PITCH DETECTION AND INTONATION CORRECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD

A device and method is disclosed to correct intonation errors and generate vibrato in solo instruments and vocal performances in real time. The device determines the pitch of a musical note produced by voice or instrument and shifts the pitch of that note to produce a very high quality, high fidelity output. The device includes a pitch detector that automatically recognizes the pitch of musical notes quickly. The detected pitch is then used as an input to a pitch corrector that converts the pitch of the input to an output with a desired pitch. The corrected musical note is then in tune with the pitch standard. The device and method employ a microprocessor that samples the signal from a musical instrument or voice at regular intervals using an analog-to-digital converter and then utilizes data derived from an auto-correlation function of the waveform to continuously determine the period of the waveform. The period of the waveform is then compared to a desired period or periods (such as found in a scale). The ratio of the waveform period and the desired period is computed to re-sample the waveform. This ratio is smoothed over time to remove instantaneous output pitch changes. The ratio is used to resample the input waveform. The resulting output waveform is processed through a digital-to-analog converter and output through audio interfaces.