Antares News & Reviews

Watch this page for new developments and noteworthy events.

For more in-depth news, application tips, and assorted other interesting stuff, check out the latest Antares Newsletter.

8/24/2010 The X Factor, reportedly Britain's most popular TV show, is a talent contest similar in concept to our own American Idol. While those of you in the UK are no doubt already all too aware of the furor surrounding last Saturday's episode of X Factor amid accusations (since confirmed) that the producers used Auto-Tune on some contestants' performances, for those in the rest of the world, we thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the media this "scandal" has generated.

The BBC covers the initial controversy here.

Our very own Dr. Andy was interviewed on BBC Radio. Listen here (Jump forward to 36:25 for the Auto-Tune segment.)

Britain's Channel 4 News has also produced an entertaining overview:

It appears that this story is far from over. Be sure to check back for updates.

3/23/2010 We're extremely pleased to announce that as a result of our February program that earmarked a portion of our sales for the period of February 11th through February 14th for Haiti earthquake relief, we have donated over $5600 to Rotary International to help provide relief though ShelterBox, a Global Rotary Club Project. ShelterBox is an international disaster relief organization that provides shelter and lifesaving equipment to victims of natural and man made disasters. Each ShelterBox supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent, cooking and water purification equipment, and other tools and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless.

According to Rob Slawinski, the current president of Antares' hometown Scotts Valley Rotary Club, "We truly appreciate Antares' generous decision to contribute to Rotary International's Haiti relief effort. Thanks to Antares' efforts, in combination with fundraising events and the generous donations of individual Rotarians, the Scotts Valley Rotary Club has been able to contribute over $10,000 to the worldwide Rotary ShelterBox Haiti relief program."

Thanks to all of our customers for making our contribution possible.

3/1/2010 We're proud to announce that Fast Company magazine has named Antares as one their "2010 Most Innovative Companies" in the music industry. Featured in the March issue of Fast Company, The Most Innovative Companies 2010 Special Report identifies companies across the economy and around the globe "that define business innovation for 2010."

According to the magazine's editors, "To create this year's Most Innovative Companies issue, Fast Company's editorial team analyzed information on thousands of businesses across the globe. It's not just about revenue growth and profit margins; it's about identifying creative models and progressive cultures - to define the many forms of innovation that exist across the business landscape."

Fast Company's 2010 Most Innovative Companies issue is currently available on newsstands, and is online here. Check it out.

2/10/2010 In response to the almost unimaginable suffering of the people of Haiti in the aftermath of last month's devastating earthquake, Antares is partnering with Rotary International to help provide relief though ShelterBox, a Global Rotary Club Project. And you can help.

For every Antares product sold or upgraded from 12:00 AM Thursday, February 11th through midnight, Sunday, February 14th (Pacific Standard Time), we will donate 25% of the purchase price to Rotary International's Haiti relief effort. So, if you've been thinking about adding Antares vocal processing plug-ins to your system, or upgrading to the newest versions of Auto-Tune Evo, AVOX Evo, or Harmony Engine Evo, now is definitely the time.

Here's how to make sure your purchase counts:

Products purchased or upgraded on the Antares web store

You don't have to do anything special. We'll automatically count all web store purchases made during the program period.

Products purchased at Antares dealers

Fax or email a scan of your dated sales receipt to us by February 17, 2010.

- Fax your receipt to: 831.461.7801.

- Email a scan of your receipt in JPG or PDF format to haiti_relief@antarestech.com

Again, this program applies to every Antares product or upgrade purchased from February 11 through February 14. Not only will you be getting world-class vocal processing tools, but you'll be providing desperately needed help to Haiti earthquake survivors. It's a true win-win proposition.

More details on Rotary International and ShelterBox here.

12/9/2009 We're delighted to note that TIME Magazine has ranked Auto-Tune #3 in their selection of the "Top 10 Buzzwords of 2009." As part of their "The Top 10 Everything of 2009" feature, they complied 50 lists of their choices of the top ten items in a variety of areas of our culture. In the Buzzwords category, only "Public Option" and "Sexting" ranked ahead of us. We're so proud.

11/11/2009 The clever folks over at Know Your Meme have produced a video history of Auto-Tune (featuring "Weird Al" Yankovic, no less), tracing its progression from a professional tool known only to engineers and producers to its current status as a full-blown popular culture phenomenon. Along the way they manage to be both clever and accurate, always an entertaining combination. Check it out:

11/2/2009 Maintenance releases of the VST (Mac and PC) and Audio Units versions of Harmony EFX are now available. These releases provide improved automation performance in some hosts. The VST PC version also resolves an issue that could cause a crash in Sonar. These releases are free updates for all current Harmony EFX owners. Download them here.

