What do you think of Autotune?

What do you think of autotune and similar pitch-altering or correcting devices? We've seen it used as a creative tool to generate different types of sound as well as simply to correct vocals that match the pitches intended in the song as written. Is it "cheating?"

Personally, I think it is interesting to hear popular artists explore some of the sonic possibilities of autotune, and I am not really offended by its use for pitch-correction.

Sure, it allows singers to bypass the need for superb pitch technique, but there is so much more to music, and even if you fix something with autotune, heavily autotuned music usually sounds just that, heavily autotuned. Nor can autotune do anything about the stylistic characteristics a singer chooses to use when singing. A bad singer with autotune is still a bad singer(and of course "bad" depends on the expectations and type of music being performed as well as the intentions of whoever wrote the music).

Writing and performing a successful pop song is difficult. I also don't think these songs are really intended to be a showcase of vocal technique in the sense of precise pitches. I have never heard a song on the radio and thought to myself, "Hey, I like that song. The pitches are really precise." It might play some small part, but everything else also matters: lyrics, composition, rhythm, the personality the musicians put into their performances, etc. Plenty of musicians have put out albums in which the singing might be described as "rough" or "bad" if one adheres to standards of strict pitch using 12 semitones, but that nonetheless were successful and popular music. In many cases, the inexactness become an art form in itself and help create the personality of a musician.

I think sometimes autotune is overused by musicians to iron out minor imperfections that might actually be interesting, but it's their art and their decision ultimately.

Enough said.

I think it was a very creative idea like Photoshop to turn normal sound into a whole new kind of its own.

In my opinion, I'm actually quite fond of autotune/melodyne because a certain vocaloid artist DECO*27 utilizes it in his songs, giving Miku and himseelf a unique but likeable distortion.

I agree wholeheartedly with your last statement. I don't see autotune/pitch correction as "cheating", but as an overdone trend that once started out as an interesting and innovative twist to music [size=10](that came with the convenient bonus of covering imperfections)[/h]. It's a win-win for musicians: be trendy, sound good!

I don't view the artists who have crafted their careers around autotune any different than others who don't. Sure, I might think Mariah Carey has more vocal talent than Kesha, but the decision to (or not) autotune doesn't provide any insight into who's the better musician. Who the better musician is, in my opinion, can only be decided once you start taking into account other factors such as composition and I guess in this case, lyrics.

As for the debate on whether autotune is "musical" or not, yes, I do believe that it is. I'm an advocate for John Cage's 4'33": music is music so long as it carries thought behind it. When autotune first came out, I'd like to believe that the first artist who used it, used it to generate buzz and discussion-- not to just cover their mistakes. I don't know who is credited with being "the first autotuner", but I'll still give them the credit of being innovative.

Real artist don't need auto-tune however its a good way to make their music more interesting and maybe better however i cannot see why people think it sounds like singing I guess it depends on what program is used and how much auto-tune they use... Wut?

I don't like the concept. There is no talent behind doing what they do. Sometimes it sounds good though, sometimes not. I feel cheated that they can just do that without talent or skill, while it takes other vocalists time and practice to perfect what they do.

Vocaloid... it's synthesized, is it not? The worst autotune could be doing would be giving bad vocalists music contracts that might otherwise go to good vocalists, yes? Vocaloid isn't cheating anyone out of a job.

Autotune sucks. I really don't like anything that's come of autotune, so for me, personally, it sucks. I really hate urban-type pop music (the type of music most likely to feature autotune) people listen to where I live, it's got all the worst, cheapest gimmicks:
Vapid exploitation of nostalgic music

Lame lyrics
Lamer production values

I'm not asking pop music to be so good it makes me rethink my life, but damn, is it too music to ask for something, I dunno, clever? Eminem, 10 years ago, wasn't the rapping John Lennon or nothing, but damn, he wrote at least a couple good songs.

I don't think it is true that autotune is used only by singers who can't hit pitch. Some artists simply like the artificial sound created by moving a note a large distance with autotune.

I have heard that T-Pain is a pretty good singer too, though I have not heard him live.

And even for those who do use autotune to pitch correct, doesn't it take some level of talent to write successful pop music?

inb4 "anyone can compose successful pop music" - send me the idiots' guide and I'll split my first million with you.

More like, it takes a good marketing dept. to promote your music aka instant success.



Actually, a guide like that exists lol.

I'm not a fan of autotune, I don't really like the way it sounds, and I think it's overdone on most contemporary music that incorporate this feature. For electronic music, I think it works pretty well though.

The content does matter. You can't market anything, and not everything that is marketed is successful. But yes, there are certainly gatekeepers who will help promote your music that it is important to impress. But how do they decide what to market? It takes a certain skill set to write music that execs will think has potential and be willing to market.

Has anyone used this guide to write a successful pop song?

NOW it's enough said

I'm not sure why people are equating Auto Tune music to "unedited" music. They're in a realm of their own and it's pretty unfair to compare the two.

Lets see. I hate autotune. It sounds nice once in a while, but it obviously requires little talent. One reason why I dont like some j-pop groups and some rappers(I know im gonna get haters). Lets see the people/groups I hate that use autotune. Kanye. Perfume. Vocaloid in general (some dispute here). T-Pain. Blah blah blah.