Vocal Pitch Monitor
Real-time pitch graph, no install
About this tool
Vocal Pitch Monitor is a real-time singing analyzer that uses the YIN algorithm via the Web Audio API to detect your fundamental frequency, then plots note name and cents deviation on a scrolling graph at roughly 70–100 ms latency. Microphone audio is processed locally — never recorded or uploaded — and Hold, Zoom and Range controls let you review phrases for pitch practice.
How to use
- Allow microphone. Click Start and grant microphone access when prompted. Your audio is processed entirely in the browser — nothing is sent to any server.
- Sing or play. Make a sound and watch the graph scroll. Each detected pitch appears as a dot or line — higher notes appear near the top, lower notes near the bottom.
- Read the note display. The large note name at the top shows your current pitch. The cents number below tells you how far off from perfect pitch you are (±0 = in tune, ±50 = halfway between notes).
- Use Hold to review. Press Hold to freeze the scrolling graph and inspect a phrase. Press again to resume. Use Clear to start fresh.
- Adjust range and zoom. Use Zoom +/− to widen or narrow the visible pitch range. Use Range ▲/▼ to shift the view up or down. Reset returns to the default 3-octave view (C2–C5).
FAQ
Is my voice recorded or sent anywhere?
No. The microphone audio is processed in real time inside your browser using the Web Audio API. Nothing is recorded, stored, or transmitted to any server.
What does cents deviation mean?
One semitone (one piano key step) is divided into 100 cents. A reading of 0 ¢ means perfectly in tune. ±50 ¢ means you are exactly halfway between two adjacent notes.
Why is the detected pitch jumping around?
Background noise, breath sounds, and overtones can confuse the pitch detector. Try moving to a quieter environment, or turn down the Sensitivity slider — a lower setting raises the volume threshold so quiet background noise is ignored and only louder, clearer notes are tracked.
What vocal range does it cover?
The default view shows C2–C5 (approximately 65–523 Hz), covering most singing voices. Use the Range ▲/▼ and Zoom +/− buttons to shift or resize the visible window. The pitch detector itself covers C0–C8.
Can I use this to tune an instrument?
This tool is optimized for vocals — its detection range (about 80–1050 Hz) is tuned to the human singing voice. It can still be used with instruments that play within that range, such as guitar (open strings to mid frets) or ukulele. However, very low instruments like bass guitar (below 80 Hz), high registers like piccolo or top frets above ~1050 Hz, and polyphonic instruments may be inaccurate or unstable. For dedicated instrument tuning, a chromatic tuner is more reliable.
How does the pitch detection work?
It uses the YIN algorithm (Cheveigne & Kawahara, 2002), a well-established time-domain method that finds the fundamental frequency by measuring how similar the audio waveform is to itself at different time delays. A median-3 filter then removes single-frame spikes, and an exponential moving average smooths the graph line so brief glitches do not distort the visualization.
Why does it respond so quickly?
It uses a lightweight time-domain algorithm (YIN) instead of a deep learning model or heavy DSP pipeline. End-to-end latency from microphone input to on-screen pitch is roughly 70–100 ms — much lower than ML-based pitch trackers that typically need 200 ms+ of audio buffering. We deliberately trade the last few percent of accuracy for instant visual feedback, which matters more for live singing practice.