RePitch 1.3 User Guide Publication2

QuickStart for DAWs using VST3 plugins


Quick Start for VST3-compatible DAWs

Including Studio One, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live, Reaper and Cakewalk


To see an up-to-date List of DAWs compatible with RePitch - Click Here


Warning
if your DAW supports both the VST3 and AU Versions of RePitch, only use the VST3 version.


(i.e. Do NOT use RePitch AU if a VST3 version is available.)


Warning

Some Videos and some instructions below were made using RePitch 1.1.

Please see What's New in RePitch 1.2 to understand the main differences.


Overview

In this Quick Start Guide, you will learn how to:

  1. Set up a transfer of audio into RePitch from your VST3 -compatible DAW
  2. Use RePitch to process your audio, and
  3. Return the processed output to your DAW.

We won’t go into details on how to apply processing in RePitch, since that is described in both the  'Using RePitchsections of this User Guide as well as in the videos listed.

Two Plug-in Versions

The RePitch installer provides two versions of the RePitch VST3 plugin.

The versions are called  ARA and Real-Time Capture.

  • The versions mainly differ in the way audio signals are brought into RePitch and how the RePitch Output is returned to the DAW.
  • Once the audio has been captured in RePitch, both versions feature essentially the same processing controls, presets and parameters, and are identical in terms of the end results they deliver.
  • However, there are some operational benefits for each version, described next.


ARA version

  • The VST3 (ARA) plug-in is applied either to Events/Clips/Segments or the whole track, and the the audio is captured instantly via an data transfer process.
  • The main advantages of this approach are that the capture is faster, and you can bounce the processed audio to disc.
  • Plus the DAW and RePitch timelines are linked together

  • On Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc) Macs, the ARA version currently only works in DAWs running in Rosetta mode.


Real-Time Capture version 

  • The VTS3 (Real-time capture) plug-in version is a track insert plug-in (Event FX in Studio One) and audio transfer into RePitch requires using your DAW real-time playback.
    • The main advantage of this approach is that you can start and stop the capture of the audio at any points in your session.
    • Plus, you can set RePitch up on multiple tracks and capture into all instances simultaneously.
    • The main disadvantage is that if you export the Output to replace the input, the plug-in is removed, and you can't use your DAW's undo function to restore the plugin if you subsequently decide to modify the processing.


Installation and Initial Setup

  • To try RePitch now you should have already downloaded, installed and authorised the RePitch plug-in on your Mac.
    See Installation and Authorization if you haven't.


Videos for DAWs Using RePitch VST3

Information


The Videos listed below are mainly using the 
VST3 ARA version of RePitch 1.1.

To see what's new in RePitch 1.2 click here.


General Videos


RePitch 1.12 with Specific DAWs

Click here to jump to the Real-Time Capture Version

Using the ARA version of RePitch

  1. In your DAW, load a Project containing a track whose pitch you want to modify.
  2. For each track you want RePitch on, add the ARA Extension using the specific instructions below below for your DAW.   
    1. Make sure you always add RePitch VST3 (ARA) as THE FIRST AUDIO FX plug-in on the tracks that you want to process.
  3. Do this by selecting Synchro Arts > RePitch VST3 (ARA).

    DAW specific Instructions:
    • Click Here for Cubase and Nuendo and other VST3 DAWs

    • For Studio One, do the following
      • In Studio One, select one or more Events, and for older versions, HOLD DOWN the OPTION/ALT key while dragging the RePitch VST plug-in from the Browser, as shown below, to the selected Events (or to just one event). 
      • In current versions of Studio One 6 and higher, you can also look for the "Edit with RePitch" option in the Studio One Audio Menu.




RePitch should open and look similar to the DAW screen picture after the next picture.

But when you first open RePitch, the Macro selector at the top of RePitch will look like this:

At some point, make sure you read Using and Selecting Macros, but for now you can keep going and simply select a Macro as described next.


  1. In order to see how the automatic tuning works, we suggest you make sure the Chromatic scale is selected (as shown below) and click the Macro button shown above and start by selecting this Macro: 

Normal Pitch Range - Snap Notes to Selected Scale

The resulting RePitch window should look similar to the one previously or also the one below.



In the picture above, RePitch has processed the captured audio based on the currently selected Macro, so the blue note blocks are shown automatically centered (tuned) in the Note Lanes of the Chromatic Scale. 

The white lines show the new pitch pattern and the faint red pitch lines show the original pitch.

You could have also chosen the Macro below

Normal Pitch Range - Snap Notes to Measured Scale

This Macro would automatically detect the most likely tonic and scale from the notes in your audio track, and then move the detected note blocks in your audio to that Measured (i.e. detected) scale's note frequencies. 

If you want to add your own Scale to be selected and tuned to, simply click the Scale display control shown below


and when this menu opens


Click Scales... and you'll see the window below

In the line that says Scale at the left, click the drop down menus to add your Tonic and Scale Mode and then click Add and then Save

Your added scale should now be in the Scale window.

Now make sure the Macro is set to Snap Notes to Selected Scale and all further audio captures will use that scale and Macro automatically.


How to choose Manual Editing

Generally, you'll want to select one of two primary automatic tuning options above  or the no editing Macro below.



The Macro above applies no automatic processing at all, leaving you free to make corrections and edits manually. 

