Why Are People Ignorant About Autotune

[Mudze]

People think autotune isn't used as a correctional tool anymore because more and more artists are using it as an instrument.

 

[Calum_M]

Auto-tune is used in the vast majority of pop songs, and has been for years. It's only recently the trend has been to actually let you notice it. The point of it originally was to correct pitch in a way that you wouldn't notice.

 

[funguy2121]

I was arguing with someone who thinks no one uses autotune anymore. I mentioned that most mainstream artist use it, and if anything, it's more used that it ever was. I mentioned that wiz khalifa uses it a lot in his hooks, like during the singing parts in "Roll Up", and "No Sleep", Nikki Minaj uses it a lot in the singing parts of songs, Lil Wayne uses it, especially in the song "How To Love". Brittney Spears, and Lady Gaga...

They said something like, "no, listen to a T Pain song, and then listen to a Wiz song. Wiz doesn't sound like a robot."

*facepalm* Are people not aware that autotune was never meant to be robotic sounding. Autotune is capable of producing smooth natural-like sounds. It only gives off that T Pain sound when it's turned up a lot.

It's always interesting, regardless of the result, to enter a thread with a preconceived notion of what's going to be in the OP and find out what will actually be there.

Wiz doesn't sound like a robot to me. He sounds like a crackhead to me. But what do I know? I don't have 10 toilets and therefore cannot shit all day. I can't stand any of the dancing lip synchers you mentioned, and nor can I stand any use of autotuning I've ever encountered. I'm not sure what you mean by "natural-like sounds." If you mean that it helps dancing lip synchers who can't actually hit a C sharp and then hit an A, then yes, it makes them sound more like actual singers when they shake their junk over the pre-recording of a computer stretching their voice to imitate singing. If you mean that it sounds like a melody coming from human vocal chords, I couldn't disagree more. Whether it's used to help Justin Beiber pretend that he's a talented singer or by T-Pain to make his weird music sound weird, to me it just sounds weird, and not in any interesting sort of way like Flaming Lips weird or Modest Mouse weird or A Perfect Circle weird. In fact, it sounds Orwellian to me, in a way, as odd as that may seem. It sounds like the perfect whitewashed pristine backdrop to giant pale-faced advertisements scrolling over the sides of huge buildings, selling products to a sedate public that they don't need. But I am told that I am weird.

Either way, I won't lose sleep if autotune is removed from musical history and wiped from everyone's memory forever.

 

[SoulSalmon]

Autotune used properly? just another tool to edit a song with.

People in the more popular muic industries tend to abuse it, and mainstream consumers have NO IDEA how powerful the tools available for editing sound are, and they all seem to think it takes a 4 year degree to use any of it >.>

 

[WinterOrbit]

I'm of the opinion that unless your name is Paul Masvidal, you're not allowed to use autotune.

I hate to do this because you have the awesome taste to listen to Cynic, but that's not Autotune. He's using a vocoder.

OT: I'm fine with Autotune. It's a tool to be used well or poorly, like guitar pedals or synthesizers. Unless you're in a genre that needs a natural sound (e.g. folk), use whatever you need to make good music. Caveat: I will be more wary of going to a band's concert if that band uses Autotune.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I hate to do this because you have the awesome taste to listen to Cynic, but that's not Autotune. He's using a vocoder.

OT: I'm fine with Autotune. It's a tool to be used well or poorly, like guitar pedals or synthesizers. Unless you're in a genre that needs a natural sound (e.g. folk), use whatever you need to make good music. Caveat: I will be more wary of going to a band's concert if that band uses Autotune.

Ah, I suppose I was making more of a generalisation about pitch changing effects with vocals. It's just I've rarely seen that sort of thing implemented well, while I hold animosity towards autotone for bolstering the careers of people who plain can't sing.

 

[BonsaiK]

I was arguing with someone who thinks no one uses autotune anymore. I mentioned that most mainstream artist use it, and if anything, it's more used that it ever was. I mentioned that wiz khalifa uses it a lot in his hooks, like during the singing parts in "Roll Up", and "No Sleep", Nikki Minaj uses it a lot in the singing parts of songs, Lil Wayne uses it, especially in the song "How To Love". Brittney Spears, and Lady Gaga...

They said something like, "no, listen to a T Pain song, and then listen to a Wiz song. Wiz doesn't sound like a robot."

*facepalm* Are people not aware that autotune was never meant to be robotic sounding. Autotune is capable of producing smooth natural-like sounds. It only gives off that T Pain sound when it's turned up a lot.

I've done my best to educate people in posts like this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.216487-Curious-about-the-music-industry-Find-out-stuff?page=27#11923606 - but I doubt many people read them.

That's the thing about the Internet, it doesn't matter how many people you tell stuff to, there's always more people who don't know. Life in a global community.

 

[Raideh]

Cleaned.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

i think that Tobuscus uses it in his Literals. if you watch his live literals, then the video it sounds a lot better. thats using it well.

 

[Terminal Blue]

I would like some proof of this statement XD

It's been used in practically every commercial pop record since it was invented. If you didn't notice, that's proof.

 

[weker]

I would like some proof of this statement XD

It's been used in practically every commercial pop record since it was invented. If you didn't notice, that's proof.

The normal auto tune has kind of been ignored in the public eye and replaced by the robotic voice menacing of Rebbeca black and Keisha

 

[ChaoticKraus]

I heard a rumor that Kanye "Gods lyrical genius, gift to the world" uses autotune.

He does use it but doesn't really hide it, since he's a rapper its not like he relies on it (rapping isn't about the pitch). It's mostly used to play around with sounds and melodies, which is not very strange given his background as a producer. I'll give you an example below.

OT: Because people like to complain. If the tuning is used to fix someones voice you wont be able to hear it anyways, thus no problem. If its used for an effect it simply comes down to whether you like the sound or not. People just like to gripe and whine about new trends destroying "their" art.

Personally i think auto-tune/vocoders/echo/whatever can be very interesting when used in the right way. Sometimes it even fits better with the music than simple plain singing. Below is an example of a track that wouldn't be half as interesting without all the techo-wizardry used on it.

 

[Hamburger_Time]

I'm surprised that I've read through a thread about autotune and not seen one mention of Daft Punk. Okay, I know they use a vocoder, but still...
OT: It's alright when it's used as an instrument, but unfortunately many musicians use it as a lazy way to cover up their lacklustre performances.

 

[BonsaiK]

cough*justin beiber*cough* every single goddamned song*cough

I'm not a big Beiber fan, but being honest, have you ever listen to a video of him singing live. He pretty much sounds the same...

Duh, he's either lip syncing or has autotune on. He can't sing for shit. You can HEAR the autotune on his tracks.

Justin without Autotune:


He sings alright. Probably better than most people reading this.

Just because someone uses Autotune doesn't mean they NEED it. Some do, most don't.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Because nobody gives a shit about it. To everyone else it's just a music program, it's only ever known of when it makes something shit (or shittier). It's not something anybody needs to know or ever care to know, it's not ignorance it's just a lack of interest.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

I try not to listen to any type of music that uses autotune, but I admit that it can probably sound natural. Thing is, I prefer to listen to music from before things like autotune existed. I feel that music where the entire song has pitch correction is barely music at all, because it's not really the artist singing, it's a machine (in my opinion).

In the era pre-autotune, they would have definitely still comped the vocal...meaning they cut bits of tape up and stickytaped them back together to get a "perfect" performance...unless of course you're referring to early Beatles records before multitrack.

 

[Dr_Horrible]

I try not to listen to any type of music that uses autotune, but I admit that it can probably sound natural. Thing is, I prefer to listen to music from before things like autotune existed. I feel that music where the entire song has pitch correction is barely music at all, because it's not really the artist singing, it's a machine (in my opinion).

In the era pre-autotune, they would have definitely still comped the vocal...meaning they cut bits of tape up and stickytaped them back together to get a "perfect" performance...unless of course you're referring to early Beatles records before multitrack.

I don't think that any sort of pitch correction is bad, just that relying on it for an intire song is, to me, a poor choice.
see my earlier post, it better explains what I meant

This is reminding me of the time when someone accused MoS of using Autotune (which btw he doesn't). It wasn't pretty.

More topical, you can hear Autotune, though its worse when the person simply can't sing. Producers and ad executives have learned tha people will listen/watch/read anything regardless of quality because they are that stupid. So overproduced music with Autotune will always sell... until people get bored of that and its switched to music that sounds very indie but in fact is processed by producers cus that is selling at the time.

Course,

I try not to listen to any type of music that uses autotune, but I admit that it can probably sound natural. Thing is, I prefer to listen to music from before things like autotune existed. I feel that music where the entire song has pitch correction is barely music at all, because it's not really the artist singing, it's a machine (in my opinion).

So because a machine does it isn't music anymore? Yeah, I know it isn't your point, but its worth bringing up.

Music:
noun
1.
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
2.
the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.
3.
musical work or compositions for singing or playing.
4.
the written or printed score of a musical composition.
5.
such scores collectively.

Which is why I consider electronica music, I mean just cus a machine did it doesn't degrade it to 'noise'.

That is a good point, and I misspoke.

My point was that, if you're supposed to be singing, then one should rely on their own voice, not that of an electronic assistant. I do enjoy electronica/techno occasionaly (I'm not a complete musical luddite), but I feel that relying on autotune for one's voice is the easy way out. Some enhancement is fine, everyone makes mistakes, but using it for the entire song? I don't see the point unless you're specifically going for a 'machine' voice.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

People don't know or care how their entertainment is made, they just want to shell over their dosh for it.

And why should they care?

Does it really matter, if it actually sounds good? I enjoy the music, so why should I care if "no omg this artist is cheating they dont really sound like that omg".

Who gives a fuck and why does it matter?

When did I imply that it matters?

I personally have to know how my entertainment is made because I dabble in the creation of almost all media (except literature). Music is the only one I do well, but working on other forms of media I end up learning enough about the processes from reading that it still takes the mystery out of it.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I wouldn't hate an artist for using autotune, but if it seemed like they hadn't previously and I then discovered they did I would likely lose some respect for them. Using something like autotune on occasion can be a wonderful tool, but reliance on it is pathetic.

Woops, I meant "would you suddenly hate their music." I'll try make that more clear.

And my point still stands as it is. I wouldn't hate the music or artist, but I'd lose respect for it. It's like knowing that all the highest scores on the leaderboards are there simply because the user cheated with an aimbot or some other thing like that. It can still be impressive, but they didn't do it honestly, so I don't respect them for it.

 

[hyperdrachen]

I'm seeing a lot of hateful words strewn about, referring to "ignorant idiots" not being robustly educated in the music industry. Such a mean spirited insult implies you have found something objectively wrong with a person. If your interest in music has sparked the curiosity to educate yourself about genres, artists, and industry tools(funny enough autotune was originally developed to filter sonar signals in commercial applications), that's great. But it doesn't really matter on any objective level, someone that doesn't know autotune from melodyn isn't a mouth-breathing scum sucker. Though a bit more on topic, yeah if you're ignorant on a subject, it's considered distasteful to speak from your ass about it.