Auto-Tune

File:Audacity GSnap effect.png showing spectrograms of an audio clip with portamento (upper panel) and the same clip after applying pitch correction showing frequencies clamped to discrete values (lower panel)]]

Auto-Tune is available as a plug-in for digital audio workstations used in a studio setting and as a stand-alone, rack-mounted unit for live performance processing.{{cite web|url=http://www.antarestech.com/products/index.shtml|title=Antares product page|website=antarestech.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324012023/http://www.antarestech.com/products/index.shtml|archive-date=2017-03-24|url-status=dead|access-date=2 May 2018}} The processor slightly shifts pitches to the nearest true, correct semitone (to the exact pitch of the nearest note in traditional equal temperament). Auto-Tune can also be used as an effect to distort the human voice when pitch is raised or lowered significantly,Frere Jones, Sasha. "[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/06/09/080609crmu_music_frerejones?currentPage=all The Gerbil's Revenge] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120909114400/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/06/09/080609crmu_music_frerejones?currentPage=all |date=2012-09-09 }}", The New Yorker, June 9, 2008 such that the voice is heard to leap from note to note stepwise, like a synthesizer."Antares Kantos 1.0." Electronic Musician 18, no. 7 (June 2002): 26. Music Index, EBSCOhost (accessed February 21, 2015).

Auto-Tune has become standard equipment in professional recording studios.Everett-Green, Robert. "Ruled by Frankenmusic," The Globe and Mail, October 14, 2007, p. R1. Instruments such as the Peavey AT-200 guitar seamlessly use Auto-Tune technology for real-time pitch correction.Robair, Gino. "Waves of Innovation" Mix. Jun 2013.Music Index, EBSCOhost (accessed February 21, 2015)

Image:Root Thumm 20100703 Japan Expo 05.jpg

Auto-Tune was developed by Andy Hildebrand, a Ph.D. research engineer who specialized in stochastic estimation theory and digital signal processing. He conceived the vocal pitch correction technology on the suggestion of a colleague's wife, who had joked that she would benefit from a device to help her sing in tune.{{cite web |author=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |date=September 17, 2018 |title=How Auto-Tune revolutionized the sound of popular music |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/how-auto-tune-revolutionized-the-sound-of-popular-music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726001852/https://pitchfork.com/features/article/how-auto-tune-revolutionized-the-sound-of-popular-music/ |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |access-date=September 28, 2018 |work=Pitchfork}}

Over several months in early 1996, Hildebrand implemented the algorithm on a custom Macintosh computer. Later that year, he presented the result at the NAMM Show, where it became instantly popular. Hildebrand's method for detecting pitch involved autocorrelation and proved superior to attempts based on feature extraction that had problems processing elements such as diphthongs, leading to sound artifacts.{{Cite news|url=https://priceonomics.com/the-inventor-of-auto-tune/|title=The Mathematical Genius of Auto-Tune|last=Zachary|first=Crockett|date=2016-09-26|work=Priceonomics|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917034527/https://priceonomics.com/the-inventor-of-auto-tune/|archive-date=2018-09-17|url-status=live}} Music engineers had previously considered autocorrelation impractical because of the massive computational effort required. Hildebrand found a mathematical method to overcome this, "a simplification [that] changed a million multiply adds into just four".

According to the Auto-Tune patent, the preferred implementation detail consists, when processing new samples, of reusing the former autocorrelation bin, and adding the product of the new sample with the older sample corresponding to a lag value, while subtracting the autocorrelation product of the sample that correspondingly got out of window.

Originally, Auto-Tune was designed to discreetly correct imprecise intonations to make music more expressive, with the original patent asserting: "When voices or instruments are out of tune, the emotional qualities of the performance are lost." Auto-Tune was launched in September 1997.

