How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (2023)

Do you use FL Studio and are you wondering how to improve your vocals and get them in tune? You may have heard of Autotune already, but does FL Studio come with Autotune or do you have to buy a separate plugin to tune your vocals? How does one go about this?

The FL StudioHow To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (1) Signature Bundle comes with a free autotune plugin called Newtone. If you’re like most FL Studio users, you probably own the Producer’s Bundle, which means you’ll have to either upgrade for $100 or pay $100 outright for Newtone. If you don’t want to spend money, there are several free autotune VSTs available to choose from (See FAQs). However, if you are a serious music producer or engineer looking for the best long-term value, the best overall autotune plugin on the market is Antares Autotune Pro. In this article, we’ll dissect both Newtone and Antares Autotune Pro and show you the best techniques and practices with each plugin so that you can tune your vocals like a professional.

In this article, we’ll go over a few of the best methods to autotune in FL Studio so that you can get your vocals sounding excellent!

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (2)

Contents

Which Autotune Is The Best For You?

Autotune Prooffers a 14-day free trial, which is a great long-term value for music producers and mix engineers but not as much for hobbyists. Newtone is free with the FL Studio Signature Bundle or at a price on its own. Again, there are also several free autotune VSTs on the market. (see FAQs).

Overall, I think you get what you pay for with autotune plugins. Therefore, it’s best to purchase what you can afford depending on how much you want to invest in your craft.

Check out:

  • How To Mix Vocals In FL Studio: Definitive Guide
  • Is FL Studio Good For Recording and Mixing Vocals?

Option 1 – Newtone (The Cost-Effective Method)

What is Newtone?

Newtone is a native Image-Line plugin thatexcels at taking pre-recorded vocals and fine-tuning the pitch to be in key with the song. While Newtone doesn’t automatically tune your vocals for you, there are plenty of parameters that streamline the process of pitch correction and also plenty of parameters that allow you to go into the details of each note.

Recording your vocal

Unlike Pitcher or Antares Autotune Pro, you can’t autotune your vocals in real-time with Newtone. But, the good news is that most people don’t prefer or need to use real-time pitch correction.

Setting up Newtone

You can load Newtone on any insert plugin. Another quick way to open the plugin is to double left- click on your file, right-click in the waveform window, and then click “edit in pitch corrector.”

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (5)
(Video) How To EASILY Mix And Master Vocals To Sound CLEAR And Professional | FL Studio Mixing Tutorial

Once in Newtone, it is highly recommended to click the scissors icon at the top of the plugin and select the scale that your song is in. This will help you avoid any key mistakes that can ruin a performance. It’s also recommended to change the snap to grid feature to 1/8 bars. (see later)

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (6)

Basic Controls

There are three global controls at the top: Center, Variation, and Transition. Center will center the notes onto the nearest notes in key. Variation will either increase or decrease the natural vibrato in the vocal performance(it’s important not to adjust this to any extreme length unless you are seeking an unnatural performance). Transition time will change the time between the notes. Turning both the transition and the variation all the way down will sound like a perfect autotune robot stripped of any humanity.

Editing Your Vocals

The main way to use Newtone is to simply drag a note from the middle onto any note you like. This can be used to adjust notes that are slightly off, or even change the melody completely. But beware, the more you use Newtone to manipulate vocals, the less human the vocal will sound.

Advanced Controls

While these three parameters in the top right corner will quickly autotune your vocals and change the settings, you’ll get better overall results if you use the advanced features that allow you to edit the pitch and performance in detail with individual notes.

First of all, double-clicking on a note will open up a green and red graphical display called the “advanced edit” mode, which is very helpful to work with.

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (7)

In each note, if you left-click and drag at the top where it says volume, you can change the volume of the note.

Over on the left and right-hand sides, you can change the fade-in and fade-out volume of each note by dragging the top of the green arrow up and down.

At the bottom of each note, you can drag right underneath the red triangle where it says “variation” which will do the same thing as the “Center” control does in the top right. It will increase or decrease the natural vibrato, but for each individual note.

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (8)

Dragging the green and red sections out from the side of each note and clicking down on the bottom of the red arrows on the side will allow you to change the transition pitch of each note.

If you end up changing a note by a few semitones, you can adjust the formant to change the tone hopefully for the better by dragging between the red and green arrows on each side. Be careful adjusting the formant too much as it makes your vocal sound artificial.

(Video) HOW TO USE AUTOTUNE THE RIGHT WAY AND SOUND LIKE YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (9)

Finally, you can drag the whole note if you drag the corner left and right. It is scaled to the grid, but if you hold alt while you click it will move smoothly without a scale.

