Blog 3: The Pitch Correction era

 The Pitch Correction Era

Following the DAW/digital generation, massive changes were made to musical sound through production. The birth of trap and electronic music and the heavy use of Pitch correction on vocals as an industry standard and the effect of Autotune. 

History of Pitch Correction

Dr. Andy Hilderband is the man responsible for inventing pitch correction. Pitch correction, more commonly known as autotune, is based on the autocorrelation algorithm which oil companies used to find potential sites to drill. This algorithm would construct and present comprehensive subsurface maps using seismic waves. Andy later then edited this algorithm to somehow manipulate music to pitch and correct it in 1996 giving birth to the Antares Audio Technologies and presenting the first-ever Autotune. 

The idea of this plug-in tool was to make recording vocals for producers and singers more convenient. Instead of them having to re-record every verse until the singer hit every note perfectly, the producer could fix any mistakes by placing it back in key while maintaining a natural sound. This was the intention behind Autotune when used in moderation. Autotune can be set to the desired key and adjusted to how harshly it will snap the recognised notes to the closest note in the key automatically. It could also be done manually with some versions. But when this plug-in is turned up to around its max capabilities, it produces a more robotized artificial distorted sound instead. The first song to ever abuse autotune like this was “Believe” by Cher, beginning the current autotune era that music coincides with. At first, this was known as “the Cher effect”, and then came along T-Pain. He further popularised the “autotune effect” to masses using it similarly to a vocoder or a top box just like older legends did in music [Apartment Therapy Chris Perez 12th Oct 2012].  

Pro and Cons     

Now, something a lot of people don’t understand, is that EVERY ARTIST USES AUTOTUNE!! Whether it sounds like they are or not 99% of the time, some type of tuning has been applied to the vocalist unless they’ve made a point of not using it like Billie Eilish. Even rappers use autotune so subtly to the point you would never have thought it was there, like it’s supposed to be. I can speak from first-hand experience that this is the case and that pitch correction when used in moderation is extremely useful.

The problem is that Autotune has gained a bad reputation over the years of making untalented vocalists sound good on tracks. And when it comes down to them performing live, people are shocked at how bad some of them sound. It’s been the back alley for inexperienced, untalented and untrained vocalists making a big name for themselves in the music industry. Upon the public witnessing this time and time again, they have a tendency to autotune shame artists who hide behind autotune. The problem with this is that the public assumes that all vocalists who use autotune to the point it sounds slightly unnatural, can’t sing as well as presented on their songs. Even going as far as to say amazing singers like Ariana Grande, Chris Brown and T-Pain can’t sing and are ‘overrated’. This has resulted in a blurry line between talented vocalists who can sing but use autotune lightly/harshly, and untalented vocalists who do the same. To solve part of this, plug-in developers have designed a real-time autotune which can now be used over live vocals, fixing any mistakes made with no latency delay. (I have taken a screenshot below of the ‘waves real-time autotune’ from one of my music projects I’m working on).

          

This only worsens the problem, making it nearly impossible to tell who can really sing or not. [Gary Cunningham Aug 21st 2016] 

Conclusion 

Despite the negative views and impacts, DAWs have undoubtedly revolutionised the music industry. It’s given everyone an equal opportunity to follow their passion and dream of making music and although it has caused some complications, it’s been overall a blessing in disguise to music. Not only has it introduced the makings of new genres of music like EDM and Trap, but it’s given the modern world a whole new flavour of music and has unlocked unlimited potential, accessible to the masses.   

Bibliography

• Youtube.com. 2020. The Problem With Auto-Tune. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05hTQC1CZko> [Accessed 2 October 2020].

• Perez, C., 2012. A Quick History Of Auto-Tune. [online] https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/. Available at: <https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-history-of-auto-tune-178567> [Accessed 12 October 2012].

• Cunningham, G., 2016. Auto-Tune Culture And How It Has Ruined The Music Industry. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://garycunninghammusic.medium.com/auto-tune-culture-and-how-it-has-ruined-the-music-industry-fa7982727f5a> [Accessed 21 August 2016].

• Reynolds, S., 2018. How Auto-Tune Revolutionized The Sound Of Popular Music. [online] Pitchfork.com. Available at: <https://pitchfork.com/features/article/how-auto-tune-revolutionized-the-sound-of-popular-music/> [Accessed 17 September 2018].

Written by Aaron Lewis