Jacka - Autotune
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Artists Who Use Auto Tone In Songs
Paula Abdul would never survive as an “American Idol” contestant.
Idol participants aren’t permitted to use the popular digital device Auto-Tune to polish their performances. But Abdul’s new single, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow,” is slathered with enough pitch correction to make music from howling cats in the alley.
Sure, Adbul’s song is catchy, just like Janet Jackson’s “Feedback” and Kylie Minogue’s forthcoming CD “X.” But in all three cases, the vocals just don’t sound very human. They aren’t; they’re partially computer-generated.
“Sometimes (Auto-Tune) is used as an effect, other times it’s to compensate for complete inability or lacking confidence,” said Rob Jaczko, chairman of the Music Production and Engineering Department at Berklee College of Music. “The software is set to maintain a certain pitch; notes falling outside the determined key get grabbed and pulled up or down in real time to blend with the others. To me, it actually sounds really awkward.”
The awkwardness is a robotic tone that fluctuates depending on how fast and far notes get yanked: pull hard and you get the vocoder-like distortion of Cher’s “Believe,” Daft Punk’s “One More Time” and Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Eruption.”
But Abdul’s single is indicative of how that (questionably) cool robot sound can double as a smokescreen on a vocal that’s quite possibly beyond the singer’s reach.
“I would dare to say that (pitch correction) is in almost all music you hear on pop radio to some extent,” explained Adam Taylor, head engineer at Camp Street Studios in Cambridge. “When used properly, it goes by you real quick. But there’s a big difference between using it and overusing it. It’s one thing to apply it to a vocal to merely round out a few notes, but another entirely to use it as much as, say, the Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow duet.”
“Picture” - the Rock and Crow collaboration that ironically was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 2003 Country Music Awards - offers an example of how Auto-Tune can be used extensively but still sound natural. Well, almost natural. “When taking a vocal run, the natural voice kind of slides through the notes,” Taylor explained. “With Auto-Tune, a stairstep effect is created, like the singer is stopping perfectly square on each note as they progress.
“It’s become popular enough that listeners hardly notice it anymore,” he continued. “Their ears have become trained by modern standards and expectations. Now that Top 40 radio demands total perfection, Auto-Tune has become a useful tool gone wrong. The glory of good harmony has always been in the slight imperfections. But today, people want to sound like the Chipmunks.”
Auto-Tune has become so ubiquitous that Taylor says even indie rockers use it, although “very gently” given the genre’s focus on ragged authenticity.
Of course studio tampering is nothing new. It’s just never been this sophisticated before.
“In the ’80s everyone used the Eventide Harmonizer which let you shift the pitch of an audio signal by using a dial,” Taylor said. “Cyndi Lauper and Madonna may have done some straight singing, but they often had help. Before that there was vari-speed, a manually operated device similar to the sliding band on DJ turntables. Even Al Green used to punch his vocal takes in line-by-line sometimes. The studio has always been about smoke and mirrors.”
Gotcha!
The public is catching on to Auto-Tune and other pitch correction strategies used to “help” today’s singers. The Internet offers plenty of comments from fans and experts on the topic, including these examples of pitch-correction usage that are significantly more subtle than the so-called “Cher Effect.”
Maroon Five, “She Will Be Loved.” Pay particular attention to the words “smile” and “rain.”
Avril Lavigne, “Complicated.” Check out the way she sings “driving,” “way,” “when” and “you’re.”
New Found Glory, “Hit or Miss.” Listen for the word “thriller.”
Rascal Flatts, “Life is a Highway.” The entire vocal sounds Auto-Tuned and digitally harmonized, but it’s most obvious on the word “drive.”
Dixie Chicks, “The Long Way Around.” You can really hear it on “parents” and “but I.”
Can you hear Auto-Tune on the music you listen to? Let us know!
Artists Who Use Auto Tone In Songs
Paula Abdul would never survive as an “American Idol” contestant.
Idol participants aren’t permitted to use the popular digital device Auto-Tune to polish their performances. But Abdul’s new single, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow,” is slathered with enough pitch correction to make music from howling cats in the alley.
Sure, Adbul’s song is catchy, just like Janet Jackson’s “Feedback” and Kylie Minogue’s forthcoming CD “X.” But in all three cases, the vocals just don’t sound very human. They aren’t; they’re partially computer-generated.
“Sometimes (Auto-Tune) is used as an effect, other times it’s to compensate for complete inability or lacking confidence,” said Rob Jaczko, chairman of the Music Production and Engineering Department at Berklee College of Music. “The software is set to maintain a certain pitch; notes falling outside the determined key get grabbed and pulled up or down in real time to blend with the others. To me, it actually sounds really awkward.”
The awkwardness is a robotic tone that fluctuates depending on how fast and far notes get yanked: pull hard and you get the vocoder-like distortion of Cher’s “Believe,” Daft Punk’s “One More Time” and Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Eruption.”
But Abdul’s single is indicative of how that (questionably) cool robot sound can double as a smokescreen on a vocal that’s quite possibly beyond the singer’s reach.
“I would dare to say that (pitch correction) is in almost all music you hear on pop radio to some extent,” explained Adam Taylor, head engineer at Camp Street Studios in Cambridge. “When used properly, it goes by you real quick. But there’s a big difference between using it and overusing it. It’s one thing to apply it to a vocal to merely round out a few notes, but another entirely to use it as much as, say, the Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow duet.”