Best Techniques and Practice

When it comes to using Newtone, most professionals are in agreement with a technique that works 99.9% of the time. What you first do is click the scissors icon on the top right corner, select “snap to grid,” and then 1/8 beat (as recommended before). You can then press C on your keyboard or select the “cut” tool on the top right. What you do is you slice each individual note as finely as possible with the cut tool, then deselect the cut tool and right-click each sliced note, which will snap each note in key. Do this to your entire vocal and you will have pitch-corrected it in a very quality manner. However, you must listen the whole way through as you make these changes because there is no “formula” to pitch correction. Errors will likely rise up along the way. It’s also important to listen to the vocal within the context of the song rather than listening to it solo for better results.

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Option 2: Antares Autotune Pro (Best Overall Method)

What is Antares Autotune Pro?

Antares Autotune Pro has been the industry standard in pitch correction since its inception in 1997. You’ve heard it blatantly introduced by T-Pain and Kanye West alike, but more recently with the new generation of hip-hop artists. You’ve also heard it subtly in Justin Bieber and other mainstream pop artists. Autotune quite literally automatically tunes your vocals for you without having to go in and manually change each note. While it gives you less overall control of the details, it saves you a lot of time in the mixing process and does a great job at keeping your pitch in key. You can also manually pitch-correct in fine detail if you’d like using the graph mode.

Best Techniques and Practice

The best Autotune practice is to first select your input type and key and then find the right retune speed depending on the type of vibe you’re looking for (human or heavily-effected). Dial in the main controls: retune speed, humanize, vibrato and flex-tune to get everything sounding right. After this, if you’d like to go into more advanced features, see the advanced controls subheading below. Be cautious of automating parameters in Autotune, as it can usually be better to go in and use the graph mode to change specific parts of the algorithm instead.

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (12)

Example of Natural/Human-sounding settings

Full Overview Of Autotune

Basic Controls

The first thing to do with Antares Autotune Pro is to open it up as an insert effect and select the input type on the top left-hand corner. Bass is for low male range, Tenor is for high male range, Alto is for low female range, and Soprano is for high female range. Selecting this accurately will help inform Autotune how to do its job more effectively. Once you’ve done this, the next step is to select your key. 99.9% of the time it will be a major or minor key.

Four Main Controls

How To Autotune In FL Studio: Complete Guide | Home Studio Expert (13)

Autotune’s four main controls are: retune speed, humanize, flex-tune, and natural vibrato. Retune speed is by far the most important. It sets how quick autotune will pitch-correct. A retune speed of 0 will get you your “T-Pain” autotune effect, while a higher number will be more subtle and natural-sounding. Set the humanize higher if you are working with a vocal that has a lot of long sustained notes, as it will enhance the way that autotune works on sustained notes. Flex-tune is best used in moderate amounts as it effects (slows down) the transition between autotune changing the pitch. Natural vibrato will effect how much vibrato is in the vocal, but is best tweaked using the advanced controls as well as the main control.

Advanced Controls

Tracking

The tracking knob in the top right corner in most cases should be left at its default value of 50; however, a noisier signal or a vocal performance that is very breathy may require a higher tracking value, and a vocal with lots artefacts such as clicks or pops will likely sound better with a lower tracking value.

Vibrato

Changing the vibrato in the advanced settings (create vibrato) usually makes for better performance. Sine wave usually works best in most cases, but square and sawtooth work, too. Any more than +- 3 in this department will start to sound unnatural. The rate is in Hz and typically works best between .5 and 2. “Onset delay” is the time in milliseconds it takes for your autotune to start. “Onset rate” is the time it takes for your vibrato to max out. “Pitch” changes the fine pitch between 0-100 cents of the vibrato, “variation” controls the randomization of vibrato; the “amplitude” and “formant” control the subtle volume and timbre changes of the signal.

(Video) Sound Like a Pro | Autotune Settings & Free Preset for FL Studio

Notes:

Bypassing or removing some notes from Autotune can sometimes make for better performance. Sometimes, a vocal note within a key simply doesn’t sound good in the context of a song. For example, if you remove or bypass C# in the note section, autotune will skip or not tune the nearest note to C#. If you want to go even further in-depth, you can go into graph mode and change individual notes.

