autotune. please don't

[matt b]

the 'misuse' of this was aggravating me last summer, but for christ sake, has nearly every new record i come across have to have this horrible software slavvered across it?

or does it actually sound really good, and i am now officially old?

 

[ripley]

what about when it's Sasha F-J?

http://www.mashit.com/audio/Since_Youve_Been_In_This_Club.mp3

 

[john eden]

the 'misuse' of this was aggravating me last summer, but for christ sake, has nearly every new record i come across have to have this horrible software slavvered across it?

or does it actually sound really good, and i am now officially old?

there is something horribly wrong with dancehall in 2008.

So welcome to the "old club".

Having said that, I will check the tune ripley links to when I get a minute this weekend.

 

[matt b]

what about when it's Sasha F-J?

http://www.mashit.com/audio/Since_Youve_Been_In_This_Club.mp3

that's a touch too much for my somewhat delicate head this morning

 

[Bang Diddley]

auto tune is everywhere, but why? ive got a bhangra mix which sounds like cher meets dhol in i belieeeeeeve in loooove stylee and thats just the male vocals.

oh no, i got a picture of cher sitting on a canon in my head now, this is a bad thing . . .

 

[matt b]

i just can't understand its popularity and its got a really horrible grainy digital sound to it. yuk.

thankfully there's a whole load of wicked re-releases/comps of old stuff floating about at the moment this is a gem
(listen to the amazing 'lorna banana here: http://www.fakedjs.com/fakedjs/2008/06/junior-byles---lorna-banana.html).

no digital trickery in sight (apart from mastering, probably)

 

[fokse vektaire xeven]

auto tune is everywhere, but why?

Well- it's a handy way to disguise a poor vocalist for a start. The median standard of what is considered an acceptable vocal performance has changed in the age of software correction.

 

[matt b]

Well- it's a handy way to disguise a poor vocalist for a start. The median standard of what is considered an acceptable vocal performance has changed in the age of software correction.

what's happened recently is that it is increasingly used as an obvious voice effect, like reverb, delay etc, probably to make the song sound 'of the moment'. thus dating it immediately

 

[noel emits]

There's something very sleazy about it, it's like the vocal equivalent of a thong.

 

[straight]

brian eno hammered it on his last album for some reason and apparently (though im not going to sit through it to find out) its quite glaringly used in his work on coldplay

 

[fokse vektaire xeven]

what's happened recently is that it is increasingly used as an obvious voice effect, like reverb, delay etc, probably to make the song sound 'of the moment'. thus dating it immediately

Sure...I had noticed! Today's vocoder i guess. Adds a nice robot/human contrast for the delivery of "sexy" lyrics etc...plus in this case the plugin is free for trial and with DIY videos all over youtube it allows smaller producers to imitate the big boys. I'm sure they'll get bored of it soon enough. Though it would seem sometime after their audience has

 

[noel emits]

brian eno hammered it on his last album for some reason and apparently (though im not going to sit through it to find out) its quite glaringly used in his work on coldplay

Well there's still lots of other ways to use it. I think this is about a specific type of abuse.

 

[fokse vektaire xeven]

There's something very sleazy about it, it's like the vocal equivalent of a thong.

there's a blankness to it- it allows all kinds of musical embellishments of the vocal line, but they aren't expressive. and glamour is all about "blank"...

 

[noel emits]

Well the funny thing about the embellishments is that they generally come as a deliberately exploited side-effect of turning the quantise sensitivity way up. So those little trills are actually amplifying tiny vocal expressions at the same time as flattening them into a perfected grid of notes.

If there's any glamour suggested by that sound it's glamour of a very tawdry sort.

 

[straight]

Well there's still lots of other ways to use it. I think this is about a specific type of abuse.

i know, but eno was using it in a similar over the top fashion and it really spoilt the record for me. It'll never replace the old talky-b

 

[fokse vektaire xeven]

If there's any glamour suggested by that sound it's glamour of a very tawdry sort.

That's the best kind!

Still i think the android quality has an emotionally distancing effect. it makes these records impossible to sing along with for one thing. though i've heard people trying.

 

[elgato]

There's something very sleazy about it, it's like the vocal equivalent of a thong.

lol!

i haven't seen it overused too much yet, so from my perspective its still quite an exciting sound. its so artificial. i think in the right context (and detached from it being rinsed) it has a lot of potential to create amazing music

 

[noel emits]

Calm down!



Sorry, that was a reference to this in case it was a bit obscure.

 

[matt b]

Calm down!



Sorry, that was a reference to this in case it was a bit obscure.

that's a good example of my point- i like the song (bought it etc), but why the autotuning? it just makes it sound like doctor can't sing in key. and its use is a bit all over the place

 

[gumdrops]

someone did a autotune remix of marvin gayes aint nothing like the real thing. kinda funny.

but yeah, i dont need autotune anymore.

fucking t pain.