10/15/2009 We are pleased to announce the availability of Harmony EFX, a streamlined (and incredibly affordable) version of our industry-leading Harmony Engine Evo Vocal Modeling Harmony Generator. Based on the same groundbreaking Evo™ Voice Processing Technology as its big brother, Harmony EFX puts professional quality vocal harmony arrangements within reach of any musician or engineer. Whether you're an experienced vocal arranger, a songwriter looking for that perfect backup vocal, or a composer experimenting with unique vocal effects, Harmony EFX gives you entirely new ways to create the harmony parts you hear in your head.

Harmony EFX is available now for RTAS (Mac and PC), VST (Mac and PC), and Audio Units.

Learn all about Harmony EFX, download a fully functional trial version, or purchase a copy from our online store.

* Suggested price in the U.S. Check with your local dealer for the price in your country.

9/23/09 On today's Ellen Degeneres show, Ellen demonstrates how Auto-Tune not only makes singing fun, but how it can be used in a variety of delicate social situations.

Then she invites T-Pain to join her on stage for an Auto-Tuned duet.

Check it out:

9/4/09 We're pretty darned jazzed to announce the availability ofI Am T-Pain, the first (and only) iPhone app to put genuine Auto-Tune technology in the palm of your hand. Jointly developed by Antares, T-Pain's Nappy Boy Enterprises, and Smule (the developer of the best-selling iPhone musical app, Ocarina), I Am T-Pain lets you step into the (musical) shoes of hip-hop singer, songwriter, and producer T-Pain and sing and record your own versions of Bartender, I'm Sprung, Dream Girl and more, complete with authentic Auto-Tune vocal effect. Once you've recorded your song, you can post it on your Facebook wall or your MySpace page, and email it to your friends.

I Am T-Pain is available now from the iTunes App Store. If you've got an iPhone, check it out. And if you buy it (and why wouldn't you?), be sure to take advantage of the App Store's rating feature to let everyone know how much you like it. Much fun will ensure.

8/27/09 Maintenance releases of Mac versions of all Antares products are now available. These versions are required for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). They are free updates for all current registered Antares product owners. Download them here.

8/3/09 Maintenance releases of all versions of Auto-Tune Evo for Mac and PC are now available. These releases provide improved pitch detection accuracy of higher-pitched notes, as well as resolve a variety of issues in the various versions. (Refer to the Read Me documents that accompany each version for details of the changes.) These releases are free updates for all current Auto-Tune Evo owners. Download them here.

8/1/09 We're pleased to announce thatAuto-Tune Evo has been nominated for the 2009 TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Award in the category of Outstanding Technical Achievement in Signal Processing Software. This is Antares' tenth nomination in the last 11 years years.

The TEC Awards, presented by the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio was established in 1985 to honor outstanding achievement in the professional audio production and product innovation. The nominations are made by a panel of more than 100 audio industry professionals. Members of professional audio and sound production organizations, including the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the Producers/Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy, SPARS and the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) will determine the winners via online balloting beginning August 10th. (If you're a member of any of these organizations, be sure to vote.)

The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be on Saturday, October 10 at the 127th AES Convention at the Javits Center in New York City.

7/21/09 We are proud to announce the availability of AVOX Evo, the next generation of the Antares Vocal Toolkit. Now featuring Antares' seriously evolved Evo™ Voice Processing Technology, AVOX Evo combines ten state-of-the-art vocal processing modules to give you the power you need to create stunning vocal tracks in any musical style as well as design unique vocal effects for audio post-production applications.

New in AVOX Evo is the incorporation of Dr. Andy's groundbreaking Evo™ Voice Processing technology, first seen (and heard) in Auto-Tune Evo. The result is an entirely new level of sonic performance. With faster, more accurate pitch detection, smoother, artifact-free pitch shifting, and seamless, natural-sounding (if you want it to be) throat modeling, AVOX Evo plug-ins just work better. Leaving you free to focus on creating your music.

Other additions include redesigned user interfaces for the original five AVOX plug-ins, five integrated channels of our unique CHOIR Vocal Multiplier in Harmony Engine Evo, high-quality pitch shifting in THROAT Evo, tempo-synced alienization rate in MUTATOR Evo, and more.

Upgrades to AVOX Evo are available to registered AVOX, AVOX 2 and Harmony Engine owners (including owners of Auto-Tune Vocal Studio Native and TDM). To upgrade, head on over to the Antares Software Upgrade page and follow the directions there.

Learn all about AVOX Evo, download a fully functional 10 day trial version, or purchase a copy from our online store.