== Use ==

File:WKTU-FM's_Miracle_on_34th_Street_show_-_New_York_-_seen_on_December_11,_1998_Cropped.jpg (pictured in 1998) popularized Auto-Tune with 1998's "Believe"]]The Aphex Twin track "Funny Little Man", from the 1997 EP Come To Daddy, was one of the earliest songs to use Auto-Tune, released less than a month after Auto-Tune.{{Cite web |date=2015-05-26 |title=Autotune: good or bad? {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/26/tech/gallery/autotune-artists-mci/index.html |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=CNN |language=en}} Cher's 1998 song "Believe" was the first commercial recording to use Auto-Tune as a stylistic effect, creating a robotic, futuristic sound.{{cite magazine |title=Flashback: Cher Brings the Future of Pop to Top of the Pops With 'Believe' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/cher-believe-top-of-pops-737084/ |last=Weingarten |first=Christopher R. |access-date=December 20, 2024 |date=October 15, 2018 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620060908/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/cher-believe-top-of-pops-737084/ |url-status=live}} Cher, who proposed the effect,{{cite news |title=Cher Resurrected, Again, by a Hit; The Long, Hard but Serendipitous Road to 'Believe' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/11/arts/cher-resurrected-again-by-a-hit-the-long-hard-but-serendipitous-road-to-believe.html |first=Neil |last=Strauss |author-link=Neil Strauss |date=March 11, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102162318/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/11/arts/cher-resurrected-again-by-a-hit-the-long-hard-but-serendipitous-road-to-believe.html |archive-date=November 2, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-status=live}} faced resistance from her label but insisted it remain, saying, "You can change [the song] over my dead body". While Auto-Tune was designed to be used subtly to correct vocal performances, the "Believe" producers used extreme settings to create unnaturally rapid corrections in Cher's vocals, thereby removing portamento, the natural slide between pitches in singing.{{cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |date=June 9, 2008 |title=The Gerbil's Revenge |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/06/09/080609crmu_music_frerejones?currentPage=1 |access-date=May 30, 2012 |magazine=The New Yorker |publisher=Condé Nast}} Though Auto-Tune had been commercially available for about a year, according to Pitchfork, "Believe" was the first song "where the effect drew attention to itself ... announcing its technological artifice". In an attempt to protect their method, the producers initially claimed the effect was achieved with a vocoder. It was widely imitated and became known as the "Cher effect".

{{Listen

|filename=Believe - Cher.ogg

|title="Believe" (1998)

|description=Cher's 1998 single "Believe" used Auto-Tune to deliberately distort vocals, a technique that became known as the "Cher effect".{{cite magazine |last1=Sillitoe |first1=Sue |last2=Bell |first2=Matt |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-cher-believe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229092557/https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-cher-believe |url-status=live |archive-date=December 29, 2024 |title=Recording Cher's 'Believe' |magazine=Sound on Sound |date=February 1999}}

|filename2=Believe - Cher (No Auto-Tune).ogg

|title2="Believe" without Auto-Tune

|description2=For comparison, Auto-Tune is not applied in this section.}}

According to Pitchfork, 1999 "Too Much of Heaven" by the Italian Europop group Eiffel 65 features "the very first example of rapping through Auto-Tune". The Eiffel 65 member Gabry Ponte said they were inspired by Cher's "Believe".{{cite web | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-story-of-blue-da-ba-dee-by-eiffel-65-video/ | title=The Story of 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)' by Eiffel 65 | date=21 March 2019 }} The English rock band Radiohead used Auto-Tune on their 2001 album Amnesiac to create a "nasal, depersonalized sound" and to process speech into melody. According to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, Auto-Tune "desperately tries to search for the music in your speech, and produces notes at random. If you've assigned it a key, you've got music."{{cite web|url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=131|title=Walking on Thin Ice|last=Reynolds|first=Simon|date=July 2001|work=The Wire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204233756/http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=131|archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=17 March 2007}}

