New Software Review: MicroPitch by Eventide

With MicroPitch, Eventide continues to port their H9 algorithms over to your DAW—can this plugin find its way into your mix template?

I remember the first time I used a micro-pitch effect in a mix. I was mixing a track with a friend of mine who was older, held more jobs in studios, and just flat out had more experience than me. We were taking turns at the helm, about 20 or so minutes each—a really fun way to mix. He was up, and we’d arrived at the vocal.

As this was still somewhat in the infancy of plugin development as we know it today—and my rig’s plugin arsenal was pretty limited at the time—my first brush with micro-pitch did not involve a plugin set up on an aux return. Instead, I looked on as my co-mixer duplicated the lead vocal track twice, pulled up an Audio Suite pitch tool, shifted one up by several cents, the other down by several cents, then copied both down to a stereo track. Upon first playback, sneaking it up under the main vocal track, the vocal widened tremendously, as did my perception of what was possible when mixing.

For me, this particular method of achieving the classic micro-pitch effect on a vocal has since been replaced by the aforementioned plugin-on-an-aux-track method, and it’s an absolute staple in my mix template.

The micro-pitch effect itself is heard widely across all types of music production, giving the vocal a larger-than-life sense of space among the other instruments, and often adding a beautiful sense of slick sheen across its aesthetic.

Eventide, a household name among the leading developers of effects technology in both hardware and software, have ported their MicroPitch algorithm—along with several others—over from the H9 platform to your DAW as part of the H9 Plugin Series. I was curious to see if MicroPitch can earn a spot as a mainstay in my mix template.

Let’s see what it’s made of.

Features

Just a quick glance at MicroPitch’s controls and you’ll see it is more than just a pitch shifting effect. Considering its dual-delay design with modulation and feedback controls, it was clear to me even before install that MicroPitch was capable of producing long, evolving delays and pitch dives/climbs, in addition to its obvious pitch-shifting abilities.

Ten knobs adorn the main section of MicroPitch’s red GUI, with controls for: Mix, Pitch Mix, Pitch A & B, Delay A & B, Modulation for Depth and Rate, Feedback, and Tone.

Micro-pitch, in practice, requires there to be more than one pitch shifter in order to produce its characteristic rubbing/chorus effect. So that functionality here is implied.

The plugin functions between -60dBfs and +12dBfs on both the input and output side. There are dual meters in the upper right- and left-hand side of the GUI which display the levels before and after the algorithm; these are located in the chain after the “In” and “Out” controls, respectively. The In and Out controls are large vertical sliders, located on either side of the GUI.

The Mix control is as you’d expect—a dry/wet blend. The Pitch Mix knob controls the mix ratio between your Pitch A and Pitch B settings, the two knobs directly to its right. Pitch A shifts upwards from 0 to +50 cents, while Pitch B shifts downwards to -50 cents. The time controls for Delay A and B are next to the right, which function in milliseconds, or can be note-based if you sync to tempo with the switch to the right. This switch has got three settings: Manual, Sync, and Off. Tapping the tempo in is possible via the Tap button on the bottom of the plugin when the tempo is set to Manual; this can also be done via MIDI.

Modulation Depth functions between 0 (knob fully counter-clockwise) and 2x pitch (fully clockwise). There is then the Feedback control (where you’ll be able to draw out those long drones), and finally a control for Tone which acts as a filter for voices A and B.

Below the main section in MicroPitch is the Ribbon—a very creative design implementation seen across many of Eventide’s plugins. The ribbon allows for the modulation of several knobs at the same time, as you would be able to on a piece of hardware. You can program the range you wish any combination of knobs to modulate between, and then drag the ribbon horizontally to seamlessly morph your sound. The range of any knob’s modulation can be defined by dragging the white and blue dots found on the arc surrounding the knob, to any point in its range.

If that’s too much to wrap your head around, fear not—check out the Ribbon (and the rest of MicroPitch) in action in this demo video from Eventide.

Finally there are buttons for Active, Flex, and Tap along the bottom of the plugin. Active simply turns the plugin on and off, and can be controlled via MIDI. Flex, when pressed, doubles the pitch shifting amount applied to both voices; this as well can be toggled on/off via MIDI. The plugin also offers Load and Save functionality, a “Compare” setting for A/B-ing, and an info tab with which you can access the user manual.

Ok that’s all cool. But how does it sound?

In Use

Naturally, the first instance of MicroPitch I pulled up was on a lead vocal track. Immediately, we’ve got a far wider, thicker, and more immersive vocal sound.

