So, I wanted my first post to be about music. Since discussing the entire medium as a whole would take hours upon hours of research and writing, I decided to narrow this week’s topic down to something more specific: Auto-Tune
Here’s some background info:
A software designer at Exxon created a program that could monitor seismic waves. Sound waves would be shot into the ground, and the program would read the sound file, and could detect oil. The program’s creator, Andy Hildebrand, found that it could be used to alter pitch. Having taken music courses, he directed his software more appropriately for musical use.
The original intent of the software was to make quick, last minute corrections to the pitch of a singer, without having to record the verse a second time. It’s still used that way today in many genres, and is almost completely unnoticeable in most cases. This was very helpful, as albums began to sound ‘cleaner’ with respect to the vocal tracks. Many argued that although it was more pleasing to the ears, the vocals began to lose authenticity with the induction of post production.
Artists and studio producers discovered that if they ‘turned up’ auto-tune, they could create an electronic-sounding filter on the singer’s voice. Cher’s “Believe” was the first popular song that used this effect. However, Cher was not the one to popularize it. T-Pain is notorious for his over use of auto-tune. It made him stand out among other rappers, and gave his songs a different feel. Since then, its use (and overuse) has been prevalent in popular music.
So why do artists turn up auto-tune today? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Some artists believe that the use of auto-tune gives their music more flavor. It helps the lyrics and music flow better, which is good for catchy-popular music. Auto-Tune also sounds better on an electronic or synthesized track. Rappers can get away with not using auto-tune, as they usually don’t actually sing. R&B artists, on the other hand, use auto-tune to make their lyrics mix better with the music.
The most obvious reason that an artist would choose to use auto-tune is simply because that artist may not be able to sing in pitch or key. Instead of using other methods of tone correction, an artist will just use the distortion to mask his or her inadequate singing.
That’s auto-tune in a nutshell. Its use has exploded over the past decade, and many of the songs on the Billboard Top 10 use the effect over the entire vocal track. While it may be considered overused, auto-tune is something popular musicians are utilizing universally, and isn’t going away any time soon.
-Mike
Here’s some background info:
A software designer at Exxon created a program that could monitor seismic waves. Sound waves would be shot into the ground, and the program would read the sound file, and could detect oil. The program’s creator, Andy Hildebrand, found that it could be used to alter pitch. Having taken music courses, he directed his software more appropriately for musical use.
The original intent of the software was to make quick, last minute corrections to the pitch of a singer, without having to record the verse a second time. It’s still used that way today in many genres, and is almost completely unnoticeable in most cases. This was very helpful, as albums began to sound ‘cleaner’ with respect to the vocal tracks. Many argued that although it was more pleasing to the ears, the vocals began to lose authenticity with the induction of post production.
Artists and studio producers discovered that if they ‘turned up’ auto-tune, they could create an electronic-sounding filter on the singer’s voice. Cher’s “Believe” was the first popular song that used this effect. However, Cher was not the one to popularize it. T-Pain is notorious for his over use of auto-tune. It made him stand out among other rappers, and gave his songs a different feel. Since then, its use (and overuse) has been prevalent in popular music.
So why do artists turn up auto-tune today? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Some artists believe that the use of auto-tune gives their music more flavor. It helps the lyrics and music flow better, which is good for catchy-popular music. Auto-Tune also sounds better on an electronic or synthesized track. Rappers can get away with not using auto-tune, as they usually don’t actually sing. R&B artists, on the other hand, use auto-tune to make their lyrics mix better with the music.
The most obvious reason that an artist would choose to use auto-tune is simply because that artist may not be able to sing in pitch or key. Instead of using other methods of tone correction, an artist will just use the distortion to mask his or her inadequate singing.
That’s auto-tune in a nutshell. Its use has exploded over the past decade, and many of the songs on the Billboard Top 10 use the effect over the entire vocal track. While it may be considered overused, auto-tune is something popular musicians are utilizing universally, and isn’t going away any time soon.
-Mike
Lots of interesting info. Keep it up!
ReplyDelete