Later in the 2000s, T-Pain used Auto-Tune extensively, further popularizing the use of the effect.Farber, Jim (2007). "[http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_singers_do_better_with_tpain_relief-1.html Singers do better with T-Pain relief] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208005810/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_singers_do_better_with_tpain_relief-1.html |date=2009-02-08 }}", New York DailyNews. He cited the new jack swing producer Teddy Riley and funk artist Roger Troutman's use of the talk box as inspirations.{{cite news|last=Lee|first=Chris|date=November 15, 2008|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-nov-15-et-tpain15-story.html|title=The (retro) future is his|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=13 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20160120223710/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/15/entertainment/et-tpain15|archive-date=20 January 2016}} T-Pain became so associated with Auto-Tune that he had an iPhone app named after him that simulated the effect, "I Am T-Pain".{{cite web|url=http://iamtpain.smule.com/|title=I Am T-Pain by Smule - Experience Social Music|website=iamtpain.smule.com|access-date=8 August 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725055846/https://iamtpain.smule.com/|archive-date=2017-07-25}} Eventually dubbed the "T-Pain effect", the use of Auto-Tune became a fixture of late 2000s music, where it was used in other hip hop/R&B artists' works, including Snoop Dogg's single "Sexual Eruption",{{cite web|title=The 50 Greatest Vocoder Songs - #50 Snoop Dogg - Sexual Eruption|url=http://www.complex.com/music/2010/08/the-50-greatest-vocoder-songs/snoop-dogg|work=Complex|publisher=Complex Media|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101191706/http://www.complex.com/music/2010/08/the-50-greatest-vocoder-songs/snoop-dogg|archive-date=1 January 2012}} Lil Wayne's "Lollipop",{{cite web|last=Noz|first=Andrew|title=The 100 Greatest Lil Wayne Songs - #3. Lil Wayne f/ Static Major "Lollipop"|url=http://www.complex.com/music/2010/11/the-100-greatest-lil-wayne-songs/lollipop-and-lollipop-remix-with-kanye|work=Complex|publisher=Complex Media|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227040025/http://www.complex.com/music/2010/11/the-100-greatest-lil-wayne-songs/lollipop-and-lollipop-remix-with-kanye|archive-date=27 December 2012}} and Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak.{{cite web|last=Shaheem |first=Reid |title=Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak Album Preview: More Drums, More Singing, 'No Typical Hip-Hop Beats' |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1597139/20081015/west_kanye.jhtml |publisher=MTV |date=2008-10-15 |access-date=2 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020035949/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1597139/20081015/west_kanye.jhtml |archive-date=2008-10-20 |url-status=dead }} In 2009 the Black Eyed Peas' number-one hit "Boom Boom Pow", made heavy use of Auto-Tune on their vocals to create a futuristic sound. The use of Auto-Tune in hip hop gained a resurgence in the mid-2010s, especially in trap music. Future and Young Thug are widely considered to be the pioneers of modern trap music and have mentored or inspired popular artists such as Lil Baby, Gunna, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, and Lil Uzi Vert.{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2259112 |title=Pop |last1=Warwick |first1=Jacqueline |website=Oxford Music Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-access=subscription}}

The effect has also become popular in raï music and other genres from Northern Africa.{{cite web|last=Clayton|first=Jace|url=http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/pitch_perfect/|title=Pitch Perfect|publisher=Frieze|date=May 2009|access-date=2014-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009211731/http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/pitch_perfect/|archive-date=2014-10-09|url-status=dead}} According to the Boston Herald, the country singers Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Tim McGraw use Auto-Tune in performance, calling it a safety net that guarantees a good performance.Treacy, Christopher John. "Pitch-adjusting software brings studio tricks," The Boston Herald, February 19, 2007, Monday, "The Edge" p. 32. However, other country singers, such as Allison Moorer,{{cite web|last=Fitzmaurice|first=Larry|title=Great Moments In Auto-Tune History|publisher=Vulture|date=14 December 2018|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/great-moments-in-auto-tune-history.html|access-date=31 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731051002/https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/great-moments-in-auto-tune-history.html|archive-date=31 July 2019|url-status=live}} Garth Brooks,{{cite web|last=Markey|first=MaKayla|title=Garth Against the Machine|publisher=Country Music Project|date=13 November 2014|url=https://sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/countrymusic/2014/11/13/2414/|access-date=31 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731051004/https://sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/countrymusic/2014/11/13/2414/|archive-date=31 July 2019|url-status=live}} Big & Rich, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill and Martina McBride, have refused to use Auto-Tune.{{cite web|last=Vinson|first=Christina|title=Big & Rich Not Concerned About Perfection|publisher=Taste of Country|date=26 November 2013|url=https://tasteofcountry.com/big-rich-auto-tuning/|access-date=31 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731051002/https://tasteofcountry.com/big-rich-auto-tuning/|archive-date=31 July 2019|url-status=live}}

