I was in a car with my cousin in New Delhi, India last summer and some local radio station happened to be on. The Indian classical song that was playing made little sense to me (I must admit) but then I heard it. Auto tune. What?!! I couldn't believe it.
It's everywhere. With almost every pop song on the radio today using the effect, auto tune seems to have disgustingly become the new industry standard. It's a pretty amazing tool when you think about it. With a quick download of Antares' Auto Tune, anyone in the world with a computer and microphone can record themselves and literally drag their vocals up and down a pitch graph and have a 'perfect' vocal. Everyone knows T-Pain was the guy who really popularized the effect 5-6 years ago (he even came out with an iPhone app that lets you auto tune yourself on the spot), but its use over the past few years has gotten out of hand.
It's everywhere. With almost every pop song on the radio today using the effect, auto tune seems to have disgustingly become the new industry standard. It's a pretty amazing tool when you think about it. With a quick download of Antares' Auto Tune, anyone in the world with a computer and microphone can record themselves and literally drag their vocals up and down a pitch graph and have a 'perfect' vocal. Everyone knows T-Pain was the guy who really popularized the effect 5-6 years ago (he even came out with an iPhone app that lets you auto tune yourself on the spot), but its use over the past few years has gotten out of hand.
Antares Auto Tune
I understand that a lot of artists don't use it to necessarily be on pitch (mainly rappers). When Lil' Wayne removed auto tune on his 2009 No Ceilings mixtape, a lot of people (including me) said he should go back to using auto tune just because his voice sounded cooler with it. Kanye West pretty much dedicated almost a whole album (808's and Heartbreak) to the effect. I also don't think people listen to Ke$ha or Britney Spears for their singing ability...I think people realize what they're listening to and know Adele or someone like John Mayer is true vocal talent.
What's terrible though is when the effect is used to legitimately try to sing - including by Wayne and Kanye [enter endless videos of Kanye doing Love Lockdown live, and even Lil' Wayne's How to Love performance at the VMA's a couple nights ago]. Professional studio engineers who really know how to use the software well can do it without leaving much of a clue that it was ever used in the first place too.
Here is a list of artists that have been known to use auto tune. Some might surprise you.
When people like Usher who have a great voice start using auto tune (OMG), it's clear that auto tune has firmly rooted itself in our pop culture. It has subtly overshadowed our standards to a point that I doubt true singers will ever be given the spotlight they deserve. As hardware and programs for digital pitch correction evolve and become extremely simple and more natural sounding, future generations' appreciation for the art will inevitably diminish.
What's terrible though is when the effect is used to legitimately try to sing - including by Wayne and Kanye [enter endless videos of Kanye doing Love Lockdown live, and even Lil' Wayne's How to Love performance at the VMA's a couple nights ago]. Professional studio engineers who really know how to use the software well can do it without leaving much of a clue that it was ever used in the first place too.
Here is a list of artists that have been known to use auto tune. Some might surprise you.
When people like Usher who have a great voice start using auto tune (OMG), it's clear that auto tune has firmly rooted itself in our pop culture. It has subtly overshadowed our standards to a point that I doubt true singers will ever be given the spotlight they deserve. As hardware and programs for digital pitch correction evolve and become extremely simple and more natural sounding, future generations' appreciation for the art will inevitably diminish.
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