Note: the plugin here was intentionally set up as an insert rather than on an aux return, as I wanted to get a full feel for MicroPitch’s functionality and capabilities before mixing it underneath a dry signal at 100% wet.

The character of MicroPitch thus far (at its factory default setting) is everything I’d expect when going for a micro-pitch effect on a vocal. It was clean, wide, big, and gave off a beautiful sheen in the top end.

Sometimes, when I’ve got a micro-pitch set up on an aux return, I’ll then follow it with some sort of saturation just to pull it a bit further out from the character of the main vocal. I find this adds a nice dimension to the overall vocal quality.

So where does the character lie in MicroPitch? Is there any? Does this plugin have its own unique sonic footprint, or will we need to get creative with the next insert in the chain?

The delay block is a start. Here you can add a really nice sense of space with the dual-channel design, get creative with throws using the feedback control, and from there modulate even further using the Ribbon.

To that end, I felt there needed to be some smoothing over out of the bridge of one particular tune I was mixing. So using the Ribbon to tweak the Feedback, Modulation, and Tone controls, I was able to create an otherworldly modulated delay throw on a guitar track which would likely require 2 or 3 plugins to conjure otherwise.

There is also character to be drawn out of MicroPitch from the modulation depth and rate controls, however I can’t say this is a sound I’d typically reach for when treating vocals—unless it’s a crazy one-time effect. But vocals aren’t the only element of a mix to which I’ll apply micro-pitch; there’s plenty more elements that populate this effect return in my mixes.

Like with guitars, MicroPitch can also take your keys into a whole new dimension. I was able to widen an thicken a tinny, poorly-recorded Wurlitzer, add tremendous size to the bridge section of a song by applying it to a Rhodes, and even got weird with some tambourine slap-back and stereo delay on an acoustic track.

And if you play around with the A and B pitch settings, along with the Flex control, the sonic palette of MicroPitch widens (no pun intended) tremendously. This distances this plugin from competitors like, say, Soundtoys’ MicroShift, which offers a completely different set of controls and sonic footprint.

If the application is right, you can even get away with using MicroPitch for an effected drum treatment. Adding some slap-back with a hint of modulation gave another tune I’m working on just the lift it needed in an 8-bar trippy bridge section.

All that to be said, 9 times out of 10, the first home for MicroPitch in my world would be on a lead vocal.

But I’m noticing a trend here. Outside of this plugin excelling at actual micro-pitching, most of what excites me here is not necessary pitch related.

To Be Critical

MicroPitch is a fantastic sounding pitch shifter. It’s truly clean, and is capable of adding tremendous space and size to the elements it is treating. And, if you’re looking for just a pitch shifter, you can’t go wrong here.

But my mixes can have anywhere between 8-12 (sometimes more) effects returns, so if I’m looking for a modulated delay, I’ll typically just set up a modulated delay return. I wouldn’t exactly think to reach for MicroPitch for that effect, nor would I ordinarily build that vibe into my micro-pitch effects return.

By the same token, however, if I wanted to delay and modulate the micro-pitch effect itself, it is cool that those options exist under the hood of MicroPitch alone.

And similar to feedback I had on another H9 Plugin Series offering, although the general character and quality of MicroPitch on the whole is super slick and pro-sounding, I wasn’t able to push the plugin past its initial sonic footprint. No matter how much tweaking took place, I found MicroPitch to always live in the same aesthetic space. Some of my other micro-pitch tools offer less controls and functionality, but a bit more versatility in their character.

Lastly, I found myself wishing there was an onboard high-pass filter, as you’ll definitely not want MicroPitch generating any extra sub-100Hz content and tossing it around the stereo field. Yes, there’s the tone knob, but by the time I’ve used it to clean up the low end, we’ve got a very bright effect which will eclipse and obscure the actual main vocal track. Of course this is easily remedied by inserting a filter before MicroPitch, but in my book, the less plugins, the better.

Summing it Up

Priced very attractively while currently on sale for $39 (reg. $99), MicroPitch would be a strong addition to the mixing arsenal of anyone in need of this crucial effect.

This plugin can add size, sheen, space, and a little bit of weird to any element it touches in your mix. If you want to go for character, you might need to slap a little something extra on the following insert in your DAW, but that could be the case for any micro-pitch tool.

Eventide’s MicroPitch is available for purchase now, or you can request a free demo from eventide here.

Dan Gluszak is a producer, mixer, and engineer based in Los Angeles, California. He also doubles as a touring and session drummer.

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