“Picture” - the Rock and Crow collaboration that ironically was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 2003 Country Music Awards - offers an example of how Auto-Tune can be used extensively but still sound natural. Well, almost natural. “When taking a vocal run, the natural voice kind of slides through the notes,” Taylor explained. “With Auto-Tune, a stairstep effect is created, like the singer is stopping perfectly square on each note as they progress.
“It’s become popular enough that listeners hardly notice it anymore,” he continued. “Their ears have become trained by modern standards and expectations. Now that Top 40 radio demands total perfection, Auto-Tune has become a useful tool gone wrong. The glory of good harmony has always been in the slight imperfections. But today, people want to sound like the Chipmunks.”
Auto-Tune has become so ubiquitous that Taylor says even indie rockers use it, although “very gently” given the genre’s focus on ragged authenticity.
Of course studio tampering is nothing new. It’s just never been this sophisticated before.
“In the ’80s everyone used the Eventide Harmonizer which let you shift the pitch of an audio signal by using a dial,” Taylor said. “Cyndi Lauper and Madonna may have done some straight singing, but they often had help. Before that there was vari-speed, a manually operated device similar to the sliding band on DJ turntables. Even Al Green used to punch his vocal takes in line-by-line sometimes. The studio has always been about smoke and mirrors.”
Gotcha!
The public is catching on to Auto-Tune and other pitch correction strategies used to “help” today’s singers. The Internet offers plenty of comments from fans and experts on the topic, including these examples of pitch-correction usage that are significantly more subtle than the so-called “Cher Effect.”
Maroon Five, “She Will Be Loved.” Pay particular attention to the words “smile” and “rain.”
Avril Lavigne, “Complicated.” Check out the way she sings “driving,” “way,” “when” and “you’re.”
New Found Glory, “Hit or Miss.” Listen for the word “thriller.”
Rascal Flatts, “Life is a Highway.” The entire vocal sounds Auto-Tuned and digitally harmonized, but it’s most obvious on the word “drive.”
Dixie Chicks, “The Long Way Around.” You can really hear it on “parents” and “but I.”
Can you hear Auto-Tune on the music you listen to? Let us know!
THE UNDERSTOOD VIDEO , FREDDIE HOTT SAUCE AND JACKA ( AUTO TONE )
CHECK IT HERE! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAl1JFJnl5I
CHECK IT HERE! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAl1JFJnl5I
no reason to hate on autotune...it's just an effect. do you get mad when people use reverb, compression, or any other computer generated effects?
i think the shit sounds hot when someone who knows what they're doing is using it...unlike Ron Browz who completely fucks it up and has the settings so it sounds off
it's not that big of a deal. autotune type programs have been used for YEARS and I'd say about 98% of all records you hear use autotune with subtle settings (but nobody used it with such extreme settings so it was noticeable until T-Pain did it)
it's all music, i don't care if a cat turd in a empty can was used to make the sounds as long as it was aesthetically pleasing to the ear
i think the shit sounds hot when someone who knows what they're doing is using it...unlike Ron Browz who completely fucks it up and has the settings so it sounds off
it's not that big of a deal. autotune type programs have been used for YEARS and I'd say about 98% of all records you hear use autotune with subtle settings (but nobody used it with such extreme settings so it was noticeable until T-Pain did it)
it's all music, i don't care if a cat turd in a empty can was used to make the sounds as long as it was aesthetically pleasing to the ear
Aint nothing wrong with autotune.. 
I use autotune.. I got 1 of the first versions years ago its still on my win98 pc.. It was NEW then!.. ha.. They didn't even have the PC version at Guitar Center.. I had to buy the MAC version, then downloaded it for PC, off antares site.. Only thing I was tripping on.. Partly CAUSE I HAVE had it/used it for so long.. was the "GENIUS" part of the comment. at this point. it is just another effect, like reverb... aint nothing genius about using reverb/compressors is there?
I use autotune.. I got 1 of the first versions years ago its still on my win98 pc.. It was NEW then!.. ha.. They didn't even have the PC version at Guitar Center.. I had to buy the MAC version, then downloaded it for PC, off antares site.. Only thing I was tripping on.. Partly CAUSE I HAVE had it/used it for so long.. was the "GENIUS" part of the comment. at this point. it is just another effect, like reverb... aint nothing genius about using reverb/compressors is there?
Found that accapella yall....
Already got the REMIX half cooked for yall to check out...His vocals came out disgusting w/ Autotune just as I expected...
Headed to LA for this ASCAP function tomorrow...
If I wrap it up tonight Ill post it, if not, Ill be at yall next week with the heat...
Stay focused...
Already got the REMIX half cooked for yall to check out...His vocals came out disgusting w/ Autotune just as I expected...
Headed to LA for this ASCAP function tomorrow...
If I wrap it up tonight Ill post it, if not, Ill be at yall next week with the heat...
Stay focused...
Aight yall...Heres what I came up with....Enjoy..Have Blap.. Right Click and Save As....
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix w/ Autotune
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix No Autotune
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix Instrumental
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix w/ Autotune
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix No Autotune
Barney (More Crime) T1 Remix Instrumental
