Antares
Antares Audio Technologies was founded in 1990 as Jupiter Systems by Dr. Harold (Andy) Hildebrand. From 1976 through 1989, Dr. Andy had worked as a research scientist in the geophysical industry, producing groundbreaking work for Exxon Production Research and Landmark Graphics, a company he co-founded to create the world’s first stand-alone seismic data interpretation workstation. Upon leaving Landmark in 1989, he returned to one of his first loves, music, studying music composition at the Shepard School of Music at Rice University.
In the course of his studies, Dr. Andy encountered what was, at the time, considered an unavoidable limitation of the process of digital sampling. Faced with this limitation — the inability to create seamless “loops” in samples of multiple instrumentalists — he set about to overcome it. Utilizing cutting-edge digital signal processing (DSP) technology drawn from the geophysical industry, he had soon invented a new looping technique that, to the amazement of everyone who heard it, did indeed succeed in “doing the impossible” (a description that would be applied with uncanny consistency to each subsequent Antares product). Convinced that there was a market for his new technology, he formed Jupiter Systems to further develop and market the program, now called Infinity. Infinity met with immediate market success, becoming the premier looping tool for professional sound designers.
Following the success of Infinity, Dr. Andy next turned his attention to the emerging market for software plug-ins. Drawing again on geophysics-based DSP technology, he developed and introduced MDT (Multiband Dynamics Tool), one of the first successful Pro Tools plug-ins. This was followed by JVP (Jupiter Voice Processor), SST (Spectral Shaping Tool) and, in 1997, Auto-Tune, a program that corrected pitch problems in vocals and other solo instruments. Auto-Tune became an instant phenomenon, firmly establishing Antares (as the company had been renamed) as a developer of truly astonishing products using DSP technology. Auto-Tune quickly became the largest-selling audio plug-in of all time.
In late 1999 Antares once again created a new product category with the Antares Microphone Modeler, a plug-in that allows any reasonable quality microphone to sound like any of a wide variety of other microphones. At the Audio Engineering Society Conference in September of 2000, the Mic Modeler was honored with the TEC Award as the year’s Outstanding Achievement in Signal Processing Software.
Over the next five years, Antares developed a variety of innovative audio tools, including kantos 1.0 Audio Controlled Synthesizer, Filter Quad Rhythmic Multimode Filters, Tube Analog Tube Modeler and, of course, new and more powerful versions of Auto-Tune.
In 2004, Antares made the strategic decision to focus on the development of unique production tools for vocalists. That focus initially culminated in the introduction in 2005 of the AVOX Antares Vocal Toolkit, a bundle of five innovative plug-ins, including THROAT Physical Modeling Vocal Designer, the world’s first tool for modeling vocal characteristics through a model of the human vocal tract. Subsequent versions of AVOX added more unique plug-ins, including Harmony Engine Evo, the industry-leading tool for generating realistic vocal harmonies.
Most recently, Antares has extended the reach of Auto-Tune technology to the world of guitars with the development of Auto-Tune for Guitar technology. Auto-Tune for Guitar is an entirely DSP-based suite of functions that offer everything guitarists have always wanted from a guitar along with capabilities they never imagined possible. From perfect tuning, flawless intonation and astonishing tonal flexibility to alternate tunings that open up entirely new areas of inspiration and creativity, Auto-Tune for Guitar technology seriously expands the flexibility and range of the electric guitar while letting guitarists continue to play their own way.
Auto-Tune for Guitar technology made its first appearance in the Peavey AT-200 guitar, which has received unprecedented accolades from the guitar press. A custom installation kit for luthiers as well as a floor pedal that will provide Auto-Tune for Guitar functionality to any guitar with a hex pickup are currently under development.
In addition to developing our own products, Antares is committed to wider distribution of its proprietary technologies through strategic relationships with other key partners, both in and out of the professional audio and musical instrument industries. Current partners include Peavey Electronics, ART, Tascam, Starmaker Interactive, Tropisounds, and Music Mastermind, Inc., with more in the pipeline.