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'''''Pitch Shifting'' alters the pitch of your playing.'''{{Top-Level Crumbs|4}}{{Gear Crumbs|4}}{{Effects Crumbs|10}}
There are two basic kinds: '''chromaticPitch Shifting''' (or stepwise) and '''harmony''' (or ''intelligent'', or sometimes called a ''harmonizer''). '''Chromatic simply shifts alters the pitch by some set amount''', usually specified in terms of a chromatic interval (m2, M2, m3, M3, etc.), but often also allowing a continuous range of values in between the intervalsyour playing.
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There are two basic kinds: '''chromatic''' (or stepwise) and '''harmony'''A Harmony (or ''Intelligent'intelligent''', or sometimes called a '''harmonizer'''). ''Chromatic'' simply shifts the pitch by some set amount, usually specified in terms of a chromatic interval (m2, M2, m3, M3, etc.), but often also allowing a continuous range of values in between the intervals. A ''Harmony''(or Intelligent) pitch shifter shifts the frequency by an interval of an ''unspecified'' quality (2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.). It detects the pitch of the note being played and uses the corresponding interval in the scale selected'''. For instance, if you use the scale of C Major with a shift of a 3rd and play a C note, the shifter would output an E, a M3 above C. However, if you played an A, it would output a C which is only a m3 above A. Advanced intelligent shifters allow various scales beyond all the Major major and Natural Minor natural minor scales, such as Harmonic Minor harmonic minor (and some even allow you to program your own custom scales, including using tunings tuning outside of equal temperament).
Additionally, there are devices that are not dedicated pitch shifters, but make use of pitch shifting, such as '''octavers''' and some kinds of reverb/delay.
While uncommon to guitar, '''auto-tuners''' or '''pitch correctors''' are also pitch shifters that detect the pitch of an input and shift it to match the pitch of the closest note within a given scale. I will not cover them here.
== Quality Considerations ==
== Advanced Features ==
=== Formant/Vowelizer ===
Some shifters allow you to target resonant peaks called '''formants'''. These are typically associated with the human voice, ''particularly vowels''. The shape of the mouth used to make vowels forms resonant peaks, which gives each vowel its particular sound, regardless of its actual pitch (although it does have to have a fundamental pitch below the formant peaks). By applying such peaks to the pitch shifted tone, you get a more vowel-y sound, with the tone resembling the human voice among other instruments.
=== Pure Tuning ===
For a harmony shifter, some have the option of using '''pure tuning''' rather than equal termperamenttemperament. See [[Equal Temperament and Alternate Tunings]] for more about the difference. Pure tuning is recommended - it will use the more harmonious ratios for the desired intervals, avoiding the beating that occurs when intervals slightly diverge from their pure interval ratio.
=== Special/User-Defined Scales ===
Simpler harmonizers only allow harmonizing against Major major and Natural Minor natural minor scales. More advanced ones will give greater scale options or even allow you to define a '''custom scale'''. This could be used for advanced/special scales such as Harmonic Minorharmonic minor, Jazz Minorjazz minor, Double Harmonicdouble harmonic, or Hungarian Minorminor.
Some go even further, allowing you to specify scale notes in terms of cents away from their equal temperament tuning. This would allow you to harmonize in ancient Greek scales, for instance.
=== Sequencers ===
Some pitch effects may have a [[Sequencers|''step sequencer'']], with different intervals programmed against a tempo.
== Advice ==
=== Harmony Lines ===
A harmonizer is designed to play at a near equal dry/wet mix, so it sounds like two guitars playing in harmony. You can use 4ths or 5ths, but these are most often P4 and P5 intervals, at least in the common Majormajor/Natural Minor natural minor scales. More interesting is 3rds or 6ths. 2nds and 7ths can be a bit dissonant.
Usually, harmony lines are played like leads, in higher registers. This, combined with delay/reverb can mask any pitch shifting artifacts fairly well.
=== Digital Sound ===
The artifacts from pitch shifting can sometimes be desirable to create a "digital" sound, as if you are not actually playing guitar. Using high mix and multiple intervals, especially with a step sequencer or formant option can really mask the nature of the guitar. This is more emphasized when placed after distortion, but works even in front of distortion or on a clean tone.
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[[Category:Gear]]