Old 03-09-2014, 11:44 AM   #1
G-Sun
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Default Pitch vs. formant

Can anybody explain to me the difference between pitch and formant -as found in ReaPitch?
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Old 03-09-2014, 12:24 PM   #2
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Pitch is the tuning of the sound, formants are peaks in the frequency spectrum that distinguish for example between vocal "a", "e", "o" or if the singer is a female or male, etc.
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Old 03-09-2014, 01:29 PM   #3
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if you happen to have melodyne, you can tweak the formant on a vocal and clearly hear what it does... just as Xen is saying...

sometimes when changing the pitch of [for example] a vocal note, it just will not sound natural, until there is some formant tweaking.
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Old 03-09-2014, 02:12 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
Can anybody explain to me the difference between pitch and formant -as found in ReaPitch?
When i was trying to figure out the difference I did a Google search with keyword - formant. Several good links come up, which basically elaborate on what has been said here.

But what really did it for me was just playing with all the sliders, taking each to the extreme, one at a time. It becomes pretty clear soon enuf when you just listen.
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Old 03-10-2014, 05:36 AM   #5
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Yes, thanks.
I was using ReaPitchs formant to correct a song that was transposed +4 in pitch. Good results.

So, formants are resonants/peaks in the frequency-spectrum?
Then, how can we then tune pitch and formants different?
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Old 03-10-2014, 09:38 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
So, formants are resonants/peaks in the frequency-spectrum? Then, how can we then tune pitch and formants different?
I don't know if I understood the principle well, but if you say that formants are responsible for "a,e,i" or female/male voice - then formants are nothing more than harmonics.

In this case the pitch would be the fundamental.

So you could differentiate between fundamental and harmonics.

But the interesting part would be how the harmonics are beeing pitched (if you pitch them all at once you couldn't create a "u" out of an "i" for example...
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Old 03-10-2014, 09:56 AM   #7
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Formant is about replicating resonant airspace isn't it? When audio is pitched up without formant there's the chipmunk effect that resembles constricted resonance space, so the low octave fundamentals [harmonics] need reinforcement. I might be totally wrong though.
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Old 03-10-2014, 10:54 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
Yes, thanks.
I was using ReaPitchs formant to correct a song that was transposed +4 in pitch. Good results.

So, formants are resonants/peaks in the frequency-spectrum?
Then, how can we then tune pitch and formants different?
The way I see it, there's lot of theory behind the topic. Formants actually mean more than one thing, as a bit of research reveals. So that's why I also suggest going with what makes sense - adjust the thing till it SOUNDS GOOD. We can read theory until we're blue in the face. Reality is how it sounds. Of course, theory is helpful too. But ReaPitch is not perfect. That's why theory, alone, probably won't give perfect results. And that's why, imo, we have to play around with it until we get something acceptable. At least, that's what I did when working on one aspect of a vocal that warbled a bit too much.
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Old 03-10-2014, 01:55 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by msea View Post
The way I see it, there's lot of theory behind the topic. Formants actually mean more than one thing, as a bit of research reveals. So that's why I also suggest going with what makes sense - adjust the thing till it SOUNDS GOOD. We can read theory until we're blue in the face. Reality is how it sounds. Of course, theory is helpful too. But ReaPitch is not perfect. That's why theory, alone, probably won't give perfect results. And that's why, imo, we have to play around with it until we get something acceptable. At least, that's what I did when working on one aspect of a vocal that warbled a bit too much.
Well, this question was about the theory and how a toll like ReaPitch works
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Old 03-10-2014, 02:01 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timothys_monster View Post
I don't know if I understood the principle well, but if you say that formants are responsible for "a,e,i" or female/male voice - then formants are nothing more than harmonics.

In this case the pitch would be the fundamental.

So you could differentiate between fundamental and harmonics.

But the interesting part would be how the harmonics are beeing pitched (if you pitch them all at once you couldn't create a "u" out of an "i" for example...
Yes, I think this is correct.
Pitch alters the fundamental,
and formants alters the harmonics.
For altering pitch of a voice the formants seems to need to be adjusted back -because the resonance-chamber for the voice does not change much for a higher pitched note. (as far as I can understand from googling and reading)
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Old 03-10-2014, 03:02 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
Well, this question was about the theory and how a toll like ReaPitch works
Well, as I was saying, the definition of formant arguably depends on who's doing the talking, so to speak.

How can we talk about strict theory if the particulars are variously defined?

Quote:
Phoneticians usually recognize at least two formant regions as uniquely characterizing the different vowels; however, a larger number are present but have less strength. Three formants are generally required to synthesize a vowel sound. These regions appear as dark horizontal bands on a SPECTROGRAM or amplitude peaks on a line SPECTRUM. The CENTRE FREQUENCY of a formant region is called the formant frequency, as listed in the table below. Sung vowels are characterized by an additional formant called the singing formant in the range of 2500 to 3000 Hz. It is created by the special resonance of the vocal tract when the larynx is lowered, as practised by trained singers in the Western tradition. The formant not only gives sung vowels a characteristic colour, but also allows the voice to be heard over the accompaniment of instruments or even a full orchestra.
http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/handbook/Formant.html
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