Some critics have argued that Auto-Tune opens up new possibilities in pop music, especially in hip-hop and R&B. Instead of using it as a correction tool for poor vocals—its original purpose—some musicians intentionally use the technology to mediate and augment their artistic expression. When the electronic duo Daft Punk was questioned about their use of Auto-Tune in their single "One More Time", Thomas Bangalter replied, "A lot of people complain about musicians using Auto-Tune. It reminds me of the late '70s when musicians in France tried to ban the synthesizer... They didn't see that you could use those tools in a new way instead of just for replacing the instruments that came before."{{cite web |last=Gill |first=Chris |date=2001-05-01 |title=ROBOPOP |url=http://remixmag.com/mag/remix_robopop/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103075925/http://remixmag.com/mag/remix_robopop/ |archive-date=January 3, 2006 |access-date=2014-10-06 |publisher=Remix}}

T-Pain, the R&B singer and rapper who reintroduced the use of Auto-Tune as a vocal effect in pop music with his album Rappa Ternt Sanga in 2005, said, "My dad always told me that anyone's voice is just another instrument added to the music. There was a time when people had seven-minute songs, and five minutes were just straight instrumental. ... I got a lot of influence from [the '60s era]. I thought I might as well turn my voice into a saxophone."{{cite web |author=Zachary Sniderman |date=2011-12-06 |title=T-Pain Talks Autotune, Apps and the Future of Music |url=http://mashable.com/2011/12/06/t-pain-autotune/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108061014/http://mashable.com/2011/12/06/t-pain-autotune/ |archive-date=2013-11-08 |access-date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Mashable.com}} Following in T-Pain's footsteps, Lil Wayne experimented with Auto-Tune between his albums Tha Carter II and Tha Carter III. At the time, he was heavily addicted to promethazine codeine, and some critics see Auto-Tune as a musical expression of Wayne's loneliness and depression.{{cite web |date=February 22, 2013 |title=Twitter / noz: @YoPendleton @newbornrodeo |url=https://twitter.com/noz/status/305145147853787137 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216203713/https://twitter.com/noz/status/305145147853787137 |archive-date=December 16, 2013 |access-date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Twitter.com}} Mark Anthony Neal wrote that Lil Wayne's vocal uniqueness, his "slurs, blurs, bleeps and blushes of his vocals, index some variety of trauma."{{cite web |date=October 8, 2008 |title=A Love Supreme? |url=http://www.seeingblack.com/printer_522.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213004836/http://www.seeingblack.com/printer_522.shtml |archive-date=December 13, 2013 |access-date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Seeingblack.com}} And Kevin Driscoll asks, "Is Auto-Tune not the wah pedal of today's black pop? Before he transformed himself into T-Wayne on "Lollipop", Wayne's pop presence was limited to guest verses and unauthorized freestyles. In the same way that Miles equipped Hendrix to stay pop-relevant, Wayne's flirtation with the VST plugin du jour brought him updial from JAMN 94.5 to KISS 108."{{cite web |date=2008-08-07 |title=todo mundo » Blog Archive » Is that Lil Twane on the keytar? |url=http://www.kevindriscoll.info/todomundo/2008/08/07/is-that-lil-twane-on-the-keytar/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209210235/http://www.kevindriscoll.info/todomundo/2008/08/07/is-that-lil-twane-on-the-keytar/ |archive-date=2013-12-09 |access-date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Kevindriscoll.info}}

Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak was generally well received by critics, and it similarly used Auto-Tune to represent a fragmented soul, following his mother's death.{{cite web |date=November 25, 2008 |title=808s & Heartbreak Reviews |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/808s-heartbreak/kanye-west |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215022457/http://www.metacritic.com/music/808s-heartbreak/kanye-west |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |access-date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Metacritic}} The album marks a departure from his previous album, Graduation. Describing the album as a breakup album, Rolling Stone music critic Jody Rosen wrote, "Kanye can't really sing in the classic sense, but he's not trying to. T-Pain taught the world that Auto-Tune doesn't just sharpen flat notes: It's a painterly device for enhancing vocal expressiveness and upping the pathos ... Kanye's digitized vocals are the sound of a man so stupefied by grief, he's become less than human."{{cite magazine |last1=Rosen |first1=Joden |date=11 December 2008 |title=808s & Heartbreak |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/808s-heartbreak-20081211 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325104759/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/808s-heartbreak-20081211 |archive-date=March 25, 2017 |access-date=August 10, 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=}}

YouTuber Conor Maynard, who received criticism for his use of Auto-Tune, defended it in an interview on the Zach Sang Show in 2019, stating: "It doesn't mean you can't sing ... Auto-Tune can't make anyone who can't sing sound like they can sing ... It just tightens it up slightly because we're human and not perfect, whereas [Auto-Tune] is literally digitally perfect."{{Cite web |title=Conor Maynard Talks Hate How Much I Love You, Using Auto-Tune, James Charles & Caspar Lee |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPagDKvBGls |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112231559/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPagDKvBGls |archive-date=2020-01-12 |access-date=2020-05-19 |website=YouTube| date=July 19, 2019 }}{{Cite web |title=Conor Maynard on Auto-Tune & Why Artists Use It | date=July 22, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeORyL_ZAlI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/QeORyL_ZAlI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}

At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009, the band Death Cab for Cutie made an appearance wearing blue ribbons to protest the use of Auto-Tune.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1604710/death-cab-for-cutie-raise-awareness-about-auto-tune-abuse/|title=Death Cab For Cutie Raise Awareness About Auto-Tune Abuse|date=2009-02-10|access-date=28 November 2019|publisher=mtv.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731051019/http://www.mtv.com/news/1604710/death-cab-for-cutie-raise-awareness-about-auto-tune-abuse/|archive-date=31 July 2019}} Later that year, Jay-Z titled the lead single of his album The Blueprint 3 as "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)". Jay-Z said he wrote the song because of personal beliefs that the trend had become a gimmick that had become too widely used.{{cite web|last=Reid|first=Shaheem|title=Jay-Z Premiers New Song, 'D.O.A.': 'Death Of Auto-Tune'|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1613390/20090606/jay_z.jhtml|work=MTV|date=2009-06-06|access-date=21 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627025430/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1613390/20090606/jay_z.jhtml|archive-date=27 June 2009|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|author=Reid, Shaheem|title=Jay-Z Blames Wendy's Commercial—Partially—For His 'Death Of Auto-Tune'|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1613694/20090610/jay_z.jhtml|date=2009-06-10|work=MTV|publisher=MTV Networks|access-date=10 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613021555/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1613694/20090610/jay_z.jhtml|archive-date=13 June 2009 |url-status=dead}} Christina Aguilera appeared in public in Los Angeles on August 10, 2009, wearing a T-shirt that read "Auto Tune is for Pussies". When interviewed by Sirius/XM, she said Auto-Tune could be used "in a creative way" and noted her song "Elastic Love" from Bionic uses it.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWHSAQAAQBAJ&q=christina+aguilera+auto+tune+is+for+pussies&pg=PA165|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media|first1=Carol|last1=Vernallis|first2=Amy|last2=Herzog|first3=John|last3=Richardson|date=8 August 2017|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=9780199757640|access-date=8 August 2017|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502001932/https://books.google.com/books?id=XWHSAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=christina+aguilera+auto+tune+is+for+pussies&source=bl&ots=pvISBP4fX2&sig=F2bjNA3R4zu59UY00S66YfT-C7o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KYGYUuPFJumSiAfjoIDQCA&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=christina+aguilera+auto+tune+is+for+pussies&f=false|archive-date=2 May 2018}}