Wrapping Up:

In this article, we’ve gone over the best autotune plugins on the market for FL Studio, both native and 3rd party. The bad news is that almost every autotune plugin takes time to understand and get used to, but the good news is that they all have basic controls that are easy to learn as well as more advanced controls if you want to control the fine details of a vocal performance. Regardless, of choice, you’ll be able to tune your vocals professionally with either one of these plugins, but choosing Autotune Pro is a recommended long-term investment for serious producers and engineers alike. If you are interested in finding the best free autotune plugins, see the frequently asked questions below.

For more on problems with FL Studio, check out:

  • 7 Common FL Studio Crashes and How To Fix Them
  • Why Is FL Studio So Laggy? 7 Causes and Fixes

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Use Autotune For Free In FL Studio?

Graillon 2 (free edition), MAutoPitch, GSnap, KeoVee, and Voloco are all free autotune plugins that you can download for FL Studio. Alternatively, you can download the free trial of Antares Autotune Pro for 14 days or purchase/upgrade to the Signature bundle of FL Studio which gives users both Newtone and Pitcher.

Does FL Studio Have Autotune?

FL Studio does not have Autotune, however, Pitcher and Newtone, which are Image-Line’s native autotune plugins, are both included in the Signature Bundle for $299.

What Is The Best Autotune For FL Studio?

The best autotune for FL Studio is Antares Autotune Pro, however, it is fairly expensive at $400. Image-Line has two native autotune plugins for FL Studio, however, called Pitcher and Newtone, that are less in quality and less in price as well, at $50 and $100 respectively.

Does FL Studio Mobile Have Autotune?

Yes, FL Studio Mobile has Auto-Pitch, which gives users real-time pitch correction and the ability to create special autotune effects as well.

What Good Alternative Third-Party Plugins Are There?

Antares Autotune Pro and Melodyne, while quite expensive, are the most popular third-party Autotune plugins on the market. You can also get MAutoPitch, GSnap, KeoVee, and Voloco if you’re looking for a free third-party autotune plugin.

Related posts:

  1. How To Mix Vocals In FL Studio: Definitive Guide
  2. A Complete Guide to Building a Home Recording Studio.
  3. Slanted Attic Recording Studio: Complete Soundproof Guide
  4. Complete Guide to Studio Monitor Placement in Small Rooms
  5. Acoustic Treatment for Vocals: Complete Guide

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FAQs

Does FL Studio have built in autotune? ›

FL Studio has two tools that can do autotune for vocals. One is called Pitcher and the other is called NewTone. These tools are available in the signature edition and above of FL Studio.

How do I find the perfect autotune for my voice? ›

How to Perfectly Auto-Tune Vocals in 7 Steps
  1. Choose an Input Type. Auto-Tune Pro provides various processing algorithms. ...
  2. Select a Key and Scale. ...
  3. Reduce the Retune Speed. ...
  4. Adjust Vibrato Intensity. ...
  5. Choose the Right Version of Auto-Tune.
May 9, 2022

What is the best auto tune for FL Studio? ›

  • MAutoPitch is one of the best free autotune VST plugins on the market. ...
  • Graillon 2 is another one of our favorite free autotune VST plugins. ...
  • Melodyne is one of the most advanced pitch correction tools on the market today. ...
  • Waves Tune Real-Time is a surprisingly inexpensive plugin considering how much you get out of it.
Oct 18, 2022

Does AutoTune work if you cant sing? ›

But, through correctly training your voice and ears, you can take anyone from not being able to sing to being able to perform live with AutoTune correctly. However, singing live nowadays isn't that important as you may think. Lots of incredibly successful singers can't sing live correctly even if they use AutoTune.

Is AutoTune just pitch correction? ›

Auto-Tune is a pitch-correction software developed by Antares that automatically corrects out-of-tune singing; it allows the producer or audio engineer to select a song's key and scale and move the pitch to the nearest note, either manually or automatically, giving complete control over how vocal recordings are ...

Do any rappers use FL Studio? ›

Image-Line also offers its own VST and AU instruments and audio applications. FL Studio has been used by numerous highly visible hip hop and EDM producers, including Metro Boomin, Porter Robinson, Alan Walker, Madeon, Soulja Boy, Southside, Martin Garrix, Avicii, Imanbek, Lex Luger and Deadmau5.

What is fl studios autotune called? ›

Pitcher is a real-time pitch-correction, manipulation & harmonization plugin that can correct and harmonize under MIDI control from a keyboard or the Piano roll.

Do singers use FL Studio? ›

Artists such as Tyler, The Creator, Skrillex, and the late Avicii have all stated FL Studio as crucial during the beginning stages of their production journeys. For many, FL Studio is not just a stepping stone into production, it is a way of life.

