In 1997, Antares Audio Technologies unveiled their exclusive Auto-Tune software. The goal was to instantly repair out-of-tune pitches for precisely tuned vocals or instruments. Nowadays, musicians frequently use the word “autotune” as a catch-all for excessively manipulated modern vocals. We’ll look at several choices for a free autotune plugin that suits beginners.
Engineers and producers started experimenting with the technology as soon as it was introduced. The “0 retune speed” robotic effect was first heard in Cher’s 1998 song “Believe.” The pitch correction sounds unnatural at extremely fast retune speeds, yet it’s a desired effect that has influenced an entire vocal production style and become a defining characteristic of contemporary genres like trap.
T-Pain further popularized the effect after Cher in the late 2000s, and other well-known musicians like Lil Wayne and Kanye West soon caught on. The autotune sound can be heard everywhere in contemporary rap music today. It is the primary VST plugin effect used by artists, including Travis Scott, Future, Playboi Carti, to mold their vocals.
The Best Free Autotune VST plugins
What is the best free autotune plugin? There are the top five free autotune plugins.
- Graillon 2 Free Edition
- MAutoPitch
- GSnap
- KeroVee
- Voloco
Graillon 2 Free Edition by Auburn Sounds
The most widely used free autotune plugin is Graillon. Although the ‘freemium’ Graillon 2 offers pitch shifting and correction—the two key components of autotune—the full, premium version undoubtedly has more functions.
Simply load the plugin and switch on the Enable Correction knob to get started. From there, you may utilize the Smooth option to adjust the retune speed (faster values result in a robotic voice; it regulates how quickly the pitch corrects itself). Additionally, you can lock autotune into a scale using the built-in keyboard for more precise pitch correction.
MAutoPitch by MeldaProduction
Another excellent free autotune plugin is MAutoPitch, which has features like depth, detune, and speed that are common to most pitch correction programs.
Similar to a wet/dry knob, depth regulates how big of an impact the VST has on the sound. Detune raises or lowers the sound’s pitch by cents to fine-tune the pitch. The speed knob, which again is the same as the retune speed on the Antares plugin, determines how quickly MAutoPitch reacts to out-of-tune notes.
Voloco by Resonant Cavity
One of the best free autotune plugins for artistic effects is Voloco by Resonant Cavity. Its presets include 8-bit and Daft Punk-inspired vocals in addition to many more that will give your productions a distinctive and synthetic tone.
Voloco enhances the signal in many ways than merely pitch correction, in contrast to some of the other freebies on the list. For instance, the Daft Punk and 8-bit modes give your vocals gate-like effects and LFO volume modulation. Voloco is more of a creative tool than a good pitch corrector because it was created expressly for the outrageous Cher/T-Pain sound.
Other Voloco features include a lock to a major/minor scale and a wet/dry control to alter the strength of the affected signal.
GSnap by Graham Yeadon
The first free autotune plugin was GSnap. This plugin has the unusual ability to snap pitch to any MIDI signal being supplied to it, in addition to the usual autotune-like effects. For instance, GSnap may automatically “tune” your vocals to a synthesizer if you provide it a MIDI synth line.
GSnap has vibrato settings in place of some features like formant adjustment. It’s a fantastic, free autotune plugin that works as advertised and is simple to use. The ratio of traditional real-time pitch correction to artistic autotune effects is ideal.
KeroVee by g200kg
In 2010, Japanese developers g200kg released KeroVee. The precise pitch adjustment offered by KeroVee, which is far more comprehensive than most free autotune plugins, more than makes up for the lack of robotic effects. Similarly to GSnap, KeroVee allows you to route MIDI notes for the plugin to use as a pitch reference.
A special feature of KeroVee is the “Nuance” option, which lets you maintain or ignore minute pitch variations like the singer’s natural vibrato. Naturally, you also have a “TuneSpeed” knob that determines how quickly the plugin will adjust the incoming signal.
KeroVee is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for a free autotune plugin designed for fine-tuning vocals rather than producing a robotic and obvious impression.
Conclusion: Best Free Autotune Plugin
Although Antares Tech’s proprietary Auto-Tune is difficult to surpass, there are a few excellent free autotune VSTs for beginners. The “real thing” will probably always be king, especially for professional use, but one of the many benefits we have as engineers and producers today is having access to amazing freeware! I hope you enjoyed the best free autotune alternatives. Discover other amazing free resources for musicians.