Opponents have argued that Auto-Tune has a negative effect on society's perception and consumption of music. In 2004, the Daily Telegraph music critic Neil McCormick called Auto-Tune a "particularly sinister invention that has been putting an extra shine on pop vocals since the 1990s" by taking "a poorly sung note and transpos[ing] it, placing it dead centre of where it was meant to be".{{cite news|title=The truth about lip-synching|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/12/1097406567855.html|date=2004-10-13|access-date=25 April 2010|last=McCormick|first=Neil|location=Melbourne|work=The Age|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115020027/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/12/1097406567855.html|archive-date=15 January 2010}} In 2006, the singer-songwriter Neko Case said a studio employee once told her that she and Nelly Furtado were the only singers who had never used it in his studio. Case said "it's cool that she has some integrity".{{cite web |author=Ryan Dombal |date=2006-04-10 |title=Interview: Neko Case |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31252-interview-neko-case |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501002800/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31252-interview-neko-case |archive-date=1 May 2007 |access-date=15 September 2008 |publisher=Pitchfork Media}}

In 2009, Time quoted an unnamed Grammy-winning recording engineer as saying, "Let's just say I've had Auto-Tune save vocals on everything from Britney Spears to Bollywood cast albums. And every singer now presumes that you'll just run their voice through the box." The same article expressed "hope that pop's fetish for uniform perfect pitch will fade", speculating that pop-music songs have become harder to differentiate from one another, as "track after track has perfect pitch".Tyrangiel, Josh, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372-2,00.html Singer's Little Helper] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210130008/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372-2,00.html |date=2009-02-10 }}," Time, 5 February 2009. According to Tom Lord-Alge, Auto-Tune is used on nearly every record these days.Milner, Greg (2009). Perfecting Sound Forever, p. 343. Faber and Faber. Cited in Hodgson (2010), p. 232.

In 2010, the reality TV show The X Factor admitted to using Auto-Tune to improve the voices of contestants.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11056050|title=X Factor admits tweaking vocals|work=BBC News|date=23 August 2010|access-date=8 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925124351/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11056050|archive-date=25 September 2017}} Also in 2010, Time included Auto-Tune in their list of "The 50 Worst Inventions".[http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1991915_1991909_1991903,00.html Auto-Tune: The 50 Worst Inventions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515130413/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1991915_1991909_1991903,00.html |date=2011-05-15 }}.

Heavily used by stars like Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and Britney Spears, Auto-Tune has been criticized as indicative of an inability to sing on key.{{cite web |title=Auto-Tune or How Anyone Can Sing |url=http://www.upvenue.com/music-news/blog-headline/1091/tuym-auto-tune-or-how-anyone-can-sing.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129035312/http://www.upvenue.com/music-news/blog-headline/1091/tuym-auto-tune-or-how-anyone-can-sing.html |archive-date=29 January 2013 |access-date=23 October 2012 |work=Up Venue}}{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=Vicki|title=Those who can't sing use auto-tune|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3812583/Those-who-can-t-sing-use-auto-tune|work=Stuff.co.nz|date=14 June 2010|access-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612170034/http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3812583/Those-who-can-t-sing-use-auto-tune|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Andrew|title=Danny O'Donoghue: I hate Auto-Tune, it's for people who can't sing|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/858783-danny-odonoghue-i-hate-auto-tune-its-for-people-who-cant-sing|work=Metro|date=22 March 2011|publisher=Associated Newspapers Ltd|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102092321/http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/858783-danny-odonoghue-i-hate-auto-tune-its-for-people-who-cant-sing|archive-date=2 November 2012}}{{cite web|title=Britney unplugged: Can Spears (actually) sing without 'Auto-Tune'?|url=http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=659325|work=MSN|publisher=Microsoft|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228015711/http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=659325|archive-date=28 December 2011}}{{cite web|title=Auto-Tune (Documentary)|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/auto-tune.html|work=NOVA|publisher=PBS|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029112430/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/auto-tune.html|archive-date=29 October 2012}} Trey Parker used Auto-Tune on the South Park song "Gay Fish", and found that he had to sing off-key in order to sound distorted; he said, "You had to be a bad singer in order for that thing to actually sound the way it does. If you use it and sing into it correctly, it doesn't do anything to your voice."{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4EGYmyC4m4 |title=Trey Parker on Auto-Tuning |website=YouTube |date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=15 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605200057/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4EGYmyC4m4 |archive-date=5 June 2014 }} The singer Kesha has used Auto-Tune in her songs extensively, putting her vocal talent under scrutiny.{{cite news|last=Reed|first=James|title=The pop star we love to hate|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/04/08/james_reed_explains_why_keha_is_the_pop_star_we_love_to_hate/?page=2|work=The Boston Globe|date=8 April 2011|publisher=NY Times Co|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211175243/https://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/04/08/james_reed_explains_why_keha_is_the_pop_star_we_love_to_hate/?page=2|archive-date=11 December 2013}}{{cite web|last=Adickman|first=Erika Brooke|title=OMG! Ke$ha Admits To Using Auto-Tune|url=http://idolator.com/5921542/kesha-team-coco-auto-tune|work=Idolator|date=30 June 2011|publisher=Buzz Media|access-date=23 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126105457/http://idolator.com/5921542/kesha-team-coco-auto-tune|archive-date=26 January 2013}}{{cite web|title=I can sing without Auto-Tune- Kesha|url=http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Entertainment/2012/10/18/I_can_sing_without_Auto-Tune-_Kesha_807243.html|work=BigPond|publisher=Telstra|access-date=23 October 2012}}{{cite news|last=Bosker|first=Bianca|title=Ke$ha Claims Not To Use Autotune (VIDEO): Does She Or Doesn't She?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/keha-autotune-video-star_n_570712.html|work=The Huffington Post|publisher=AOL|access-date=23 October 2012|date=10 May 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823100503/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/keha-autotune-video-star_n_570712.html|archive-date=23 August 2012}} In 2009, the producer Rick Rubin wrote that "Right now, if you listen to pop, everything is in perfect pitch, perfect time and perfect tune. That's how ubiquitous Auto-Tune is."{{cite news|last=Tyrangiel|first=Josh|title=Auto-Tune: Why Pop Music Sounds Perfect|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372,00.html|magazine=Time|access-date=23 October 2012|date=5 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023021402/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372,00.html|archive-date=23 October 2012}} The Time journalist Josh Tyrangiel called Auto-Tune "Photoshop for the human voice".

