Pitch Shifting in Audio: 5 Top Plugins for Adjusting Pitch and Time

Pitch shifting is one of the most transformative audio effects you can apply to your tracks.

Pitch shifter plugins can be used for everything from subtle fixes to aggressive warping and lo-fi effects.

But what exactly is pitch shifting on a basic level? How does it work and what are the best plugins to change the pitch of audio material in your session?

In this article I’ll break down the basics of pitch shifting and suggest the best pitch shifter plugins to use in your DAW—including a great free VST you can download right away.

Let’s get started.

What is pitch shifting?

Pitch shifting is a processing technique that changes the perceived pitch of a recorded audio signal.

Engineers use it to correct errors like wrong notes or poor intonation, transpose material to fit the song, or even as a textural effect for sound design.

There are several methods to change the pitch of a signal, but almost all take place in the digital domain. Pitch shifting is usually linked with time stretching since both processes manipulate the underlying audio in complimentary ways.

Transparent pitch shifting is possible with modern techniques, but many pitch shifting algorithms impart a characteristic sound, which may or may not be desirable.

Often considered a utility functionality, most DAWs provide some features for pitch shifting and time stretching for use in typical production tasks.

How does pitch shifting work?

Pitch shifting was a major breakthrough in digital signal processing when it was first developed.

Before the advent of digital audio, it wasn’t fully possible to alter the perceived pitch of a signal without changing the timbre.

There were some analog methods like the full-wave rectification technique that could simulate octave shifts up or down. But this type of circuit has a major impact on the sound and isn’t flexible enough to be used in most situations.

Producers who were familiar with analog tape machines had long known that varying the speed of the tape playback could produce changes in pitch as well as timing. With a little foresight, artists could record parts at half-speed and then play the tape back at double speed to achieve an octave up effect.

This was how the recognizable “chipmunk voice” was achieved in classic cartoons and novelty records.

Although the double speed technique produces octave pitch shifting without distortion or artifacts, it changes the timbre of the material too much for practical use.

Engineers still needed a way to manipulate pitch in real time that didn’t sound too unnatural in the mix. It finally became possible when digital audio processing arrived on the scene.

Discrete digital audio signals can be analyzed and broken down into pieces—either as time slices, frequency bins or even individual harmonics—and then reconstructed so that pitch and timing can be changed independently.

Beginning with the Eventide H910 in the mid 70s, pitch shifting became an important effect type in music production.

The technology continued to progress as digital effects became commonplace and its widespread adoption helped hasten the transition to digital audio by the mid 1980s.

Pitch shifting plugins

With the background out of the way, let’s take a look at the best pitch shifter plugins to add to your production setup.

1. Warp x Andrew Huang by Baby Audio

When it comes to pitch shifting, the most fun you can have is when things get weird.

Warp is our take on a creative pitch shifter that’s perfect for glitchy, transformative effects.

Developed in collaboration with Andrew Huang, Warp is the standalone edition of one of the most beloved effects engines from our award-winning plugin Transit 2.

Based on a classic retro-digital pitch shifting technique, Warp brings you all the gritty glory of the early digital effects units. As you turn up the speed control, the playback rate increases until the internal buffer becomes too small and the stored audio begins to loop chaotically.

Warp is completely free and comes bundled with four other free plugins based on features from the full versions of award-winning plugins.

Get Warp and the rest of our Free Plugin Bundle here to get started.

2. Celemony Melodyne

If you’re looking for the most transparent pitch shifting possible, pro-grade vocal pitch correction plugins offer the highest possible quality.

These tools don’t come cheap, but they are capable of the invisible pitch changes needed to fix tuning errors in vocal recordings.

Unlike early digital techniques for pitch shifting, vocal pitch correction plugins use a technique called Phase Vocoding to ensure that sensitive material retains its exact character and timbre.

While Melodyne and other plugins like it are sometimes required to save a problematic vocal performance, they can be overkill for general pitch shifting duties.

That said, if you already have access to a pro vocal correction tool, it may be worth trying when you need a transparent sound.

3. The stock pitch shifter in your DAW of choice

Pitch shifting is such a fundamental process in digital audio that many DAWs come with an excellent pitch shifting solution built in.

Whether it’s Ableton Live’s clip Warp control, FlexPitch in Logic or Elastic Audio in Pro Tools, modern DAWs offer sophisticated processing for manipulating pitch.

In addition to an advanced pitch shifting tool, your DAW might also include a legacy pitch shift/times tretch feature that works just as well as any third-party plugin.

If you’re just looking to make basic changes to pitch and time, you might not even need to find a new plugin if there's a suitable option available in your DAW.

4. Eventide Quadravox

Quadravox is a unique musical pitch shifter from one of the originators of audio signal processing.

Designed for stacking harmonies on top of a monophonic source, Quadravox offers four independent voices that can be tuned diatonically to create rich harmonies that stay in key.

It features a helpful notation view to quickly visualize harmonic intervals, making it easy to construct rich chords and voicings.

If you’re looking for high quality pitch shifting with a harmonizer-style workflow, Quadravox is an option to consider.

5. Waves SoundShifter

Waves’ SoundShifter plugin is one of the company’s earlier releases, but it still works well for basic pitch and time duties in 2025.

While the interface may be starting to show its age, Sound Shifter is a very economical option as it can frequently be found on sale despite its already low price.

If you need a plugin option for pitch shifting and budget is a major concern, SoundShifter could be an option to explore.

Paradigm shift

Pitch shifting is an essential tool for today’s producers. Made possible by the unique properties of digital audio, it still plays a major role in modern production workflows.

Whether you need to fix problematic material with an advanced pitch correction tool or you simply want to experiment with creative pitch and time effects, there’s a plugin on this list to help you get there.

Don’t forget to scoop up Warp x Andrew Huang and the rest of the Baby Audio Freebies to get started with creative pitch shifting and so much more.

Now that you understand the basics of pitch shifting, get back to your DAW and keep making music.