Monday.Music || A Brief History of Auto-Tune (T-Pain Effect)
by Antares Audio Technologies
By now you are no doubt VERY familiar with this overused vocal gimmick, made popular by rapper T-Pain, although first used (notably, anyway) by Cher. That’s right, “Believe” made use of the effect LOOOONG before hip hop got its hands on it. Do you believe in life after auto-tune? I sure do!
Talkboxes and Vocoders
I don’t want to get too far into this, but a lot of people confuse talkboxes (pictured below) and vocoders (pictured below IT) with the auto-tune effect. They’re not the same thing, though they can sometimes sound the same.
TALKBOX
More about talkboxes here.
Song that features the talkbox!
VOCODER
More about vocoders here.
Song that features the vocoder!
Back to Auto-Tune
A basic definition from Wikipedia: Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies that uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed many artists to produce more precisely tuned recordings. The term “autotune” is also used to refer to pitch correction technologies developed by other companies.
Like I said, the first song that most people can remember having featured the auto-tune (obviously, at least) is Cher’s 1998 “Believe”:
Video available here, since I can’t embed it.
Other Notable Auto-Tune Moments
Kid Rock – Only God Knows Why (1998)
Daft Punk – One More Time (2000)
T-Pain – Buy You a Drank (2007)
Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction (2007)
Lil Wayne – Lollipop (2008)
Kanye West – Heartless (2008)
Backlash, Creative Adoption and Satire
Among others, Jay-Z has taken a stand against this one-hit-wonder-making effect:
Jay-Z – D.O.A (Death of Autotune)
Others choose to use the effect in very creative ways. A 24-year-old Brooklyn musician named Michael Gregory has combined a number of evening news broadcast clips and turned them into a vaguely acceptable faux R&B series:
Auto-Tune the News (check out Katie Couric at 1:21)
During the 2009 Emmy’s, Jimmy Fallon came out auto-tuning all over the place:
Jimmy Fallon at the Emmy’s
As best I can tell, it was a commentary on the over-usage of Auto-Tune and also a jab at Drake (the latest and greatest autotuner, from Canada might I add). Check out 33 seconds in:
Drake Falls on Stage
Conclusion
It’s disgusting that talentless hacks can use Auto-Tune and become instant hits, polluting radio stations across North America. If ever you’re completely fed up with it, just remember that these guys have something in common with Kid Rock: they have little talent, they used auto-tune and hopefully soon they’ll be gone, too.
Tags: Autotune, Music Videos, T-Pain
people said the same thing about the electric guitar, synths, drum machines, hip hop and rap in general.
there is good people that use it as a tool and there is people who suck.
same with everything.
I don’t hate all guitar based music because of nickelback. but i hate nickelback.
it’s a new tool. people need to learn to embrace new tools that allow people to be creative. it’s not going anywhere. not anytime soon.
I agree that there have been many instruments, styles and technologies that people have criticized or dismissed. Auto-tune is not inherently bad, but the extent to which artists are simply COPYING the T-Pain-style use of it is just sad. I can’t even tell anyone apart on the radio anymore, because there’s nothing unique in their beats, their voice or their content.
It’s sad seeing artists who CAN SING resorting to duplicating this sound, when they have legitimate abilities. This Jason Derulo guy who sings “Whatcha Say”, the best part of his song comes from the very talented Imogen Heap (who used a vocoder to create a unique and pleasant sound). I assumed he couldn’t sing, but it turns out he can. Just using the effect because it’s what’s expected. Auto-tune may not go away anytime soon, but I hope we can look back at this time in music and wonder why we put up with such lacklustre copycat behavior in our music.
Autotune sucks and it will fade away as quickly as Uggs and maternity clothes. Maybe I’m dating myself here, but every autotuned song I hear makes me think of that damn Cher song. And yes, that song sucked when it first came out too.
Autotune the News, on the other hand, is genius.
Congrats on getting hitched Nick, by the way.