AutoTune

Zascar

I know this is not really dance music related, its more of a rant really... but.. has anyone else noticed while listing to the radio these days, almost every single crappy commercial pop, rap, electro etc tunes all have the same sh1tty sound to the vocals? For those not familiar there is a program called AutoTune

"AutoTune is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform perfectly tuned vocal tracks without the need of singing in tune. While its main purpose is to slightly bend sung pitches to the nearest true semitone (to the exact pitch of the nearest tone in traditional equal temperament), Auto-Tune can be used as an effect to distort the human voice when pitch is raised or lowered significantly"

Here is a rally naff video of how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xX6OwNk8sk

And the funniest usage of it has to go to our own "Irish Hiphop Sensation" Tom O'C: http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/24187359

Surely it cannot go on like this - the people need to demand original raw talent not special effects!!

rant over:p

rcaz

I've thought about this a lot, I remember someone somewhere likened it to software (and bear with me here, I don't DJ so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the gear) that syncs/beatmatches/whatever-the-term-is your tracks for you. That automates something for you so you're free to do other stuff. And I know this idea doesn't directly transfer to the Auto-Tune argument, but I can see some sense in it.

If it's called 'auto tune', a lot of people seem to start complaining how it's **** and how it's just like any generic track you might hear in a pop chart. But then if it's a vocoder, that's totally cool, and people might think of Kraftwerk or something. Almost the same thing, right? [edit! - "Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances."] Everything has its place.

The real annoyance is how it's just a go-to thing, like an entry on the list of things you have to do to make music by numbers. But any proper music fan would find millions of things to complain about on that list - I think it's all context based. I was listening to Sum 41 last week, and every song went intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-break-chorus-chorus, every chorus had two-part vocal harmonies, every second verse had an extra palm-muted guitar... But take one of those ingredients and take it out of context, and it's cool, or at least un-noted.

As for 'raw talent not special effects', I'm not so sure the two are mutually exclusive! If a 'special effect' is the only thing that will make the perfect sound for a song, then the musician in question should jump on that special effect and make it work! And that ability to realise that perfect sound is a big part of my idea of 'raw talent'. But I have a gut feeling that I'm an optimistic idealist who likes to think the best of people, and that most of the instances of auto tuned vocals are indeed "We have to, like, make this song sound like, in, you know?!"

Context

Scubadevils

I've heard numerous tracks on the radio with that effect on the vocals and I must say nothing ever in music has irritated me as much. Genuinely makes my fckin blood boil :mad:

jtsuited

the reason i refuse to listen to the radio these days.

antares have a lot to answer for.

whatever about dodgy hiphop using it in an exaggerated (but still awful) way, the fact that a version of it is used live on xfactor is pretty laughable.

Scubadevils

I've no choice with the radio during the day if I'm at home as my wife always has it on in the background. In the evening however I get to pick a CD... within reason!

Whether its hip hop, R&B or whatever else they use it on - I detest it with a passion.

Anima

It's a bit rich for dance/electronic people to give out about misuse of an effect no?

Having said that, I hate the sound of it now. It doesn't even register with me as an interesting sound anymore, which to be fair it was for a while.

copeyhagen

kanye west done an entire album with autotune

Selik

Zascar wrote: »

has anyone else noticed while listing to the radio these days, almost every single crappy commercial pop, rap, electro etc tunes all have the same sh1tty sound to the vocals?

Thankfully the only radio station I ever listen to is Newstalk (bar one or two talk shows on Today FM)......

was.deevey

Awaiting the day when phasers come back in fashion

Wasn't it Cher "I believe" that made that god-awful sound popular in the first place around '98ish

Daft punk did it, I think though a combo of autotune + vocoder, I remember reading vaguely in sound & sound (so of course that makes it all ok:rolleyes:).

The x-factor rejects have a future ...nooooooooooooooooooo

Pace2008

was.deevey wrote: »

Daft punk did it, I think though a combo of autotune + vocoder, I remember reading vaguely in sound & sound (so of course that makes it all ok:rolleyes:).

Daft Punk's use of Autotune never seemed gratuitous though, it was just part of their sound.

And the breakdown in Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is the best use of a vocoder I've ever heard.

Zascar

Exactly, it's fine in certain trakcs, they just seem to throw it in cause it's the cool sound of the moment - or more likely cause the artist can't sing for sh1t. As copyhaged said I think it might have been Kanye West who started the big trend now everyone is climbing aboard. God I hope its a fad that dies soon.