The big band singer Michael Bublé criticized Auto-Tune as making everyone sound the same – "like robots" – but said he used it when recording pop music.{{cite news|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Buble-Auto-Tune-is-overused/tabid/418/articleID/292609/Default.aspx|work=3 News NZ|title=Buble: Auto-Tune is 'overused'|date=April 2, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107032757/http://www.3news.co.nz/Buble-Auto-Tune-is-overused/tabid/418/articleID/292609/Default.aspx|archive-date=January 7, 2014}} Ellie Goulding and Ed Sheeran have called for honesty in live shows by joining the "Live Means Live" campaign. "Live Means Live" was launched by songwriter/composer David Mindel. When a band displays the "Live Means Live" logo, the audience knows, "there's no Auto-Tune, nothing that isn't 100 percent live" in the show, and there are no backing tracks.{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/live-ish-at-a-venue-near-you-are-miming-rock-stars-undermining-the-music-experience-9920527.html |title=Live (ish) at a venue near you: Are miming rock stars undermining the music experience?: The rock band that plays completely live, with no pre-recorded backing tracks or extended samples, is becoming rarer and rarer |last=Hardeman |first=Simon |date=12 December 2014 |website=www.independent.co.uk |publisher=Independent |access-date=29 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005050625/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/live-ish-at-a-venue-near-you-are-miming-rock-stars-undermining-the-music-experience-9920527.html |archive-date=5 October 2017 }} In 2023, multiple creators on the social media platform TikTok were accused of using Auto-Tune in post-production to correct the pitch of singing videos presented to appear as live, casual performances.{{cite web |last1=Crimmins |first1=Tricia |title=Those impressive TikTok singing videos might not be for real |url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/tiktok-singers-autotune/ |website=The Daily Dot |date=November 22, 2023 |access-date=20 March 2024}}