What do singers use to sound better? ›

Practicing scales, improving your tongue-soft palate coordination, repeating tongue and lip trills and simply humming are a few fabulous little warm-up exercises to get your vocal cords loose and ready for business. Breathing exercises are an excellent start for those looking to improve their ability to sing.

Is it possible to sing perfectly in tune? ›

The good news is that you can learn to sing in tune – and it's easier than you might think. Many people have difficulty singing in tune at all, while others can start off okay but then can't hold a tune or gradually start hitting wrong notes or wandering out of key.

Should EQ be before or after autotune? ›

Processing Order

In general, effects like high pass/low cut filters, subtle EQ, de-essers, and gentle compression/dynamics should be used before Auto-Tune in the effects chain. All other processing such as delay, reverb, spatial effects, distortion, etc should be applied after Auto-Tune.

What is the easiest autotune to use? ›

Although Voloco is available as a VST3 and AU plugin on desktop operating systems, it is primarily used on iOS and Android. The app version of Voloco is easily the best free autotune for mobile devices. It's a good free autotune alternative for beginners who don't want a plugin with advanced controls.

What autotune do singers use? ›

  • Antares Auto-Tune.
  • Celemony Melodyne.
  • Waves Tune.
  • Steinberg Cubase VariAudio.
  • In Conclusion.
Feb 28, 2018

Do professional singers use Auto-tune? ›

Musicians started using autotune in 1998 after Cher dropped her song “Believe.” And now, nearly every professionally produced song uses it.

Why do I struggle to sing in tune? ›

The most common reason a vocalist can't sing on pitch and produces a flat voice tone has to do with what the vocal folds (cords) are doing, rather than the ear. If you're wondering how to sing on key consistently, know that hitting exactly the right notes is a quite complex task for the vocal cords.

Why can't everyone sing in tune? ›

Recent research suggests that the varying shapes and sizes of our vocal folds, pharynx, nasal cavities and even our skull, means that some people can produce a more pleasing natural sound than the rest of us.

What is the most realistic Auto-Tune? ›

1. Antares Autotune Pro by Antares Audio Technologies. Considered by many to be the best autotune and pitch correction software, Antares has been at the top of the game for decades. Their software is used as the standard when it comes to the big leagues in many of the top recording studios worldwide.

Do singers use Auto-Tune on stage? ›

Live Pitch Correction

Many artists will rely on Auto-Tune and other pitch-correction tools in the studio, but the technology has advanced enough where singers can use it in concert, too.

Can Auto-Tune sound natural? ›

The secret to making Auto-Tune sound natural is in not trying to make it correct sounds too quickly. There's a control called Retune — it appears as a rotary knob in version 3's GUI and as a slider in earlier versions — which adjusts the rate at which pitch correction takes place.

Does Travis Scott use FL Studio? ›

So, what DAW does Travis Scott use? He, basically, uses three DAWs: FL Studio 11, Pro Tools, and Logic Pro X. You can find several pictures and videos online of Scott using these DAWs while creating his music in the studio.

Which DAW does Kanye use? ›

Kanye West uses a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) called Pro Tools. Kanye is known to mostly produce music using hardware instruments for sampling and beats, though uses Pro Tools as a DAW to record these sounds. His team have also been seen using FL Studio.

What DAW does Jay Z use? ›

Akai MPC 2000XL

He mainly uses the [Ensoniq] ASR10 and sequences that with an [Akai] MPC 2000XL.

What rappers use autotune? ›

T-Pain, however, brought Auto-Tune's abilities to the forefront in the world of hip-hop. Yet, he was also the one whose career was blunted while artists that followed him, such as Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Quavo and Lil Uzi Vert, profited from his influence.

Can I sell music made with FL Studio? ›

You can copyright/license any production rendered from FL Studio as long as it is entirely your own work and complies to above rules. [For videos & tutorials] You can not promote illegal copies of our software.

Do any pros use FL Studio? ›

Do professional producers use FL Studio? There are professional producers that use FL Studio. There are actually a lot of producers that use FL Studio. It's a professional digital audio workstation and falls in the same category as other major DAWs like Ableton Logic Pro and Cubase for instance.

Is making music hard in FL Studio? ›

To start off with FL Studio isn't hard. To get some of the basics down of any DAW is actually pretty easy. However if you want to compose music on a professional level, learning FL Studio can become hard. There are so many options and things to take into account.

