Auto-Tune running on GarageBand |
|
| Developer(s) | Antares Audio Technologies |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1997 [1] |
| Stable release | 8 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X |
| Type | Pitch correction |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.antarestech.com |
Auto-Tune is an audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies which uses proprietary software[2] to alter pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It was originally intended to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and allows singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal tracks despite singing slightly off-key; it works by slightly blending sung pitches to the nearest true semitone (to the exact pitch of the nearest tone in traditional equal temperament). Auto-Tune can be used as an effect to distort the human voice when pitch is raised or lowered significantly.[3] The overall effect to the discerning ear can be described as hearing, for example, the voice leap from note to note stepwise, like a synthesizer.
Auto-Tune is available as a plug-in for professional audio multi-tracking suites used in a studio setting, and as a stand-alone, rack-mounted unit for live performance processing.[4] Auto-Tune has become standard equipment in professional recording studios.[5]
Auto-Tune was initially created by Andy Hildebrand, an engineer working for Exxon. Hildebrand developed methods for interpreting seismic data, and subsequently realized that the technology could be used to detect, analyze, and modify pitch.[3]
Contents |
Auto-Tune was used to produce the prominent altered vocal effect on Cher's "Believe", recorded in 1998, the first major hit song to employ the software for this purpose. When first interviewed about this, the producers claimed that they had used a Digitech Talker FX pedal, in what Sound on Sound perceived as an attempt to preserve a trade secret.[6] After the success of "Believe," the technique became known as the "Cher Effect".
After Cher's recording, audio engineers continued to use Auto-Tune to correct the pitch of vocalists of popular music. But the use of Auto-Tune as a musical effect was revived in the late-2000s by R&B singer T-Pain, who elaborated on the effect in contemporary popular music by making active use of Auto-Tune in his songs.[7] This technique has since gone on to be very widely imitated by numerous other modern R&B and pop artists. T-Pain has become so well associated with Auto-Tune that he has an iPhone App named after him that simulates the effect called "I Am T-Pain",[8] developed by Smule.[9] T-Pain's use of Auto-Tune has been cited as an influence on other urban artists' works, including Snoop Dogg's single "Sexual Eruption", Lil Wayne's single "Lollipop", and Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak, and is featured prominently in Kesha's Animal, and in some of the tracks on her EP Cannibal, and is one of the most well known pop artists at the time to openly use autotune.[10] The American public seems to not have a problem with it, judging by her album sales, being one of the most successful artists of 2010[11] However, this has come under criticism by the mainstream media, with most concurring that "We are hearing a computer, not a person"[12]
According to the Boston Herald, country stars Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Tim McGraw all use Auto-Tune in performance, calling it a safety net that guarantees a good performance.[13] However, other country music singers, such as Loretta Lynn, Allison Moorer, Dolly Parton, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, and Reba McEntire, have refused to use Auto-Tune.[14]
In 2009, the use of Auto-Tune to create melodies from the audio in video newscasts was popularized by Brooklyn musician Michael Gregory and later the band The Gregory Brothers. The Gregory Brothers digitally manipulated recorded voices of politicians, news anchors and political pundits to conform to a melody, making the figures appear to sing.[15][16] The group achieved mainstream success with their Bed Intruder Song video which became the most-watched YouTube video of 2010.[17]
As early as 2002, the CD Miss Fortune by singer-songwriter Allison Moorer was released with a sticker stating that "Absolutely no vocal tuning or pitch correction was used in the making of this record".[18] At the 51st Grammy Awards in early 2009, the band Death Cab for Cutie made an appearance wearing blue ribbons to protest the use of Auto-Tune in the music industry.[19] Later that spring, Jay-Z titled the lead single of his album The Blueprint 3 as "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". Jay-Z elaborated that he wrote the song under the personal belief that far too many people had jumped on the Auto-Tune bandwagon and that the trend had become a gimmick.[20][21] Christina Aguilera appeared in public in Los Angeles on August 10, 2009 wearing a T-shirt that read "Auto Tune is for Pussies". When later interviewed by Sirius/XM, however, she said that Auto-Tune wasn't bad if used "in a creative way" and noted her song "Elastic Love" from Bionic uses it.[22]
Opponents of the plug-in argue Auto-Tune has a pervasive negative effect on society's perception and consumption of music. A Chicago Tribune report from 2003 states that "many successful mainstream artists in most genres of music—perhaps a majority of artists—are using pitch correction".[18]
In 2004, UK's The Daily Telegraph music critic Neil McCormick called Auto-Tune a "particularly sinister invention that has been putting extra shine on pop vocals since the 1990s" by taking "a poorly sung note and transpos[ing] it, placing it dead centre of where it was meant to be".[23]
In 2009, Time magazine quoted an unnamed Grammy-winning recording engineer as saying, "Let's just say I've had Auto-Tune save vocals on everything from Britney Spears to Bollywood cast albums. And every singer now presumes that you'll just run their voice through the box." The same article expressed "hope that pop's fetish for uniform perfect pitch will fade", speculating that pop-music songs have become harder to differentiate from one another, as "track after track has perfect pitch."[24][25] Timothy Powell, a producer/engineer stated in 2003 that he is "even starting to see vocal tuning devices show up in concert settings"; he states that "That's more of an ethical dilemma—people pay a premium dollar to see artists and artists want people to see them at their best."[18]
The American television series Glee has become noted for regular use of the system in its songs. E! Online's Joal Ryan criticized the show for its "overproduced soundtrack", in particular, complaining that many songs rely too heavily on the software.[26]
In 2010, some people accused the British television reality TV show The X Factor of using Auto-Tune to improve the voices of contestants.[27][28] Simon Cowell, one of the show's judges, ordered a ban on Auto-Tune for future episodes.[29] Also in 2010, Time magazine included Auto-Tune in their list of "The 50 Worst Inventions."[30]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||