The US TV comedy series Saturday Night Live parodied Auto-Tune using the fictional white rapper Blizzard Man, who sang in a sketch: "Robot voice, robot voice! All the kids love the robot voice!"{{cite web |url=https://screen.yahoo.com/blizzard-man-2-000000059.html |title=Blizzard Man 2 | Saturday Night Live - Yahoo Screen |access-date=2014-03-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330143016/https://screen.yahoo.com/blizzard-man-2-000000059.html |archive-date=2014-03-30 }}{{cite web|url=http://snltranscripts.jt.org/08/08iblizzard.phtml|title=SNL Transcripts: Tim McGraw: 11/22/08: Blizzard Man|website=snltranscripts.jt.org|access-date=8 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702224007/http://snltranscripts.jt.org/08/08iblizzard.phtml|archive-date=2 July 2017}}

Satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic poked fun at the overuse of Auto-Tune, while commenting that it seemed here to stay, in a YouTube video commented on by various publications such as Wired.{{cite news | url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/11/will-auto-tune-ever-die-ask-know-your-meme-and-weird-al/ | magazine=Wired | first=Scott | last=Thill | title=Will Auto-Tune Die? Ask Know Your Meme and 'Weird Al' | date=16 November 2009 | url-status=live | archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20170309221508/https://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/11/will-auto-tune-ever-die-ask-know-your-meme-and-weird-al/ | archive-date=9 March 2017 }}

Starting in 2009, the use of Auto-Tune to create melodies from the audio in video newscasts was popularized by Brooklyn musician Michael Gregory, and later by the band the Gregory Brothers in their series Songify the News. The Gregory Brothers digitally manipulated the recorded voices of politicians, news anchors, and political pundits to conform to a melody, making the figures appear to sing.[https://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/15/auto.tune.news.iphone/index.html "Band's Parody Helps Keep Auto-Tune Alive"]. [https://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/15/auto.tune.news.iphone/], John D. Sutter, Time, September 2009[http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1893867,00.html "Auto-Tune the News"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315032856/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1893867,00.html |date=2010-03-15 }}, Claire Suddath, Time, April 2009 The group achieved mainstream success with their "Bed Intruder Song" video, which became the most-watched YouTube video of 2010.[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/double-rainbows-annoying-oranges-and.html "Double rainbows, annoying oranges, and bed intruders: the year on YouTube"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223211440/http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/double-rainbows-annoying-oranges-and.html |date=2010-12-23 }} YouTube Blog, Dec 2010

The Simpsons season 12 episode 14, "New Kids on the Blecch", satirizes the use of Auto-Tune. In 2014, during season 18 of the animated show South Park, the character Randy Marsh uses Auto-Tune software to make the singing voice of Lorde. In episode 3, "The Cissy", Randy shows his son Stan how he does it on his computer.{{cite web |url=http://www.fashionnstyle.com/articles/47957/20150221/sia-confirms-involvement-south-park-lorde-parody-chandelier-singer-figured-royals-artist-would-find-funny.htm|title=Sia Confirms Involvement In 'South Park' Lorde Parody, 'Chandelier' Singer Figured 'Royals' Artist Would 'Find It Funny' |date=February 21, 2015 |last=Heggs |first=Melanie |publisher=Fashion & Style |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425123429/http://www.fashionnstyle.com/articles/47957/20150221/sia-confirms-involvement-south-park-lorde-parody-chandelier-singer-figured-royals-artist-would-find-funny.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2016}}

• Audio time stretching and pitch scaling
• Melodyne, a similar product
• Overproduction (music)
• Robotic voice effects

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501002800/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31252-interview-neko-case |archive-date=2007-05-01 |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31252-interview-neko-case |title=Interview: Neko Case |publisher=Pitchfork |date=2006-04-10 |author=Ryan Dombal}} Artistic integrity and Auto-Tune
• CBC Radio One Q: [http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?42#ref42 The Podcast for Thursday June 25, 2009] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120316203801/http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/qpodcast_20090625_17492.mp3 MP3])—NPR's Tom Moon on the takeover of the Auto-Tune.
• [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0401/03.html "Auto-Tune"], NOVA scienceNOW, PBS TV, June 30, 2009
• [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/andy-hildebrand Andy Hildebrand Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection (2012)

{{Music technology}}

Category:1990s in music

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Category:Effects units

Category:Pitch modification software