Oh boy, you knew this one was coming right? Back then, and that was about a decade ago, nobody (well, except us music producers and studio engineers) knew about this thing, but now it has been unleashed big-time, just about a week ago in fact, courtesy of an iPhone application that is being endorsed by the American rapper (and heavy Auto-Tune user) T-Pain. And apparently a hilariously stinging YouTube video (watch it below) brought this all into the public limelight, and today it has even made big headlines in CNN!

So what is this all about? Auto-Tune is actually a computer software made by Antares that is used in many studios around the world to correct out-of-tune recordings of *anything*. It’s most important application however is with what is perhaps the most delicate and important component in any typical song: the human voice. Auto-Tune made its popular debut with Cher’s megahit “Believe”, where a very extreme setting was used not for pitch correction, but to create that characteristic keyboardy, robotic effect on her voice.

When it first came out, it has been hailed as the “holy grail of the recording world”, because finally it became possible to fix singing imperfections without adding any distortion or artifacts. If you don’t realize how powerful this software is, imagine asking somebody to sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, and being able to change the melody that was sung into… uh… let’s say… “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

Well, the “without any distortion or artifact” clause is not totally true, because I think the trained ears of producers and audio engineers will always be able to detect a vocal track that has been Auto-Tuned, however subtle and skilled the processing was. I cringe whenever I get to hear “that” sound on the newest top ten hit, and I can’t help but laugh whenever some kid would sing this artist’s song and try to imitate “that” sound. When a recording is all very well-done however, the mere fact that the vocal performance on this new song was perfect makes me think immediately that is was Auto-Tuned. I know it’s wrong, but I would never give credit to the singer’s brilliance right away.

And in case you’re wondering why I would tend to think this way… It’s all simply because pop music that has been released (for the last five years especially) *all* use Auto-Tune. (Believe it or not!) It has become *the* sound of this generation, whether you like it or not. The obsession about perfect pitch is just too much now that producers cannot accept even a single microscopic, momentary, microtonal dud.

It is no secret that some big music artists have a problem with their singing technique. For instance, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, while being a talented songwriter and brilliant performer, had a problem with controlling his vocal pitch. That is why if you listen closely to his recorded vocals, you’ll almost always hear “something” done to his voice to “hide” this fact, such as mixing in several pitch-shifted tracks of the same vocal take, or some weird reverb or mangling effect.

Auto-Tune used to be a well-guarded secret in the audio world (or at least we thought!), simply because the listening public would be shocked if they would get to know that their favorite singer in fact cannot sing (or sing worse than they do)! (Did somebody say Britney Spears?) Well, for those that *can* sing, Auto-Tune is still very useful in some ways, because, for instance, instead of wasting so much studio time to do so many takes of the same song, we can make do with just a few. Should there be that one elusive high note that just cannot be nailed properly, Auto-Tune can instantly be called to the rescue!

Truth is, every human being, no matter how skilled, will not be able to sing perfectly in tune. This is just fact. Just listen to any great singer, from Enrico Caruso, Placido Domingo, to Frank Sinatra. They will mostly be in the pocket, but you will inevitably hear pitch imperfections. One sliding blue note here, one slightly sharp note there… I guess it’s also intended in the performance too.

When we did U.P. Madrigal singer Joy Gain’s project in the Studio, I got goose bumps during the recording phase. I couldn’t believe how much control she has on her voice. She was just on-pitch all the time. (And consider how I sensitive I am with pitch and intonation on the guitar!) Well, it’s no surprise really, considering her classical upbringing and that level of talent she got. But later on during the mix, just out of curiosity, when I tried to put her vocal takes on the grid, I realized the takes weren’t that perfect after all. (I didn’t Auto-Tune her BTW!) For all our ear-brain’s pitch sensitivity, there was still way more stuff that only the computer can detect.

For me personally, I think it’s all just a fad. Since those times I banged my head in disbelief listening to Rod Stewart’s The Complete American Songbook album, or even James Hetfield’s vocals on Metallica’s Death Magnetic and how they all got Auto-Tune-infested, I hope the day will come when we return back to our artistic sensibilities when we create music. Would-be pop artists should all learn how to sing, or at least live with what they can do vocally. Bob Dylan comes to mind… While he is not the greatest of singing voices, he has become like a musical prophet of our age, and his vocal performances while not perfect, carry his complete message across to us, intellectually, philosophically, emotionally.

And coming back to Auto-Tune, I think we should all try to learn to use it wisely. For starters, why not just apply it to those sections where it’s obviously needed?

And now, the cat is out of the bag…

© 2009, Aji Coronel. Nyquist Recording Studio. All rights reserved. If you need to copy content, please provide the link to this original post.

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