Rock Band 3 Will Auto-Tune Your Off-Key Singing

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Rock Band 3 Will Auto-Tune Your Off-Key Singing



If you're self-conscious about your lack of singing ability, Rock Band 3 has you covered.

Everyone likes playing guitar in Rock Band, because everyone wants to be the guitar god. They like playing bass, too, because it's just like playing guitar only easier. They sometimes like playing drums aside from that damn bass pedal, because hitting things is fun. But more often than not, those same people refuse to be the singers. Why?

Well, it probably doesn't help that you can play guitar, bass and drums on the easiest difficulty and still sound cool in the game, but off-key singing is off-key singing, pure and simple.

Or is it?

"Audio signal processing company" iZotope and Harmonix have announced a deal to use iZotope's pitch-correction technology in Rock Band 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Band-3-Xbox-360/dp/B003RS8HG6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277934658&sr=8-2] to make your lousy caterwauling sound almost palatable. Of course, it won't change what you're actually singing, but it'll make what you hear in the game that much more tolerable. "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," said a Harmonix representative.

"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," echoed iZotope's Mark Ethier.

Now, maybe it's just me, but I can't help but feel like this is slightly missing the point. Isn't half the fun of karaoke (which includes Rock Band) just belting Don't Stop Believing at the top of your lungs with nary a care for what you actually sound like? Won't the on-tune you coming from the speakers conflict with the out-of-tune you actually singing?

But on the plus side, maybe this means I'll finally get to fulfill my lifelong wish of playing a music game where I get to sound like T-Pain [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avaSdC0QOUM].

(Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=253996])

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Disaster Button

Elite Member
Feb 18, 2009
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I've always wondered what I would sound like if my talking voice were autotuned and now its time to see.
 

AvsJoe

Elite Member
May 28, 2009
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As a karaoke-er, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad to hear that my horrible singing will sound a little better (if weirder), but I am really going to miss pissing people off with just how lousy I am (especially considering I'm the only one I know who volunteers to take the mic).
 

NeoAC

Zombie Nation #LetsRise
Jun 9, 2008
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You mean I can sound just like Alex Trebek [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te4E1cx2J44]? Awesome!
 

RUINER ACTUAL

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Oct 29, 2009
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So we get to use what the "real" singers use?

Also, is it just me or does Rockband not have enough Metal?
 

nick n stuff

New member
Nov 19, 2009
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it's called rock band, not shit band from 2010 with a future as long as a nuns shag list.

then again...it's only a game
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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CORRODED SIN said:
So we get to use what the "real" singers use?

Also, is it just me or does Rockband not have enough Metal?
That's what Guitar Hero is for [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101788-Warriors-of-Rock-to-Recapture-Guitar-Heros-Soul].
 
Apr 28, 2008
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CORRODED SIN said:
So we get to use what the "real" singers use?

Also, is it just me or does Rockband not have enough Metal?
Well, it is called rock band...

OT: Not sure how I feel about this, on one hand I'm glad that the song won't get mangled. On the other you still will have to put up with a crappy singer who you'll most likely hear over the vocals anyway, so this seems pointless.
 

SnugglesPanda

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Apr 4, 2010
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I'm actually disappointed in this. I'm an alright singer depending on the song and can do expert easily. I don't want to sound like t pain :p.
 

thenumberthirteen

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Dec 19, 2007
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I only recently played Rock Band for the first time (withSky14kemea and Revelo as a matter of fact) and for me it wasn't my horrible off key singing, but the fact I nearly asphyxiated trying to hit the long high notes on Tenacious D's "Master Exploder". You need to provide Helium tanks.
 

CakeDragon

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Mar 10, 2009
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SnugglesPanda said:
I'm actually disappointed in this. I'm an alright singer depending on the song and can do expert easily. I don't want to sound like t pain :p.
I agree with this, sometimes I'm willing to be the singer because I can sing, now everyone will just think the game is tuning me.

And anyway, you can still hear the preson singing out of tune in real life, so what difference does it make?
 

Mr.PlanetEater

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May 17, 2009
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Greeeeeat, now we're going to have even more dips that think they can sing. Clogging up legitimate talent, thinking that Auto Tune is legitimate way of becoming a good singer. Thanks rock band. ;_;

With my bitching about the music industry out of the way, I think that this okay but I hope that you can shut it off. Part of the fun of Rock band is when you and your mates are all hyper or drunk, and singing horribly. That's the appeal of karaoke it's just good drunk fun, a permanent auto tune feature imo would detract from the fun. Just my 3 cents.
 

RUINER ACTUAL

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Oct 29, 2009
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John Funk said:
CORRODED SIN said:
So we get to use what the "real" singers use?

Also, is it just me or does Rockband not have enough Metal?
That's what Guitar Hero is for [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101788-Warriors-of-Rock-to-Recapture-Guitar-Heros-Soul].
That's true. I also don't think they could make a plastic drum kit that could keep up with some of the double bass.