  1. It's important to understand that once you've selected a Macro, you can change the Macro or Scale before you use it on the next captured audio or before you re-run the new Macro on the captured audio.
  2. If you have already run a Macro, switching to another Macro and running it by clicking "yes" in the window below will always discard all existing processing, so you will see the confirmation dialog below 

  1. If you’ve not done any manual editing or want to start over, click YES.
  2. If you click NO, you will see the changes made on screen, which will show the Scale and setting to be used in the next application of RePitch's processing, whether with a Macro or Right Click menu.

Macros are described further in this section


Enlarging the RePitch window

If RePitch is unpinned from the Edit section of your DAW interface, you can scale it to almost any size by dragging the corners or edges of the plug-in window.

In some DAWs you can only drag the bottom right hand corner of the unpinned RePitch window.


Playing Audio in RePitch

We will BRIEFLY describe how audio is played and looped in RePitch. 

  • To start playback within RePitch only, double-click in the RePitch Main Window.  
    To hear the track, it needs to be NOT muted in your DAW.
  • If RePitch is playing, to stop playback at the position of the mouse cursor, double-click in the Main Window.  
  • You can also Stop playback by pressing the Spacebar, which tells your DAW to stop playback. 
  • Note that RePitch’s playhead is slaved to the DAW's, so starting and stopping playback in the DAW also starts and stops playback in RePitch.
  • In ARA mode, moving either playhead on the timeline also moves the other to match.

Playback Loops can be set and used while you are editing to restrict and repeat the range of playback. These are described further in this section.

Edit your Audio in RePitch

To learn how to edit the Pitch, Time and Level of your audio go to the main section of the User Guide:
       
"
Using RePitch"
 


 

The following sections are further details you can come back to or read now.
 

Settings Menu

In VST3 DAWS using ARA, these are the options for RePitch in the Settings Menu, shown below.

 

Click Here for an explanation of the four Display Options in the menu.

Click Here for an explanation of the Audio Save Locations


Using RePitch with VocAlign Ultra

Click here to learn how to use RePitch with VocAlign Ultra


 THIS IS THE END OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR ARA MODE



Using real-time capture with RePitch VST3

We recommend using the VST3 ARA version of RePitch if your DAW supports it, as it is usually more efficient and quicker.

But if your DAW does not support that with VST3, Real-time capture is also very effective, and this was explained in the beginning of this section.

Before Capture

  1. Add the RePitch VST3 plugin as an Insert or Audio Effect on the track containing the audio you wish to process, using your DAW's usual plugin loading system.
    1. In Cubase, for example, you can find RePitch VST3 in the Inserts as shown below at the bottom of the picture:


    2. In Studio One, you can drag RePitch onto the track from the Effects Browser, or load it via the Mixer. You can add RePitch to multiple tracks to capture them all at the same time, should you wish.
  2. Once you've selected RePitch, it should open up as shown below in Cubase.
    The red exclamation mark to the right of the Macro selector and the Capture button indicates that audio needs to be loaded into RePitch.
  3. If you see a red exclamation mark over the Settings button in the top right of the RePitch window, it means a new version of RePitch is available. In that event, open the Settings window to access it and install it.


  1. Select the RePitch Macro that best describes the initial processing you want to achieve, or select the Macro with No Snapping Notes to Scales if you'd prefer to edit the processing parameters manually.
  2. Move the playhead in your DAW to the point at which you want your capture of the audio you want to process to begin, or set the Cycle range on the DAW timeline (as shown for Studio One below) to encompass the whole area to be captured.


  1. Click the Capture button in every instance of RePitch that you want to capture – the Capture button will change to Stop and the plug-in(s) will wait for audio input.


  1. Start playback of the audio in your DAW and capture will begin.

During Capture

  1. RePitch will display the audio waveform as it is being captured.



  1. To STOP Capture, press your Spacebar or the RePitch Stop button.
  2. After capturing,  the audio will be processed using the (Macro’s) settings, as represented by waveforms, pitch traces and note blocks in the Main Display.
  3. If the Macro has been set to Normal Pitch Range - No Snapping Notes to Scale, the blue note blocks will be left unedited and not centered in the Note Lanes, as shown below.



  1. If the Macro has been set to process the notes following capture (as in the example below with Normal Pitch Range - Snap Notes to Measured Scale,  RePitch will shift each notes' computed “heard pitch” to the grid of the automatically detected (Measured) Scale's  “Note Lanes”.
    As you can see,  the Snap switch  is ON. The result will look something like this, with "allowed note lanes" shown in dark grey.



Editing and Auditioning the Audio in RePitch

Because the RePitch is a Audio FX plug-in, anything you do in RePitch to alter the audio will be available in the track after processing is completed, as shown by the absence of a red-line across the top of the Main Window and this process completed symbol:  

 
To learn how to edit the Pitch, Time and Level of your signal go to
 "Using RePitch". 


Bypassing RePitch

To Bypass RePitch’s Playback, toggle the RePitch Bypass switch( ) and start and stop playback using your DAW's transport (Spacebar)

Warning

In the current version of RePitch, the RePitch BYPASS switch does not bypass the processed audio if you double-click in RePitch’s Main Window to start playback



Using RePitch with VocAlign Ultra

Click here to learn how to use RePitch with VocAlign Ultra


And finally…

There's always more to learn, so head to the sections of the full User Guide at the left in the Using RePitch folder, for much more information on RePitch's controls and display.