Why Are People Ignorant About Autotune

[Dr_Horrible]

This is reminding me of the time when someone accused MoS of using Autotune (which btw he doesn't). It wasn't pretty.

More topical, you can hear Autotune, though its worse when the person simply can't sing. Producers and ad executives have learned tha people will listen/watch/read anything regardless of quality because they are that stupid. So overproduced music with Autotune will always sell... until people get bored of that and its switched to music that sounds very indie but in fact is processed by producers cus that is selling at the time.

Course,

I try not to listen to any type of music that uses autotune, but I admit that it can probably sound natural. Thing is, I prefer to listen to music from before things like autotune existed. I feel that music where the entire song has pitch correction is barely music at all, because it's not really the artist singing, it's a machine (in my opinion).

So because a machine does it isn't music anymore? Yeah, I know it isn't your point, but its worth bringing up.

Music:
noun
1.
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
2.
the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.
3.
musical work or compositions for singing or playing.
4.
the written or printed score of a musical composition.
5.
such scores collectively.

Which is why I consider electronica music, I mean just cus a machine did it doesn't degrade it to 'noise'.

That is a good point, and I misspoke.

My point was that, if you're supposed to be singing, then one should rely on their own voice, not that of an electronic assistant. I do enjoy electronica/techno occasionaly (I'm not a complete musical luddite), but I feel that relying on autotune for one's voice is the easy way out. Some enhancement is fine, everyone makes mistakes, but using it for the entire song? I don't see the point unless you're specifically going for a 'machine' voice.

 

[The Virgo]

To me, the only time autotune should be used is for effect. If you are singing a song about robots, then yeah, change your voice. However, it's mostly used to make people sound like they can actually sing. Sigh.

And let's not forget that doing a live performance without autotune for a song that is autotuned is rather awkward. At least it's not as awkward as doing a live version autotuned. For instance:


For all we know, he's not singing at all. And to make things even more awkward, the guy on the keyboard is only playing the bass rhythm. Not a lot of effort there, eh? This is why I prefer Prog Rock.

However, it's always refreshing and rare when somebody can sing a pop song with autotune and then do a live acoustic version and have it sound damn good! Don't believe it can happen? Neither did I, but here's proof:


Wait until she gets into the first chorus ... it gets good from then on out! There's a lot of emotion.

 

[viking97]

Autotune is capable of producing smooth natural-like sounds.

I would like some proof of this statement XD All the Auto tune I know of is changing pitch to a massive degree allowing awful singers to sing with no talent what so ever.

it can be used a bit more sophisticated-like then just running the entire audio through auto-tune. by selecting certain parts of a sound file to auto-tune, pitches can be corrected and such. its nearly impossible to tell this has been done with the naked ear.

 

[tg851]

cough*justin beiber*cough* every single goddamned song*cough

 

[DarthScorpio11]

cough*justin beiber*cough* every single goddamned song*cough

I'm not a big Beiber fan, but being honest, have you ever listen to a video of him singing live. He pretty much sounds the same...

 

[Dags90]

Cher didn't use autotune because autotune didn't exist in the 90s. Cher used a voice altering program, but it was done manually.

You're wrong, too. They used brand name Auto-Tune, too.[footnote]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb99/articles/tracks661.htm[/footnote] As if Cher would take generic brand. I'll forgive you for the error though, they did initially lie about it.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

I'm not sure Auto-tune is considered cheating (if the end product is listen-worthy, it's not), but I know the unnatural vocorder filter sounds...

Spoiler: ...have their uses

By Wendy (fucking)[footnote]If you don't know why the specialized middle name, you need to get on Youtube and expose yourself to Wendy's work. Her stuff was revolutionary for the time, and helped pave the way to music electronics we take for granted, today.[/footnote] Carlos. (and, of course Beethoven.) Used a Vocorder, but not necessarily to auto-tune.

Myself, I'd love to get my hands on a comprehensive vocorder package just because it sounds like a lot of fun as a production tool.

238U.
EDIT: credit where it is due.

 

[Vault101]

like people who dont..or simply flat out refuse to see any value in curret music or certain genres like rap, not saying you have to like such stuff....but the mindless hate it annoying and generally caused by nostalga

People hate rap because of nostalgia? What? I always though people hate rap because they have horrible taste in music.

Joking aside, I don't really like autotune. It just seems like every song on the radio is either dubstep, techno or autotune and a majority of the time I just don't really like the way it sounds in a song.

There are of course songs I DO like with autotune, but I've found that so far, I hate a majority of them.

well no not exactally

I mean people who are totally and utterly convinced ANYTHING after a certin time/era is total and utter crap and couldnt be told otherwise

I mean its one thing to have certain tastes in music...its another to dismiss all other music other thhan the stuff you like

and ofter that not knowing much about music in general or music genres ans such (not saying I do, I dont really)

 

[Kanatatsu]

people are way too judgmental about stupid shit. like autotune, for example. get off your soapboxes.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

I learned from Know your Meme, so this is kindof old news to me...

 

[josemlopes]

Because T-pain and such is what made Autotune well-known, and it's mostly used for it's robotic sound now.

Wrong, that honor belongs to none other than Cher. T-Pain merely introduced it to a newer, less fabulous, generation.

Ah, ninja'd, I was scrolling down to see if anyone already had posted THE original intruduction of autotune to the audiences and then there it was.

OT: Autotune isnt entirely bad but dont use it has your only strenght, the live shows WILL suck balls.

 

[TheBoulder]

I hate how Autotune is demonized nowadays because many people abuse it. There are those who use it to great effect and saying that anyone who uses Autotune is a talentless hack is just presumptuous.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I'm of the opinion that unless your name is Paul Masvidal, you're not allowed to use autotune.

 

[The Virgo]

People don't know or care how their entertainment is made, they just want to shell over their dosh for it.

Ever since Killing Floor, the word "dosh" will never be the same. XD

 

[lovest harding]

Because T-pain and such is what made Autotune well-known, and it's mostly used for it's robotic sound now.

Wrong, that honor belongs to none other than Cher. T-Pain merely introduced it to a newer, less fabulous, generation.

This made me a happy camper. Any excuse to pull out a Cher song, am I right? xD

EDIT for on topicness: I'm fine with autotune as long as it's obvious. When used by someone like T-Pain it's more of an instrument in and of itself (I'm not really a fan of T-Pain, but the point stands). When it's used to do what it's meant to, it's a bit underhanded to me.

 

[Raideh]

Cleaned.

 

[Nazulu]

To answer the title question: Because people are ignorant about most things, and you only notice it regarding your areas of expertise.

This sums it up perfectly. Most of the reply's you'll get won't even attempt to answer the question, so you can tell who has actually done any research.

It should be common sense but that's never been common.