Auto-tune - craft or just crafty? Is this the technology of the truely talentless or another tool that can be used with imagination?
By B.
(picture from pixabay)
Auto-tune is a tool that allows producers to correct the pitch of an instrument or a voice either live or on a recording. Antares famously led the way on this technology in the late nineties with Melodyne following suit at the turn of this century. But while everyone seems to use it, punch the words into google and it’s hard to find complementary words about famously ‘outed’ artists.
Why the criticism? Sound engineers have long joked about applying “talent” in the mix. Generally, what they are talking about is reverb. Enough reverb can make even a really bad signer sound OK. So simplistically, like reverb, auto-tune is a way to air-brush dodgy vocals of the truly talentless.
However, some highly talented artists such as Pink invest considerable effort on bedazzling stage shows incorporating dynamic dance routines. No-one can move like that for two hours hours and expect to remain pitch perfect.
Auto-tune and reverb have both been used with flair and imagination to give records colour and character. Phil Spector fitted a basement room with speakers and microphones. He piped audio from his studio to the basement and captured the natural reverberation for his iconic “wall of sound” that defined mid 60’s pop music.
Similarly artists have blatantly used auto-tune as an effect. Cher led the way in 1998 with her hit song ‘Believe’. In the verse Cher is frustrated about something outside her control and producers Taylor and Rawling lavishly applied auto-tune to give her voice an instrumental quality.
“No matter how hard I try/ you keep pushing me aside/ And I can’t break through” (https://youtu.be/nZXRV4MezEw)
In contrast the chorus reestablishes her self worth and the effect is removed.
“Do you believe in life after love/ I can feel something inside me say/ I really don’t think you’re strong enough”
By juxtaposing two treatments to contrast these opposing themes the producers have highlighted Cher’s personal connection to the chorus’s message of positive affirmation.
So auto-tune is another tool in large pallet of techniques that artists use to enhance their performances but beware, technology can let you down! Here’s Rihanna live and everything going wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVwbthYsQIM
I’m so impressed that she’s left this online because she is truely an amazing singer!! Big shout out to her!!
References
(2016) Wall of Sound. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wall_of_Sound&action=history [Accessed 18 April 2016]
Higgins B. etal (1998) Believe [CD] Burbank: Warner Brothers Records. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0chD8U8fA [Accessed 18 April 2016].
Rihanna (2010) Only girl in the world - Auto Tune going wrong! [online] Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVwbthYsQIM [Accessed 18 April 2016].
