CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (MuseWire) – ­ Since 2007, Harmonix’s Rock Band has enabled players to live out their fantasy as a rock vocalist. Now, thanks to a technology licensing agreement with iZotope, Inc., a research-driven audio signal processing company, gamers who play upcoming Rock Band 3 this holiday will be able to take their vocal performance to new heights.

Using iZotope’s real-time pitch detection and pitch shifting middleware, Rock Band 3 provides players with the option to enable vocal effects commonly used in the music industry, assisting players to sing on key more easily with pitch correction and bringing the tools that pros use into the living room.

“The ability to have pitch correction in real-time helps to enhance the vocal gameplay and players’ in-game performance in Rock Band,” said Eran Egozy, CTO and co-founder of Harmonix. “We’re excited to feature iZotope’s technology and this new middleware in Rock Band 3 so that our players can enjoy the type of vocal effects that professional rock stars utilize for live stage performances in their homes this holiday.”

“With the production values of video games rivaling that of commercial albums and blockbuster films, consumers expect the same caliber of video and audio quality during dynamic, real-time game play,” explains Mark Ethier, CEO of iZotope. “Rock Band is an ideal platform for us to showcase iZotope’s technology so we can provide gamers with studio-grade audio effects that professional mixers, sound designers and others in the entertainment industry have relied on for years.”

iZotope’s extensive technology licensing program already includes industry giants like Adobe, Sony, and Avid.

Developed by Harmonix, the world’s premier music videogame company, published by MTV Games, Rock Band 3 will ship simultaneously worldwide this Holiday 2010 in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, the Wii system from Nintendo, and Nintendo DS. Rock Band 3 will be compatible with all Rock Band and The Beatles: Rock Band peripherals, as well as most third-party instrument and microphone controllers. Mad Catz is the official peripheral manufacturer and distributor for Rock Band game controllers.