Send to one Auto-Tune in Pro Tools

Use it on this Mac

1. Keep the Pro Tools connection running. To restart it, close Pro Tools, open Start Pro Tools Connection.command in this folder, then reopen Pro Tools.
2. In Pro Tools, use Setup → Peripherals → MIDI Controllers. Set HUI Receive From and Send To to PICH Pro Tools Test. The input must also be enabled in MIDI Input Devices. This Mac is already configured.
3. Load UAD Auto-Tune Real-Time X in any insert A–J of a mono or stereo audio track. Give the track a unique name of 30 characters or fewer. Turn recording off and use a track without automation. Playback can continue; while playing, set the chosen track’s automation mode to Read or Off.
4. Analyze a beat in Key Lab. Under Auto-Tune in your DAW, choose Pro Tools, click Find Pro Tools instances, choose your destination, then click Send to selected instance.

For the A–E destination list, multiple instances require an explicit choice. Opening another plug-in later does not change the saved A–E destination. If focus changes as the transfer lock starts, the send stops before writing and asks you to try again. While sending, a short Pro Tools progress dialog prevents selection changes.

Undo Pro Tools transfer restores the previous key and scale in that same track and insert, including an original Chromatic setting. If you edited Key or Scale afterward, Undo refuses to overwrite that edit. Detune, Retune Speed and other settings are not sent.

Capture a later insert without MIDI Learn

1. Click Find Pro Tools instances to identify the current track bank. A–E can be empty; no extra Auto-Tune is required. The app will say Connection ready for a later insert when there are no A–E destinations.
2. Open the exact Real-Time X in F–J that you want to control.
3. Return to Key Lab and click Capture selected Auto-Tune. Review the track name, key and scale, then click Send to selected instance.

Keep that plug-in selected through Send and Undo. Selecting another plug-in cancels the capture, even if you switch back. Capture again to choose a new destination. Pro Tools may omit the later insert letter, so the app labels it Captured Auto-Tune rather than guessing. This route is live-tested on mono and stereo inserts F–J.

Sending during playback

Send and Undo can run during normal playback. Pro Tools still briefly holds the selection with a progress dialog. The connection reads the chosen track’s automation mode without changing it and refuses a send if the mode is unknown or could write automation. Recording and other transport modes remain blocked. Live playback checks cover mono/stereo B and J; the full stopped-playback F–J matrix remains separate. The tests used muted, empty tracks, so audio quality and dropouts have not been evaluated.

Current limits

This experimental connection is limited to Pro Tools 2026.4 and Real-Time X 11.8.0 AAX, eligible mono or stereo audio tracks in the current eight-channel HUI bank. A–E use the named picker; later inserts use the capture workflow above. Multi-mono variants, automated tracks, other Auto-Tune editions and other Pro Tools versions are not enabled. The direct selector exposes only A–E; the later route controls the plug-in you explicitly select in Pro Tools. Keep the Apollo connected. After rearranging tracks, moving or replacing plug-ins, changing the session, or restarting Pro Tools or its connection, find instances again. Find establishes a fresh Pro Tools connection and discards old destinations and Undo state. You can leave the helper running while quitting and reopening Pro Tools. A–E destinations identify a track and insert slot; they do not follow a plug-in you move elsewhere. Captured later destinations expire as soon as plug-in focus changes.

The app checks session path, track identity, track order, full track name, insert position, plug-in parameter map and returned key/scale. A connection error is not retried automatically. Check the plug-in before retrying. Stop the connection only after closing Pro Tools or disabling that HUI row, to avoid its disconnected-controller warning.

What a customer would need

Beat analysis runs locally. Sending to one existing Auto-Tune also needs a connection to the chosen DAW. Customers should not need Codex, development tools, or these test sessions. This version still requires manual connection setup and is a prototype, not a finished installer. The intended customer flow is install Key Lab, connect the DAW once, then choose the destination when sending. The exact setup cannot yet be promised to be identical across DAWs.

Installation elsewhere

This Mac uses its existing, locally accepted Avid PTSL SDK and configured Python runtime. Avid's SDK and credentials are not bundled with Key Lab. The local configuration is in Library/Application Support/PICH Key Lab/protools-sdk.json. A clean-Mac installer and client distribution have not been validated. The supplied source and native MIDI helper are original connection code; see credits and licenses.

See the Pro Tools test report for the exact validation performed.