Pitch correction software has applications from restoration and mix-rescue to outright distortion of a voice or instrument. I’ll discuss some of the more tasteful uses of these auto-tune tools (whether the original from Antares, or a variant like the free GSnap) below. But first I thought I’d highlight their misuse to illustrate the effects we usually try to avoid.
So, listen here to 10 of pop music’s most blatant auto-tune abuses:
If you’re unfamiliar with Auto-tune, and especially if you listen to much pop and rock, you might not hear it initially. When overdone, the effect yields an unnatural yodel or warble in a singer’s voice. But the sound is so commonplace in modern mainstream music that your ears may have tuned out the auto-tune!
The songs in this clip, in order, and the phrases most affected by auto-tuning to help you spot them:
Dixie Chicks – The Long Way Around – Noticeable on “parents” and “but I.”
T-Pain – I’m Sprung – Especially obvious on “homies” and “lady.”
Avril Lavigne – Complicated – Listen to “way,” “when,” “driving,” “you’re.”
Uncle Kracker – Follow Me
The whole vocal sounds strained, but especially the word “goodbye.”
Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved – Listen for “rain” and “smile.”
Natasha Bedingfield – Love Like This – “Apart” and “life.”
Sean Kingston – Beautiful girls – “OoooOver” doesn’t sound human.
JoJo – Too Little Too Late – Appropriately, “problem” stands out.
Rascal Flatts – Life is a Highway
Every vocal, foreground and background, is treated, but “drive” in particular.
New Found Glory – Hit or Miss – “Thriller”, and every time Jordan sings “I.”
The Cher Effect
When used noticeably, an auto-tuner produces what most call “The Cher Effect“, named for her trademark sound in the song Believe*. (In essence, we named the effect like scientists naming a new disease after its first victim.) Treated this heavily, a vocal track sounds synthetic, and obviously processed.
But not all auto-tuning is so blatant. In the sample above, it’s harder to hear the pitch correction on Uncle Kracker and Avril than on T-Pain and Bedingfield.
Tasteful Uses
As with any tool, a little care can yield great results. Some simple things to keep in mind about pitch correction tools:
- Performance: Most importantly, an auto-tuner isn’t a shortcut to a perfect performance. If you can’t sing the song properly, no amount of post-processing will make it sound like you did. So when your pitch matters, and you don’t want to correct it with an effect, you’ll need to work on your performance until it’s right.
- Less is more: The fewer notes you correct, the less obvious your use of an auto tuner will be. Consider automating the plugin so it acts only when most needed.
- Graphical mode: If your pitch correction software offers a graphical mode (like Antares Auto-Tune and Melodyne,) learn how to work with it. The default “auto” modes are OK for basic corrections, but often produce noticeable yodeling.
- Backing vocals: In general, you can get away with more pitch correction on backing vocals than lead vocals.
- Outdated: Obvious vocoder-style autotuning is dated, and borders on kitschy. The synthetic warbling vocal sound marks songs as having come from a specific era, the same way gated-reverb on drums instantly places a song in the 1980’s. Remember: If you make the auto tuner obvious, people will say your song uses “the Cher effect.” Let this be a guideline.
Be sure it’s needed
Two songs have auto tuners on my mind today: Snoop’s Sensual Seduction (because of Anil Dash’s ruminations on the death of the analog vocoder,) and Natasha Bedingfield’s Love Like This, which I heard on the radio. In the former, the auto tuner is clearly a gimmick. But every time I hear Bedingfield’s song, I’m struck by the same question: Why do that to her voice?
She’s a fantastic singer, and once you’ve heard the song without the cheesy auto tuner effect, it’s hard to take the radio single seriously.
And there’s a lesson in that for home recordists, (even those of us who don’t write pop music,) which echoes the rule of mixing: If an effect significantly changes the sound of a track, especially one so important as the lead vocal, be sure that change improves the song before committing it to the mix.
