Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1712QCM
Topic:
How has Auto-tune changed the requirements for contemporary vocalists to achieve a pop
chart success?
Assignment Guidelines:
Students must devise and answer an appropriate research question addressing one aspect of
how digital technologies have impacted on music. Based on this research question students are
to submit a music-related essay of approximately 900-1000 words to incorporate:
• Accurate formatting and style sheets
• Tables, indexing, footnotes and reference list
• Ethical practice in sourcing and referencing of materials
• Accuracy and professionalism in spelling, grammar, structure and legibility
• Sectional design including abstract, introduction, conclusion, bibliography and endnotes
This assignment is to be submitted in both electronic and hardcopy format. Failure to do so will
result in a grade of FNS. Hard copies must be submitted via the library and electronic copies
must be emailed to me with the following file name format:
yourfirstname_lastname.doc
eg: jane_smith.doc
1712QCM Lucas Fisher 2744820
Abstract
One aspect of digital technology that has made an impact on music is Auto-tune, a
studio plug-in whose main function is the correction of incorrect notes in a vocal or
other track. Auto-tune has become a staple of the music industry, having influenced
the music industry by changing the requirements for contemporary vocalists to achieve
pop chart success. It has done this by removing a vocalist’s need to be able to sing in
tune, and instead made it a requirement for vocalists to have a marketable image.
Introduction
As technology has developed, numerous developments have been made in every field
where it is used – music is no exception. Over the last century, music technology has
progressed in leaps and bounds, in many ways changing the very nature of the
“Auto-tune.” Auto-tune, since its popularisation, has become a staple of the modern
music industry (Antares Audio Technologies). This essay will investigate the ways in
pop chart success, as well as give a brief insight as to what Auto-tune is.
Literature Review
The literature available on the subject is varied in opinion – some believe that Auto-
tune is creating inventive new music, while others believe that it is undermining the
“authenticity” of the music that is available, or creating substandard new music. The
former of these arguments is primarily fuelled by the popularity that the Auto-tune
sound has brought artists such as Akon, R Kelly, 50 Cent, Lil Kim, Kanye West, Lil
Wayne, and the prime example, T-Pain (Collins, 2008). Elliot Wilson, the editor of rap
magazine XXL, claims that T-Pain “has a good ear for music and writes catchy hooks,"
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(as cited in Farber, 2007, online). R Kelly has hailed fellow hip-hop artist T-Pain as a
“genius” for his work with Auto-tune (as cited in Collins, 2008), and that in a club, the
mechanical vocal sound is “hypnotic” (Collins, 2008, online). Others, however, argue
that Auto-tune takes away from the “humanity” of the music – that people “want the
human touch,” and that Auto-tune “has its uses... but rarely sustains more than a
song,” (Levy, 2007, online). Some even go so far as to say that it sounds like a “sinking
submarines Sat Nav,” (Collins, 2008, online) or that the use of it on lacking vocalists is
What is Auto-tune?
robotic, warbling vocal sounds (Sillitoe, 1999). Auto-tune’s origins lie in the 1930s
2008). A voice encoding studio device (or a “vocoder”) was later used by the Zapp Band
in order to create a robotic, machine-like vocal sound (Bush). In 1998, Auto-tune was
used on Cher’s single “Believe” to give her vocals a mechanical sound. Although it was
kept hidden at the time, the sound was achieved by setting Auto-tune’s pitch
correction at a higher speed than the audio that it was processing (Sillitoe, 1999). Since
then, Auto-tune has been employed by countless artists, both as a means of pitch
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correction and as a means to the robotic vocal sounds that populate the current charts
(Collins, 2008). The main example of this is T-Pain, the “Rappa Ternt Sanga” who is
known for using Auto-tune to create robotic vocals on all of his songs. T-Pain has had
resounding success, being featured on songs by Kanye West, Chris Brown, Baby Bash
and Plies and pushing all four songs into the top 10 of Billboard’s Hottest 100 in the
space of four weeks, and has also had nine of his own songs on the Billboard Rhythmic
Top 10, beating the record previously set by 50 Cent (Farber, 2007). Auto-tune is
available in many forms from Antares Audio Technologies (Antares Audio Technologies,
2000).