7/21/09 We are proud to announce the availability of Harmony Engine Evo Vocal Modeling Harmony Generator, the next generation of the quickest, easiest-to-use tool for harmony creation.

Building on the power and ease of use of the original Harmony Engine, Harmony Engine Evo incorporates Antares' groundbreaking Evo™ Voice Processing Technology for faster, more accurate pitch detection, smoother, artifact-free pitch shifting, and seamless, natural-sounding (if you want it to be) throat modeling. And with the addition of 5 channels of Antares' unique CHOIR Vocal Multiplier, you can create huge vocal ensembles out of a single vocal line.

With four independent harmony voices, a variety of powerful harmony generating modes, humanization features for natural sounding performances, and a flexible real-time preset system for harmony and vocal type, Harmony Engine Evo provides incredibly easy-to-use tools to quickly and easily produce virtually any vocal arrangement you can imagine.

Harmony Engine Evo is available now for RTAS (Mac+PC), VST (Mac+PC) and AU (Mac). Boxed copies will be available at your local Antares dealer later this month.

Upgrades to Harmony Engine Evo are available to registered Harmony Engine and AVOX 2 owners (including owners of Auto-Tune Vocal Studio Native and TDM). To upgrade, head on over to the Antares Software Upgrade page and follow the directions there.

Learn all about Harmony Engine Evo, download a fully functional 10 day trial version, or purchase a copy from our online store.

7/1/09 The NOVA ScienceNOW feature on Dr. Andy and Auto-Tune is now available to be watched online Check it out!

5/28/09 We're totally jazzed that the PBS science program NOVA ScienceNOW will be featuring a segment on Dr. Andy and Auto-Tune on their season premier episode on June 30th at 9PM ET/PT (please check your local listings for the time in your area).

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson and a NOVA production crew visited us last fall to film interviews with Dr. Andy and demonstrations of Auto-Tune, including an attempt to correct some of Neil's enthusiastic, but far from in-tune singing (tune in to the segment to see and hear the result).

A nice feature about the segment can be found on the NOVA ScienceNOW Website.

And here's a cool video teaser for the episode that'll give you a taste of what's in store. Check it out, and then be sure to tune in on June 30 for the whole story.

4/22/09 We have launched the Antares Online Community. The Antares Online Community is a place where Antares product users (and hopefully soon-to-be users) can gather to exchange information, compare notes, and get to know other Antares users from around the world.

When you register as a community member (a process that takes only a few moments), you not only gain the ability to participate in the Antares Community Forum, but you can create a personal home page where you can upload a variety of media and customize to your heart's delight.

Whether it's audio examples of your music, videos of performances, or photos of your studio setup, you can easily share with other community members (as well as those of us here at Antares). You can also communicate with other members by posting comments on their home page walls or sending private messages.

So, if you're an Antares user, or are just thinking of becoming one, take some time to look around. Then join us. And be vocal.

4/1/09 We have today announced our intent to start thinking about the possible development of our revolutionary new Direct Mind Access (DMA™) musical composition technology. Designed to free would-be composers, songwriters, musicians, and drummers from the tedious study and practice that have traditionally been required for the development of musical skill, DMA technology will allow anyone to transfer the music (or voices) they hear in their head directly to any DMA-compliant DAW.

Read all about it here.

2/22/09 We've created an Antares Page on Facebook, as well as a dedicated Auto-Tune Page. If you've got a Facebook account, drop by, say hello, and become a fan.

2/13/09 Continuing months of unprecedented coverage of Auto-Tune in the mainstream media, the current (February 16th) issue of TIME Magazine features an extensive article by TIME's assistant managing editor and music critic, Josh Tyrangiel. Featuring quotes from interviews with T-Pain, producer Rick Rubin, and our own inimitable Dr. Andy, the article provides yet another perspective on why Auto-Tune has become what is probably popular culture's single most well-known piece of music production technology.

You can read the article here.

In addition to the magazine story, TIME and Tyrangiel have produced a podcast that combines the information from the article with musical examples from artists like Cher, T-Pain, Kanye West, and more. You can download the podcast from the iTunes Music Store or download or listen to an mp3 version here.

1/27/09 We've posted Auto-Tune Vocal Effect and pitch correction demos for Auto-Tune EFX. Check them out.

1/2/09 The New Year is here, and with it comes expanded availability of Auto-Tune EFX. Auto-Tune EFX will now be available at authorized Antares dealers worldwide.

Learn all about Auto-Tune EFX, download a fully functional 10 day trial version, then purchase your copy from your local Antares dealer or our online store.