How can I effectively change vocal pitch?

[EricSartor]

Ok, this is going to sound very weird, but I want to make a male vocal track sound as female as possible. I really want the sound of a female singer but I don't know any, so I figured I could just do my best to change my own voice. The sort of sound I'm going for is Spotlight Kid-esque sort of vocals, that blend in with the guitars (look up Plan Comes Apart). They have both a male and female vocalist I believe, so how could I achieve the same sort of sound?

[sean1]

This is what you have to do: you and a friend need to wait for your parents to go out of town to Cincinnati for the weekend. Watch the film Frankenstein for inspiration, then decide to create a "virtual" and "perfect" woman on your home computer preferably a Memotech MTX512. Then design your "perfect" woman by filling your computer with various forms of data and images. When your computer reaches capacity hack into a government mainframe for more processing power and data storage capacity. As a finishing touch connect a Barbie doll to the computer through a series of wires and electrodes. At the exact moment you hit "enter" to execute the program, make sure a lightning bolt strikes the house leading to a series of supernatural occurrences. You will know you've succeeded when there is a violent explosion and when the smoke clears a beautiful woman with a great voice should emerge from your bathroom.

Just kidding man. It's a great question though and I'm intrested to hear other peoples ideas.

[DanTheMan]

You should have plug in that can shift pitch. I've yet to hear one or figure one out well enough to sound somewhat natural. As Brandon put it,'like comparing a Steinway to a Fisher~Price keyboard.' That said, I haven't tried to hard to do such a thing. There may be something out there.

Dan

[garageband]

Whatever pitch-shifting plug you use needs to have formant adjustment. The stock one in DP will do this without difficulty.

[brandondrury]

Ok, this is going to sound very weird, but I want to make a male vocal track sound as female as possible.

Not a weird request at all. 99% of the time I find the female voice to be more appealing. I haven't decided why but I question my motives.

so I figured I could just do my best to change my own voice.

Hmmm. Now I'm questioning your motives.

Do a search for formant in your DAWs manual. That's the big clue here.

Brandon

[PunkGuy]

This comes down to vocal technique. High larynx, slightly airy, and sing at least partially through your nose. Adjust these elements and you should sound suitably like a girl.