has the Straighten Pitch function, which can
be used to reduce the pitch fluctuations in a segment.
Sometimes, these are fully intentional on behalf of the singer
(for example, a controlled vibrato), but pitch variation at the
start of a note, where a singer 'scoops' up or down into the
target note, or more random pitch variation within a note, can
often be usefully targeted using Straighten Pitch.
As with Pitch Quantize, it pays to focus solely on those
notes that your ears tell you are in need of tightening, and to
be as subtle as possible with the Straighten Pitch setting: just
like a guitar player who bends notes to add character to
a solo, some pitch variation within a note is often an
important part of a singer's method, and again, too much
correction will create an unnatural result.

Melody Writer
VariAudio is intended as a corrective tool, but it can also be
used in a more creative capacity, to generate harmonies, for
example, or double-tracked parts or even to rewrite your
melody. There's currently no user control over how formants
are handled (something else for the wishlist), so any shifting
of notes more than a few semitones up or down has to be
done with care, but as shown on page 88 of the Getting
Started manual, where a new 'upward flair' is created, the
results can be impressive. Even if the audio quality of your

On the left, the singer has generated a large

pitch scoop into the note. On the right, the
Straight Pitch control has been used to make
this less pronounced.

melody rewrite isn't acceptable as the final vocal, it can still

provide a means of creating a useful guide track for a singer
if you decide to rerecord the new melody.

And Finally.
VariAudio is an excellent addition to Cubase 5. Still in its first
incarnation, it doesn't offer the same level of control as AutoTune EVO or Melodyne, but having it so neatly embedded
within your DAW is a big plus. Finally, I should leave you with
a health warning: good though VariAudio is, it cannot turn
someone with limited singing technique into a Maria Carey or
Robert Plant so it's not a replacement for your singing
exercises, or capturing the best performance possible as
a starting point! .

On the left, a large amount of pitch variation is

present in a long sustained note. On the right,
the sustained note has been edited into a
single segment and Straighten Pitch applied to
reduce the overall pitch drift.

Published in SOS August 2009

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