PitchPerfector is a voice training software that allows you to improve your sense of pitch and correct out of tune singing in real time with a visual aid on your computer screen.
This vocal analysis tool was developed by audio engineer and vocalist Stephen Pierce. The main function of PitchPerfector is to help singers learn how to sing in tune by displaying their pitch on a graph that they can then look at, hear back and match to the exact pitches they were trying to sing and analyze the difference in perceived accuracy of pitch and actual accuracy. This is introductory video from the PitchPerfector website:
That’s really one of the most powerful features of this software – it teaches intense awareness and helps incorporate a more dominant sense (sight) into the perception of music. The reason this is so important is because the majority of singers who sing VERY out of tune are unaware of how pitchy their singing really is. The first step in correcting out of key singing is learning to really listen and compare pitches. Make no mistake, this is a skill and it takes time.
Learning the ability to sing in tune is also very much a matter of degree. For example, somebody who sings relatively in tune may still go sharp or flat on a lot of their notes but the ptichiness is so subtle that they don’t perceive it at their current level of musical development. To develop that skill, you have to get into the habit of basically listening your butt off and being very honest with yourself as to how close your sung note is to the intended pitch. It’s also going to confuse your ear a lot as you learn to get more and more in tune because you’re trying to get closer and closer to the pure pitch and having to make vocal adjustments on the fly.
The software itself is similar to Sing And See, albeit not quite as functional. I personally use and recommend this type of software because it keeps you honest as a vocalist at any stage in your development. In fact, one of the reasons even professional singers regularly take vocal lessons is because they need the impartial ear of an experienced vocalist to help them become aware of various tensions, bad habits, pitch issues, vocal break transitions, breathing issues and much, much more.
But many of the finest practitioners in a huge variety of fields find ways to objectively judge themselves and using software like PitchPerfector they’re able to review their vocal runs, check for accuracy of pitch and steadiness of vibrato and distribution of overtones. Another really powerful and simple way to self-observe is to record your practice sessions, lessons and performances and systematically break down the things that need improvement, accentuation, better phrasing, etc.
This software comes with 13 full match patterns that you can use to test your pitch accuracy. The program also has a full 2 octaves of range that you can sing through and 8, 16 and 32 second options. You can also record/overlay your runs in 4 different colors to compare the consistency of your results. You can even activate a “staff” view of voice pitch. There’s also an interfacing option in case you’d like to use custom audio settings and equipment.
PitchPerfector version 3.0 was just released (that comes with a beta version of SpectroGraph) in September of 2011 and costs $67 and comes with a 60 day money-back guarantee.
