Auto-Tune This

OK, I've had enough of Auto-Tune. It's been 12 years since Cher's Believe was a hit song and I admit, the effect was mildly interesting in 1998, but enough is enough already. We are done...quit it.

According to urban legend,  Groucho Marx once interviewed a woman with an extraordinary amount of children on his TV show.

Groucho: Why do you have so many children? That's a big responsibility and a big burden.
Woman: Well I think that's our purpose and I love my husband.
Groucho: Well I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.

Well said Groucho...and that same philosophy can apply to those producers and artists who love them their Auto-Tune.

Don't get me wrong, I love my effects as much as the next guy and have no problem using them to enhance or alter the sound of a voice or instrument, with one very big caveat.  Using it MUST HELP TELL THE STORY!!!!

Now I own a large number of effects processors and plug-ins, including pitch correctors. The problem I have with Auto-Tune is not that it's being used, but in the way people use it. It's become a crutch used to prop up not only bad or mediocre performances, but even for perfectly healthy and talented singers.  In the same way that drum machines have sanitized the natural ebb and flow of tempo, Auto-Tune is ripping the life out of otherwise GOOD vocal performances by some very talented performers. Grow a set you all!!!

Everyone from Manhattan Transfer to Black Eyed Peas to Faith Hill to the producers of Glee (Ryan Murphy...I'm talking to you) are using Auto-Tune in what I believe to be the antithesis of creativity. For example; although Glee is a well written and clever comedy, it's ultimately a story about the struggle of a bunch of outcasts finding redemption in music....as great singers. In truth, at least some of the cast members are extremely talented vocalists, yet the producers have made the decision to pitch correct each performance to within an inch of their lives. What is the point? They take some great, albeit ultra-commercial songs and make them sound like Up With People inhabited by robots. It's the musical version of pornography. Stale, clinical, boring, a bit creepy and supremely tasteless.

The Black Eyed Peas are a band that at one time used Auto-Tune in creative ways, but what once was an interesting effect used cleverly by them has become a "let's use it on every song" bore. 

I've heard from engineers who tell me that young singers are coming in and imitating the beat you into submission perfection of Auto-Tuned vocals. No slurs, no vibrato,  no dynamics. They are getting so used to hearing vocals that have been Auto-Tuned that they no longer accept the reality or emotional value of a real performance. Is the art of learning a craft and taking pride in being good at what you do is becoming a thing of the past. Are we beyond quality on only care about building a facade or quality?
The McMansion of Mediocrity has taken over the world. It seems to be what we strive for.

We should be very grateful that the producers of the likes of Otis Redding, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, the Beatles and thousands like them never had these tools or there is a good chance we would have been deprived of some legendary performances.

To add insult to injury...the engineer who created Auto-Tune was Andy Hildebrand an engineer for that great music institution Exxon. Filler up with an A Sharp please.