See Also: The Rule of Mixing
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Tags: freeplugins, mixing
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I agree with most here that Auto-Tune ruins many songs, however if anyone here thinks our the music from from this decade will be forgotten you must have not lived through the 80s. I can’t even name how many crappy 80s songs are still popular or have been remade in this decade or the previous one. There will always be good songs in every decade, Auto-Tune or not, that will end up being classics. Honestly, if you don’t like what you hear then change the channel when it comes on the radio or TV. Apparently there are many Elitists here. According to your advice unless you are a flawless singer you shouldn’t even be near a mic. I guess it comes natural or happens overnight. Most singers and musicians develop their skills over many years. If singing and music is art, which I personally believe, who are you to tell the artist what is right and wrong? What if you walked up to a painter that just finished his masterpiece and told him that he did it wrong since he used a certain type of brush or color. There’s a fine line in art. If I don’t like a particular painting then I don’t look at it simple as that.
Amplification is an effect. If you are a true purist you wouldn’t ever use a microphone.
Don’t even get me started on recording, editing, mixing, etc…
lol @ “purists”
get off your computer and go hump a tree? it’s the digital age and people will take full advantage of it. with ANYTHING comes the “good” and the “bad”… it’s up to your brain to determine which is which… not society.
some of you guys are starting to sound like kids that keep getting burned by touching the stove. like darknightotc said… if you don’t like what’s on turn the channel/station. I go one step further and say: by now you probably know what’s going to be on the station so leave it off unless you’d really like nothing more than to have one more thing to complain about.
Me? I don’t watch tv or listen to the radio for this exact reason. thinking about giving up internet as well, it seems ignorance is spreading faster than knowledge these days.
To Glenn (and others):
I know it sound like the issue is one of being against technology or simply a purist. Perhaps I didn’t explain it very well. I have no problem with technology, provided that the person is actully singing. In overdubbing, a person actually sings to overdub. In the case of using amplification, a person is still playing the instrument. In using electronic instruments, its OK if a person is playng the instrument.
It’s more like a player piano. Does the person who turns the piano on get credit for playing the piano? Of course not.
It is as if we found out that the winner of the Tour De France actually had a secret motor stashed in his bicycle. It is an injustice and I feel cheated. It may not be easy to explain, but that is how I feel.
Why have a fake singer at all, why not just listen to computer. If there is no chance that the person can miss a note, then there is no talent involved and to me no artistry.
I am amazed that this point isn’t obvious to others and that it gets confused as being against technology. Does anyone else feel the same way as I?
The winner of the Tour de France most likely does have a secret motor. That secret motor is amphetamines.
Performance enhancement is considered cheating in sports. But it is impossible to cheat at music, because there are no rules.
If it sounds good, it is good.
Hello!
I like this post!
Can I use in in my anticommercialcrap campaign?
Including the comments?
Thanks
(i always guessed that there is something more than what label and people call unique vocals, talent, etc., and that thing behind is money!)
Music is like a painting. Some people like what you create, others make snide comments. One guy said something very profound here about the fact that the public couldn’t care less about how we make music (or words to that effect) and he could not be more right. They don’t care.
If you are in the music scene to create art you are one class. It matters little what others think. If you are in it to make money, then you give them what they want to hear without concerning yourself too much about what it takes to sell the gimmick of the day.
I think Autotune is an OK effect. Although it would just be better if people would learn how to sing and not depend on pitch correction to make up for a being tone-deaf.
Different strokes for different folks.
so i havent read all the post comments…..but speaking of auto tuning abuse….hmm lets see…the WHOLE new kanye album!!! theres not one part of it thats not auto tuned! its absolutely horrible. Whatever happened to normal music of people who were actually naturally talented! I dont get it! Pretty much ANYONE can make a record these days! SAD I TELL YA!
great post, yeah i think auto-tune has become the standard sound in pop-music these days, it’s part of the genre just like using distortion in rock-music. It’s like a signature move, once you hear it people clearly label your music in the pop genre which is partly why i would never use it.
I’m a vocalist and my range is pretty good, I can hit quite a few high and low notes that most male singers can’t. I hate auto tune except for an intentional effect, and even then not that much.
Keep in mind though that I will do what it takes to put on a good performance for my audience every night. I’ll throw some reverb and compression on for nearly every song, delay when it is needed.