contemporary vocalists to achieve pop chart success. Unlike when Cher made use of it
in 1998, Auto-tune is now so readily available that it even has its own iPhone
present in “About 100 per cent of records that you hear on the radio,” (as cited in
Everett-Green, 2006, online). From these calims, it can be discrened that being able to
sing in tune is no longer a requirement for vocalists, nor is the ability to make use of
skills such as vibrato, as Auto-tune can be used to create vibrato (Antares Audio
Technologies, 2000), and the total monopoly which Auto-tune has on the studio market
means that anyone recorded in a studio can have their intonation tuned to perfection.
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The “key ingredient,” so to speak, has shifted from musical ability and talent onto
winning musician, writer and producer Danielle Egnew, record labels specifically choose
new artists based on how they can sell them , as opposed to how well they can actually
perform, and she cited Britney Spears and Taylor Swift as examples – performers who’s
studio albums have been fixed with Auto-tune and other studio equipment, with
images designed for the sole purpose of selling records – seeing as ““Hot chicks don’t
even have to sing. America Loves a Hot Underdog.” (Egnew, 2010, online). When going
by these statements, it could be said that not only is it no longer required for a vocalist
to be able to sing in tune, but that the use of Auto-tune (when used to keep the vocalist
on the correct pitch) in conjuction with a marketable image is what a vocalist requires
moving the requirement from ability to image, Auto-tune is changing the requirements
Conclusion
Auto-tune, just like many other aspects of digital music, has made a considerable
impact on music as a whole since its introduction. In particular, Auto-tune has shaped
the current industry to make itself almost ubiquitously necessary by changing the
requirements for contemporary vocalists to achieve pop chart success. It has done this
by removing the emphasis on a singer’s ability, and moved it onto the use of Auto-tune
Antares Audio Technologies. (n.d.). Antares history. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from
Antares Audio Technologies: http://www.antarestech.com/about/history.shtml
Antares Audio Technologies. (2000). Auto-Tune user's manual. Retrieved April 14,
2010, from Antares Audio Technologies:
http://www.antarestech.com/downloads/Auto-Tune_Manual.pdf
Antares Audio Technologies. (n.d.). I am T-Pain. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from Antares
Audio Tehcnologies: http://www.antarestech.com/products/I-am-t-pain.shtml
Biddle, S. (2009, June 10). What is Auto-Tune, and why does Jay-Z Want it dead?
Retrieved March 20, 2010, from PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2009/06/what-is-
auto-tune-and-why-does-jay-z-want-it-dead.html
Bush, J. (n.d.). Zapp > Biography. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from allmusic:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difpxqr5ldte~T1
Collins, H. (2008, June 16). How the Auto-Tune conquered the charts. Retrieved March
10, 2010, from Guardian.co.uk:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/jun/16/howtheautotuneco
nqueredthe
Egnew, D. (2010, April 10). So, how DID Taylor Swift ever land a career as a singer,
when, well… Ouch. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from Music Industry Newswire:
http://musicindustrynewswire.com/2010/04/10/min2877_165542.php
Farber, J. (2007, December 10). Singers do better with T-Pain relief. Retrieved March
11, 2010, from NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/12/11/2007-12-
11_singers_do_better_with_tpain_relief-1.html
Lamb, B. (n.d.). Top 10 Auto-Tune songs. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from About.com:
http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/top10autotune.htm
Levy, J. (2007). New CDs - disco-cyborg takeover: Alternate takes. Rolling Stone
(n1035), 92.
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Sillitoe, S. (1999, February). Recording Cher's 'Believe'. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from
Sound On Sound:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb99/articles/tracks661.htm
Tyrangiel, J. (2009, February 5). Auto-Tune: Why pop music sounds perfect. Retrieved
March 20, 2010, from TIME:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372,00.html