INTONE quickstart

Open a vocal clip, drag its notes, set the key and SNAP, then COMMIT to a take lane. The first pass through INTONE inside Ableton Live.

What INTONE is

INTONE is a vocal pitch editor that lives inside Ableton Live. It is a Max for Live audio effect: you put it on the track that holds your vocal, open the clip in it, and edit the vocal note by note. There is no recording pass, because INTONE reads the clip that is already on the track. When you are happy, COMMIT renders the edited vocal to a new clip and keeps the original on a take lane.

INTONE needs Ableton Live 12 Suite with Max 9 or later, on macOS 14 or later or on 64-bit Windows, and Nolvra Hub installs it.

INTONE's large window on a vocal in E minor. PITCH is lit in the tool row across the top, next to DRIFT, VIBRATO, TIME, FORMANT, LEVEL and SPLIT, with Undo, Redo, TO MIDI and COMMIT 6 on the right. The piano roll runs from bar 5 to bar 12 with the vocal's notes drawn on it, some marked with their cents such as +20¢ and -35¢, and the hint line along the bottom reads DRAG = SEMITONES · ALT = CENTS · WHEEL = SCROLL · CTRL+WHEEL = ZOOM. The KEY box on the right reads FOLLOW LIVE and E MINOR, with the drift mark on ±15¢, SNAP and SOFT.

Your first pass

Put INTONE on the vocal track

In Live's browser go to User Library, then Presets, Audio Effects, Max Audio Effect, and drag INTONE onto the audio track with your vocal. It has to be an audio track: on a group, return, main or MIDI track INTONE says "INTONE must be on an audio track (not a group, return, main or MIDI track)".

Open a clip

Select your vocal clip in Live, then press OPEN. Or drag the clip onto OPEN. The vocal appears as notes on a piano roll. If the clip is warped in Beats mode, INTONE warns "BEATS MODE: edited notes may drift. Click here to switch the clip to Complex". Click the warning to switch, because Beats mode re-slices the result and moves the notes you edited.

Grab a note

Hold a note and drag it up or down. You hear it at its new pitch while you move. PITCH moves in semitones; hold Alt to move in cents, and double click a note to snap it to the key.

Pick the tool for the job

One tool per job, each with its own key: P pitch, D drift, V vibrato, T time, F formant, L level, S split. Hover any button for a short description.

Set the key, then SNAP

Click the key to follow Live or set your own. K, or the SNAP button, pulls every note onto the key.

COMMIT, and undo whenever you like

COMMIT renders the edits to a new clip; the original stays on a take lane named INTONE original. Every edit is a step in Live's own undo, so Live's Undo and Redo walk back through them.

INTONE in Ableton Live's device view. The tool buttons stand in a column on the left, the vocal's notes run from bar 5 to bar 11, and the panel on the right reads E MIN, SNAP, 52 NOTES and LEAD VOCAL.WAV above COMMIT 6.

INTONE's tool row: PITCH lit, then DRIFT, VIBRATO, TIME, FORMANT, LEVEL and SPLIT, each with its key letter in the corner, P, D, V, T, F, L and S.

The KEY box in INTONE's large window: KEY · FOLLOW LIVE with CHANGE beside it, E MINOR with DETECTED: A MIN OR C MAJ under it, HIGHLIGHT SCALE, WAVEFORM and NOTE LEVEL switched on, DRIFT MARK with ±15¢ lit among ±10¢, ±20¢ and ±25¢, and the SNAP and SOFT buttons, K in SNAP's corner.

The right end of INTONE's top bar: Undo, Redo, TO MIDI, and COMMIT with a 6 beside it.

The tools

ToolWhat it does
PITCH (P)Drag up or down by semitone. Alt moves in cents, a double click snaps to the key
DRIFT (D)Straightens the pitch drift inside a note. The left edge sets the transition into it
VIBRATO (V)Drag up for more vibrato, down for less. 0 % is flat
TIME (T)Moves a note. Drag its edges to stretch it. The gap stays silent. Q opens quantize
FORMANT (F)Makes the voice brighter or darker without changing the pitch
LEVEL (L)Note volume. The edges set fades, Alt and drag works on sibilants, M mutes
SPLIT (S)Click a note where it should be cut. Alt and click joins two notes

Key, drift mark, SNAP and SOFT

The KEY box has two settings. FOLLOW LIVE uses the key and scale set in Live. MANUAL lets you set the device's own key. When INTONE guesses a key from the vocal it shows it as DETECTED.

The DRIFT MARK sets how far a note may drift before INTONE marks it with its cents: ±10, ±15, ±20 or ±25 cents, and it opens at ±15. You set it in the KEY box of the large window.

SNAP pulls every note to the key. SOFT brings the notes closer to the key and keeps their drift and vibrato.

Two rows of INTONE's piano roll, E3 and D3. Notes that drift past the drift mark carry their cents beside them, +20¢ on E3 and -35¢, -15¢ and -29¢ on D3, and one note on D3 is drawn in the accent colour.

The large window

W opens INTONE in a large window of its own, and the drift mark is set there. Shift and F fits the clip into view. The editor's hint line lists the mouse moves for the tool you are on, for example WHEEL = SCROLL and CTRL+WHEEL = ZOOM.

Things people look for on the first day

Editing works without a license. Preview, COMMIT and TO MIDI need one; the setup article explains how INTONE unlocks.
Backspace or Delete resets the selected notes.
M mutes the selected notes, and pressing it again unmutes them.
Q opens quantize for timing and N opens note leveling. Enter applies, Esc closes.
TO MIDI copies the notes, as edited, to a new MIDI track below, in one undo step.
A COMMIT over a COMMIT renders again from the original while the notes still match it, in one undo step.

What ships

ItemINTONE 1.0.0
FormatMax for Live audio effect
HostAbleton Live 12 Suite with Max 9 or later
SystemsmacOS 14 or later, 64-bit Windows
ToolsPITCH, DRIFT, VIBRATO, TIME, FORMANT, LEVEL, SPLIT
Keyfollows Live, or set your own
Drift mark±10, ±15, ±20 or ±25 cents
ResultCOMMIT to a new clip, the original on a take lane
Install and unlockNolvra Hub, no license key

Still stuck?

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support@nolvra.com