Autotune HATE Thread

[JeffTD]

I prefer to hear the singer, not the correction. Even a not-so-great one. At least it's human.

on a side note, please don't take my opinion as a personal insult, it's strictly that: my opinion. I really like the work you do, Jeff.


However, I'm not the only one to share the opinion: My favorite Rollins quote, from the William Shatner song, "I can't get behind that!"


"If you have to fix it with a computer: quantized, pitch corrected, and overly inspected, then you can't do it!"

Here's the song in question: a ripping mix, btw!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-eJQ1mTVzA

I didn't mean anything as an insult, I just mean it's not fair to say you never use it and chastise the use of it when it's a necessity in this line of work. I'd love to not be able to use autotune or have to edit drums but the bottom line is my clients and their financiers expect a professional sounding, tightly-played/well-sung product despite not being tight players or good singers.

That said I think you take it too far with the "autotune = evil incarnate" attitude; it's a tool, like any other.

 

[~BURNY~]

Don't blame the the tools. ( could be my sig really)

That being said, I hate how it's overused these days.

 

[JoeMeek12397]

From a producer/engineer standpoint things like grids and tuning can be a godsend, but from a musician/fan standpoint (at least for me) its like a knife to the throat. I TOTALLY understand if you have something absolutely killer but there's one tiny flub or just a couple little small iffy spots that you save it. BUT there are so fucking many examples of people that should and would have never been famous had these technologies never existed. In that way it has definitely been at least a partial factor in the death of the industry.

 

[B36arin]

Like everybody has been saying, it's a fantastic tool when you need it. And sometimes you do, especially some genres require heavy tuning. Just like beat detective, sample replacement etc. people have a tendency to overuse it because they are too lazy to get it right at the source. It has saved my life on some productions, but when the singer and expression is good it doesn't always matter that some of the notes are out of tune.

 

[aramism]

auto tune (not the effect, but pitch correction) also enables singers who have no business singing make some sort of career out of it. meanwhile 30 years ago they couldn't make it as a backup singer for a C list pop star.

 

[Mago]

^ like who, for example?

Right off the top of my head I can't name anyone, who is only responsible for the vocals, needs heavy heavy autotune and makes a stellar career, lasting with that...

 

[RedDog]

Like everybody has been saying, it's a fantastic tool when you need it. And sometimes you do, especially some genres require heavy tuning. Just like beat detective, sample replacement etc. people have a tendency to overuse it because they are too lazy to get it right at the source. It has saved my life on some productions, but when the singer and expression is good it doesn't always matter that some of the notes are out of tune.

what you think this wasn't pitch corrected? I've heard her live performances and once you establish the baseline, you can pick out the intensity of the correction factor.

 

[crillemannen]

what you think this wasn't pitch corrected? I've heard her live performances and once you establish the baseline, you can pick out the intensity of the correction factor.

Well even though they have or have not tuned some lines here and there this is still what i would call a tasteful tuning. You hear the glissando's and that she sometimes are a bit low hitting a note going up to pitch a few miliseconds later, like any singer would. She is a bit low here and there so maybe it isn't pitch corrected, not sure..

Alicia keys is someone who's openly said she don't use it. Was a big thread over at GS of her being flat. But as i said earlier its a tool nothing more or less.

And about not old records where tuned etc.. Well they aren't but i also heard someone famous pop star of the 80's had 3 tape machines linked together to get her takes all synced for one song. I'd take autotune and PC editing any day of the week over that. Going on about it raving and hating is just making you sound like an old fart saying everything was better before, and i'll bet he is not a famous producer. People that want to work with this need to adapt and try to make the product as good as they possible can.

 

[monoxide_child]

auto tune (not the effect, but pitch correction) also enables singers who have no business singing make some sort of career out of it. meanwhile 30 years ago they couldn't make it as a backup singer for a C list pop star.

if your singing really sucks this^^ bad
then you really have no fucking right to do "singing" as you mother-fucking job-title

 

[B36arin]

what you think this wasn't pitch corrected? I've heard her live performances and once you establish the baseline, you can pick out the intensity of the correction factor.

It might have been corrected a bit, but there are some sections which are pretty far from being pitch perfect. It has definitely not been heavily tuned.

I'm with most of the guys here, autotune is a great tool if you know how to use it, but it sucks when overused.

 

[aramism]

like who? like every singer out now who emerged approx post early 2000s or so.

pitch correction is the single biggest enemy of musical progress. unfortunately i, like many of you, use it on a daily basis when recording vocals.

 

[cfh11]

autotune as an (appropriately and sparingly used) correction tool = good
autotune as an instrument = bad

let us never forget the root of all autotune evil: