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Request sent.

Mike

Many requests on this forum for varispeed have been phrased as a special effect that lets someone continuously drop the pitch or speed like a tape deck coming to a stop. The current request sounds to me more like "varipitch". That is, a pitch shift of the mix during playback, and a reverse pitch shift of the recorded part after the recording is completed. Given fairly stable, non variable, A/D & D/A technology of sound cards, the digital "analog" to changing the tape speed is pitch shifting or resampling. Recording technicians might need to take note of the transformations that happen in the digital realm.

My guess is that a simple per-project knob will not do the job; yes, one would like a knob for the parts that need to be shifted, but the part being recorded may be playing through Sonar's audio engine as well (e.g. for effects). Shifting it would be counterproductive, and most likely disturbing to the performer and some others within earshot. Someone may object to percussion sounds being pitch shifted as well, at some point. External midi synths, if in use during recording, would also need real-time pitch shifting. So it may require some intelligence on the recording technician's part to determine which tracks or buses need pitch adjustment, and by how much, and which do not.

Instead of one global varispeed knob, how about a prochannel knob? Any recording technician could have one on their default track or bus template if they really wanted. Adjust it on whatever mix bus needs it, while running the performer's audio on a different bus that has not been adjusted.

Short of a knob on prochannel, there is already the cakewalk pitch shift effect that seems to work on a bus. It is not production quality (for printing), and changing the pitch knob makes a noise. But no printing or extra passes are needed to prepare for recording; just fine tuning of the pitch in real time. The recording technician can decide at leisure how to resolve the various pitch requirements in concert with sound quality concerns. But in X2, anyone might be able map a pitch-shifting vst of whatever quality they need onto a prochannel fx chain. This may be seen as blurting out a "different" method or a workaround, but since I have never had the need for "varispeed" as described, I am not seeing much difference.

By the way, "speed" is an entirely different story and is not so easily solved by a vst. This would best be called "varispeed", and not "varipitch". A musician might for example need assistance from the recording technician to record their performance at a slower tempo without changing pitch.
 
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What are these instruments that can't be tuned or are near impossible to tune that you speak of?  And who the heck plays them?

Zappa would approve.

I agree with Mike's comments.  One classic technique is to put an A-440 test tone on a tape and then use varispeed to tune the recording to a fixed instrument, like a piano, marimba, or bell.  Tunig after the fact works, but it makes recording painful.  Also, there are times when I want to add a little speed to a recording afterwards.  (This can be done to the full mix in other tools, but i would prefer to do it during the mix.)
 
To funkybot's point, I sometimes create a guide track with a piano or guitar transposed and mute everything but the transposed track and the drums.  Then the singer performs the harmonies in tune to the guide track and they are transposed later with Melodyne.  This is a lot of trouble if you just have one or two notes in the harmony part that are slightly out of range.

Varispeed requires a workaround, but I use varispeed with Sonar a lot for vocals and the workaround isn't all that difficult. There are two main approaches for 64-bit systems.

Semitone variations are easiest. Create a premix of your tracks, and use the Tranpose DSP to transpose the premix. For example:

Transpose the premix down one semitone and sing along with it.
When done, transpose the vocal up a semitone for that "pop" sound, and delete the premix.

The transpose function sounds quite good unless you're transposing by huge amounts. I also use with guitar - pitch the premix up a semitone, play along, pitch down for a big, heavy guitar sound.

For finer transposition, open the premix as a groove clip but don't stretch to tempo. You can then use the Clip properties to adjust the tuning in cents. Same procedure as above - adjust tuning to the out of tune instrument or whatever, record, convert the new recording into a groove clip and transpose up by an equal amount. With such small amount of transposition, the audio quality is quite good.

If dealing with Groove clips is too messy, you can insert a pitch shifting plug-in like zPane's elastique for pitching down the premix and pitching up the new track.

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Why are there no disparaging dulcimer player jokes?

There have been a number of occasions where I would have killed for varispeed. Yes, I could have used one of the work-arounds mentioned, but in the middle of a session with clients, I just can't interrupt the session to figure it out. Also, it means switching from an artistic head-space to a logical, technical head-space, which just kills the magic and the mood. This is the time that you just want to reach for a knob and tweak the speed.

Well here is a thought. If I use the scrub tool and drag it fast, it plays back fast. I f I drag it slow I can get that tape drag to a stop sound. So I think this would be something that Cake could do, because it already kind of does it. It's just not recordable.....yet.

so how do dulcimer players play along with piano players in a live situation?  

Why not grab this freebee pitch shifter vst:

http://freemusicsoftware.org/1037

or

http://www.rs-met.com/freebies.html

And drop it in a bus? :)