What is the trick to singing better? ›

12 Singing Tips From An Audition Coach
  1. Warm up your body before your voice. Aerobic exercise is a great way to warm up before singing. ...
  2. Release tension. ...
  3. Don't “take” a breath when singing. ...
  4. Don't hold your breath before you sing. ...
  5. Open your mouth. ...
  6. Remain relaxed. ...
  7. Speak on pitch. ...
  8. Care deeply about what you're singing.
Feb 4, 2022

What do singers drink before they sing? ›

Hydrate your voice.

If you're wondering what to drink to sing better, the answer is simple: water. Water is one of the best drinks for your singing voice, with herbal teas (but not too hot) in second place. Drink water throughout the day, and keep a water bottle nearby during lessons and rehearsals.

What percentage of people can sing in tune? ›

Sean Hutchins, director of research for the Royal Conservatory, recently told British newspaper The Guardian that only around 2 percent of the human population doesn't posses the skills needed to determine the right pitch to perform a song.

Can someone who can't sing at all learn to sing? ›

Everyone who can speak can learn to use a singing voice,” says Joanne Rutkowski, professor of music education. “The quality of the voice is dependent on many factors; however, barring a physical vocal disability, everyone can learn to sing well enough to sing basic songs.”

Why is it hard to sing full? ›

When the stomach is too full, it is difficult to take the low breaths necessary for healthy singing. Also, singing tends to cause burping when it is done too soon after eating, and burping is an activity that is usually frowned upon by many audience members during a vocal performance.

How much Auto-Tune should you use? ›

If you're going for something more natural, though, you'll want to put in just enough retuning to perfect the sound without making it obvious. This will give you something that sounds natural and doesn't create artifacts. As a general rule, aim anywhere between 50 and 80 milliseconds.

Which equalizer setting is best for clear voice? ›

Try starting at 8 kHz for a high shelf and only boost 1 dB to 1.5 dB. For the high roll off, 18 kHz is a good frequency to try at 24 dB of reduction per octave with a 0.07Q width. If that doesn't sound right to you, or sounds piercing, try moving the high shelf to 9 kHz and everything else accordingly.

What comes first EQ or reverb? ›

Insert an EQ plugin before the reverb plugin. It's important to insert this EQ before the reverb, because you want to tame frequencies that are hitting the reverb to begin with.

How do I set up Antares autotune? ›

Activation Instructions
  1. Install CodeMeter. Download and run the latest installer of CodeMeter for your operating system: ...
  2. Install Your Antares Plug-in(s) Download and run the latest installer for your plug-in(s). ...
  3. Open Antares Central and Log In. After installing your Antares plug-in(s). ...
  4. Activate the License.

Is Antares autotune compatible with FL Studio? ›

Re: Compatibility FL Studio 20 + Antares Autotune

I demoed it recently and it works fine with FL Studio 20.5 latest released version.

Is there a free autotune plugin? ›

Although Voloco is available as a VST3 and AU plugin on desktop operating systems, it is primarily used on iOS and Android. The app version of Voloco is easily the best free autotune for mobile devices. It's a good free autotune alternative for beginners who don't want a plugin with advanced controls.

What app do singers use for autotune? ›

Voloco automatically removes background noise and lets you correct the pitch of your voice to keep you in tune. Voloco also gives you a variety of presets for compression, EQ, auto voice tune, and reverb effects to polish your recording to perfection.

Is it worth getting FL Studio all plugins? ›

They're good, they'll get the job done well, but the third-party tools out there are usually better in terms of features, and ease of use. But the plugins which you upgrade to in the Signature Edition of FL Studio, I feel, is definitely worth the money. In terms of upgrading to the All Plugins Bundle..

How much does FL Studio all plugins cost? ›

FL Studio Pricing
NamePrice
Full song creation & mic recording$199
Full song creation & extra plugins$299
Basic melody & loops creation$99
Complete access all unlocked$737

How do you AutoTune for beginners? ›

How to use AutoTune?
  1. Choose Input type.
  2. Find your Key and Scale.
  3. Choose between Auto and Graph mode.
  4. Play with Formant and Throat.
  5. Don't change Transpose.
  6. Use Detune if you have a different reference pitch.
  7. Set up your Tracking.
  8. Choose Retune speed for your recording.
Oct 18, 2021

How do I activate auto tune unlimited? ›

To activate the trial license for Auto-Tune Unlimited, choose Manage Licenses from the list, and click Next: Click “Activate” and wait until the process completes: The 14-day trial for Auto-Tune Unlimited is now installed and activated to your machine, and can be opened in a compatible DAW.

Does AutoTune work automatically? ›

Today, autotune is known worldwide as software that tunes your voice—automatically.

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