Worst Recording Tool Ever Invented?

[Chrisk-K]

It got to be "Auto-tune." I cannot stand it. It adds highly unpleasant unnatural characteristics to the vocal track. Whenever I happen to hear contemporary music (VH1, TV commmercials, radio), I hear auto-tune-corrected vocals most of time.

If you can't sing, don't be a singer. It's that simple. Auto-tune should be banned!

[blueacid4l]

umm.. it might help if you say what song you are talking about..

[lowfreqgeek]

Originally Posted by blueacid4l

umm.. it might help if you say what song you are talking about..

I will guess he means all songs with auto-tune.

That's what I would mean had I posted it...

[cassius987]

There are tons of times very minor auto-tune has helped a song out.

[plangentmusic]

It has it's place. It saves time when you just need to correct the intonaton of a note here and there. But for those using it all the way up to make off keep singing sound "on", it's horrible. But you can say the same about any effect. There are guys who use distortion because they think it covers up sloppy playing. It does, but if you suck, you still suck.

[s_mcsleazy]

agreed

if your going to digitally treat your voice atleast do somthing intresting like run it into a vocoder

[bassteban]

no, vocoders are way overdone as well

[s_mcsleazy]

Originally Posted by bassteban

no, vocoders are way overdone as well

i ment in the kraftwerk sence not in the modern pop sence

[pasta4lnch]

oddly, I work w/ an amazing singer (male) w/ fantastic, borderline amazing pitch and tone who loves the artifacts auto-tune creates - and I'm NOT talking about the "Cher" effect. . . go figure!

[deaf pea]

Originally Posted by Chrisk-K

..."Auto-tune." I cannot stand it. It adds highly unpleasant unnatural characteristics to the vocal track...Auto-tune should be banned!

Often those "unpleasant unnatural characteristics" are the result of a poorly-trained operator . . .

I haven't used Antares Auto-tune on vocals for several years now, since I started using Melodyne (in 2006 or '07?) . . . but when I DID use Auto-tune on vocals, I always set "retune speed" to 400 . . . the preset value is 20 (out of a range of 0 to 400) with 0 being "Cher-effect" and 400 being a more natural sound . . .

I agree that the Antares Auto-tune plug-in has been misused by many engineers/producers . . . . . .

[capnsandwich]

Originally Posted by deaf pea

Often those "unpleasant unnatural characteristics" are the result of a poorly-trained operator . . .

I haven't used Antares Auto-tune on vocals for several years now, since I started using Melodyne (in 2006 or '07?) . . . but when I DID use Auto-tune on vocals, I always set "retune speed" to 400 . . . the preset value is 20 (out of a range of 0 to 400) with 0 being "Cher-effect" and 400 being a more natural sound . . .

I agree that the Antares Auto-tune plug-in has been misused by many engineers/producers . . . . . .

I agree with this. Auto-tune has become a crutch for the industry, as the "business" side of music is looking for a "pretty" person to put in front of the camera as opposed to a talented one. However, it's becoming more and more noticeable to the audience when they play live and can't duplicate what they hear on the CD. One day it's all going to crash and burn. Until then we have pretty girls to look at.

[over_the_moon]

Bon Iver does some interesting things with it on songs like "Wolves (Acts 1 & 2)". He uses it as a subtle effect and not to annoyance as in many pop songs.

[okcrum]

Originally Posted by bassteban

no, vocoders are way overdone as well

Quoted from another board:

"What is it with all these rappers using the zapp voice thing? For the love of god someone make it stop"

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by s_mcsleazy

i ment in the kraftwerk sence not in the modern pop sence

Kraftwerk is good stuff but I fear that reception of any vocoder use is now semi-permanently tainted

[scotch]

The funny thing is that 'auto-tune' has gone beyond just "fixing" poor vocals and become a popular effect in and of itself. I don't particularly like it and it certainly has been waaay overdone, but it's part of the sound that pop/top 40 listeners expect.

Weird.

[colcifer]

Personally, I thought the original Cher-Effect was cool. But that was an already in tune vocal with only the glisses affected.

The problem with this thread is that tools are only tools; it's the techniques we hate.

I'll contribute using auto-tune on sucky singers and unnatural sounding compression.

[Deluge Of Sound]

I enjoy pitch-shifted vocals from time to time.

[Richland123]

This was a #1 Top 40 record (believe it or not) by T-Pain using Auto Tune since he can't sing at all. Tells you a lot about the current Top 40 music scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui86peQZ74s

The Black Eyed Peas using Auto Tune. Proof you don't have to have to be able to sing. Let the machine make you sound like a robot. Watch the entire video to see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUFsQ5lTo6g&feature=fvw

[Mark Wilson]

I do agree Auto-Tune is WAY over done. but, that's how it is now. The actual musicality of a song is slowly becoming a dead art. Now, the art is in the production.
I've said it before; the whole concept of taking something ugly and making it beautiful applies to production in music now.

I, for one, love what's going on in the pop world right now. Straight up, guys like Justin Bieber, and the disney stars like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Justin's a wiener, but whoever's writing for these guys are GENIUS. The hooks, and the production quality are absolutely genius, and I don't think anybody can deny it.

[scowboy]

auto-tune, pitch correction, (and time correction) whatever you want to call it. I believe it removes the art and certainly dilutes the need for true talent.