Pitch changer
Move a song into a key you can sing, drop a backing track to your Sa, or shift a sample. Choose the semitones, keep the tempo or let the speed change with the pitch, preview 20 seconds, and save. Everything runs in your browser.
This page needs JavaScript for the tool itself. Open it in a browser to use it.
How it works
Drop the file on the page and your browser decodes it. Set the shift in semitones, from an octave down to an octave up, and choose whether the tempo stays the same. Preview plays 20 seconds from the middle of the file with the shift applied. Save encodes the whole file as MP3 or WAV in a background thread.
Keep the tempo or change the speed
Keeping the tempo uses a phase vocoder: the audio is stretched in time by the pitch ratio and then resampled, so the key moves and the length stays. Changing speed with the pitch is what a tape machine or a turntable does: two semitones up makes the file about twelve percent shorter and faster. The tape setting sounds cleaner but changes the tempo.
Finding the right shift
One semitone is the distance between two adjacent keys on a piano. To move a song into your range, find the key you want to sing in, count the semitones from the original key, and shift by that many. The online tuner shows the note you are singing and its sargam name, which makes the count quick.
What to expect from the sound
Within three or four semitones, voice and melody instruments shift cleanly. Drums and other sharp attacks can smear a little when the tempo is kept, and a full octave in either direction sounds processed on any tool. For practice tracks and reference versions it is more than good enough; for a release, re-record in the new key.
From the label's own toolbox
BeatRootRaga is an independent label, and the label's singers use this to try a song in another key before a session. Pair it with the karaoke maker: remove the vocal, then shift the instrumental to your key and practise over it.
Featured releases
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Latest guides
All guidesTeentaal: the 16-beat cycle of Hindustani music
Teentaal is a 16-beat Hindustani rhythmic cycle counted in four groups of four, with claps on 1, 5 and 13, and a wave on 9. Its theka, or basic tabla stroke pattern, is dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha.
Taal for beginners: teentaal, keherwa and dadra with clap patterns
A taal is a repeating rhythmic cycle: count 16 beats for teentaal, eight for keherwa, and six for dadra. For teentaal, clap on 1, 5 and 13, wave on 9; for keherwa, clap on 1, wave on 5; for dadra, clap on 1, wave on 4.
Rupak: the 7-beat taal that starts on khali
Rupak is a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, with seven beats grouped 3 + 2 + 2. Its opening closed strokes make sam, the first beat, sound light; this beat is khali, marked by a wave, rather than tali, marked by a clap.
Keherwa: the 8-beat taal of film songs, bhajans and folk
Keherwa is an eight-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged as 4 + 4. To recognise it, listen for two groups of four, a lighter second half, and the recurring drum pattern: dha ge na ti | na ka dhin na.
Jhaptaal: the 10-beat taal
Jhaptaal is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, with ten beats. Its four vibhags, or divisions, follow 2 + 3 + 2 + 3, alternating two-beat and three-beat groups.
Ektaal: the 12-beat taal of khayal
Ektaal is a twelve-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, divided into six two-beat sections called vibhags. Its stretched beats let the tabla player elaborate the stroke pattern in vilambit (slow-tempo) bada khayal, the slow opening composition of a khayal performance.
Questions people ask
Is the BeatRootRaga pitch changer free, and is my file uploaded?
Free, no account, and nothing is uploaded. The file is decoded, shifted and encoded inside your browser.
Can the pitch changer change the key of a song without changing the speed?
Yes. Choose Keep the tempo. The length of the file stays exactly the same; only the pitch moves.
How many semitones can I shift a song?
Up to 12 semitones, an octave, in either direction. Most key changes for singing are within five semitones, where the sound stays clean.
Why does the shifted song sound a little blurred?
Keeping the tempo while changing the pitch means stretching the audio, and sharp sounds such as drum hits spread slightly in the process. Smaller shifts smear less. The tape setting avoids it but changes the speed too.
Can I shift the pitch of a karaoke track or a backing track?
Yes, and that is the most common use: make the karaoke track with the karaoke maker, then shift it to your key here and save it for practice.