This is no different than using them on an instrument. The biggest difference between the voice and an instrument though is that the instrument is predictable, while a the voice has to with strain, nervous energy, fatigue or any other 100 things that can go wrong with a voice.
To ensure a quality performance, I’ll throw harmony or a slight pitch correction on my processor, maybe a 10 cent correction on a 50 cent flat note. Can I hit the note? Yes. Can I hit 100% every time I Sing it?
Maybe, maybe not. I spend hours every week exercising my voice and practicing. Using a very slight pitch correction to be sure of a good show is just being a professional.
Does any regard an NFL receiver who wears special gloves as a fake or cheating? Pros use the tools available to them.
I totally agree that horrible singers using auto tune to do their entire performance is a slap in the face to those who work hard at their craft. But using the tools available to be a better artist is being smart.
These tracks aint got nothin on ‘watcha say’. The only part of the song that isn’t heavily abused is the initial ritual of singing of one’s own initials.
If you don’t like auto tune then don’t use it in your music or listen to music that uses it. A lot of consumers must like it because many of these auto tune wonders make the charts big time. I can bet you they are out selling your stuff. Stop trying to force this pure craft crap on folks. Do what you like and let the next guy do what he likes, and let the consumer decide what they like. For the record, I’ve played around with auto-tune, but I prefer recording with out.
@Aaron: You have really bad ears. Avril is one of the best singers ever and she is live better than on CD.
Although your statements are true (I believe you have proved what you said), you seem to be sniping at people who use auto-tune. I am pretty sure it isn’t intentional, but I know people aren’t always understanding.
One question though: Is it possible to use this auto-tune tool to change your voice if you don’t want someone to know your real voice?
Auto-tune is like makeup. If they don’t notice, it’s okay to use it.
“I kissed her on the glittery pink paint thingy yesterday!” (lipstick)
I’d say, I prefer stuff unedited…
Great article.
I have a similar rant on this subject. Check it.
Debaters welcomed.
http://themusicsoapbox.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-mommy-t-pains-parents-let-him-be.html
What a great website, keep up the good work.
We have the gear (technology) these days to make superb recordings. Why do these pop people insist on leaving out real instruments and replacing them with fake loops etc. there is no substitute for the real thing.
http://www.easyaudiorecording.com
Steve Hilliar
If you haven’t surfed over to @Mark ‘s page on blogspot you should. He has a very interesting theory on the evolution of genres which helps contextualize the autotune debate.
His post reminded me of how litle we take into account external factors to music. Most technological advances end up invariably changing art. When the phonograph was invented classical musicians started using vibrato more so it would sound better recorded.
There is a really interesting book by Mark Klatz called “Capturing Sound: how technology has changed music” that you might be interested looking into. It’s partially available on Google Books.
Seriously, I’d like to see you get all bent out of shape over any other effect like say, reverb or flange. It’s an effect, and effects get overdone and poorly mixed, but using it isn’t abuse. Why don’t you try making a hit record and see what the critics do to you. LOL!
I think it’s rather simple. Some would say that auto-tune is just a different way to approach human vocals as an instrument. They think of it like adding a distortion effect to an electric guitar.
Obviously, many believe that unlike effects on a guitar, the auto-tune does not *contribute* to the music, but instead has a negative influence. This is a matter of taste. To argue the merits (or the lack thereof) of auto-tune is a bit like having a fight over whether or not pickles are delicious.
I think you mixed up the creative uses with the abuse.
It can be subjective but T pain was deliberate and I like the use of it.
As stated many times when we bend notes or distort things on guitar it is a good thing when done well.
The abuses by many singers who just can’t nail the note are my problem with it.
I have spent hours using Autotune because some guys at the studio won’t do it. I bring them home and will work on it all day sometimes $$
are you kidding me? in Complicated, the words you said to look for did not sound like auto tune, you must not not have that great of an ear in music. Because with some of these songs, it is just the way the artist changes pitch during the song and not with auto tune. while some of these do use it, like T-pain, but that is his thing, he is the one who basically made Auto tune famous.
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