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Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval (transposition) are known as pitch shifters.
A harmonizer is a type of pitch shifter that combines the pitch-shifted signal with the original to create a two or more note harmony. The Eventide H910 Harmonizer, released in 1975, was one of the first commercially available pitch-shifters and digital multi-effects units. On November 10, 1976, Eventide filed a trademark registration for "Harmonizer" and continues to maintain its rights to the Harmonizer trademark today.
In digital recording, pitch shifting is accomplished through digital signal processing. Older digital processors could often shift pitch only in post-production, whereas many modern devices using computer processing technology can change pitch values virtually in real time.
Pitch correction is a form of pitch shifting and is found in software such as Auto-Tune and Melodyne to correct intonation inaccuracies in a recording or performance. Pitch shifting may raise or lower all sounds in a recording by the same amount, whereas in practice, pitch correction may make different changes from note to note.
In the 1970s, reruns of shows like I Love Lucy were sped up in order to run more advertisements during commercial breaks. The Eventide H910 Harmonizer was used to downward pitch-shift the characters' voices back to normal after the episode was sped up.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have used pitch shifting for most of their characters throughout the show's run.
One notable early practitioner of pitch shifting in music is Chuck Berry, who used the technique to make his voice sound younger. Many of the Beatles' records from 1966 and 1967 were made by recording instrumental tracks a half-step higher and the vocals correspondingly low. Examples include "Rain", "I'm Only Sleeping", and "When I'm Sixty-Four".
Electronic musician Burial is known for including pitch-shifted samples of vocal melodies in his songs.
Goregrind and occasionally death metal use vocals that are often pitch-shifted to sound unnaturally low and guttural.
The famous bass intro to the song "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, is the result of guitarist Jack White playing an electric guitar through a pitch shifting effects pedal set to an octave below. The band was a duo, who lacked a bassist and had never previously used one in any of their music, choosing instead to mimic the sound of a bass guitar.
From 1986 to 1988, American musician Prince used pitch shifting to create his “Camille” vocals.
The coda in the song “The Bewlay Brothers” by David Bowie features Bowie's voice distorted by varispeeding; this effect also appears throughout Bowie's 1967 song “The Laughing Gnome”.
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