Originally designed to correct pitchy vocals as transparently as possible, automatic tuning plugins are now just as frequently used as extreme, creative effects. So, with Humanoid, Baby Audio has dispensed with the idea of creating a ‘natural’ sounding processor and built something that specialises in hard tuning and freaky robotic voice manipulation.
That said, some things do look familiar. The Pitch section, for example, enables you to set a scale to which your vocals will be tuned. There’s also a Note mode that gives you the option of setting the desired pitch manually by clicking on a graphical musical keyboard, or you can ‘play’ Humanoid from your MIDI keyboard.
It’s over in the Synthesize section that things get a little more unhinged. Push the Transform dial to the max and your voice will be turned into - you guessed it - the sound of a synthesizer. More moderate settings will add a more subtle electronic flavour.
There are 64 factory wavetables and you can also import your own, meaning that there’s plenty of scope for tonal variation.
Further processing can be applied via the Filter and Effects sections. The former features high- and low-pass filters plus a sweepable mid band, while the latter offers widening, vibrato and stutter effects.
Humanoid runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats. Its regular price is $129, but you can currently purchase it for $79. There’s also a free trial, which you can download from the Baby Audio website.
