# Auto-Tune: Forgivable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035 "2017-02-28T15:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/21 "2017-02-28T19:11:45Z")
Yes, that’s why I wrote “can be”; some performers are really good at their craft, others can’t hardly play guitar. It was done with studio musicians, i.e. “the wrecking crew” etc. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/22 "2017-02-28T19:48:39Z")
I have absolute pitch and find out-of-tune music to be borderline unbearable. It’s hard to describe but it’s almost like physical pain, just a really uncomfortable sensation that makes me feel very tense and like I want to run away. So AutoTune is just fine with me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/23 "2017-02-28T20:00:25Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > The auto-tune thing is a fad, maybe pioneered by that Cher song. That too will mercifully pass. I get the sense the OP is more interested in the “invisible” use of auto-tune, as opposed to the musical “HEY LOOK IT ME! I’M A SOUND LIKE AN AUTOTUNED ROBOT!” effect type of auto-tune, judging by their comments in this thread. “Auto-tune” does NOT only mean robotic vocals. That’s one use of it – as an effect. More subtly (and its original intent), it’s used to clean up slightly off-key notes and to nudge them into the right pitch. It’s used on a lot of music over the last 15 -20 years where you would never suspect it’s being used. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/24 "2017-02-28T20:54:01Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > What most folks don’t like is when it is used as a vocal effect. ::shudder:: > [@4d3fect](#): > > Whenever I hear it, I switch the source, can’t stand the sound of it. Don’t listen to much music that uses it obv Yeah, this. It’s not the notion that the performer is “cheating” that bothers me; it’s the awful sound itself, as overdone in the trashpop music world. Sets my teeth on edge. Affected and unpleasant, it sounds like someone pinching their nose off to imitate a person with a head cold. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/25 "2017-02-28T21:31:50Z")
My favorite singer(s) would never use auto-tune; believe me, I’d know. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/26 "2017-02-28T22:14:40Z")
I think some folks may be surprised to hear that even some recordings of [opera performances](http://www.talkclassical.com/34226-autotune-elephant-room.html) use auto-tune judiciously. It’s surprisingly ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/27 "2017-02-28T22:28:23Z")
I dislike auto-tune. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/28 "2017-03-01T00:09:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wait? Is there something wrong with four-to-the-floor and “peasoup” hi-hats? Makes me wanna dance! Peasoup! I’ve never heard it called that. It’s perfect! But, yeah, it got overdone. (And I do love some disco.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/29 "2017-03-01T00:47:56Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > Peasoup! I’ve never heard it called that. It’s perfect! > > But, yeah, it got overdone. (And I do love some disco.) I can’t remember where I first heard it. It may have been from Andy Partridge describing the drum beat in parts of “Generals and Majors,” but I’ve heard it around to describe that closed-open eighth note hi-hat pattern. (ETA: [Here’s the Partridge quote in #6](http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/s_GeneralsAndMajors.html).) ETA2: [Although this may be where I first read it](http://chalkhills.org/articles/XTCFans20070916.html).(Or, maybe not, as that’s about “Meccanik Dancing.”) > [@](#): > > TB: It’s a cool part – I love what Terry does with the hi-hat there. > > AP: Yeah, because he’s getting into that big, aggressive disco thing. I think we mentioned it before , but disco records were an enormous influence on us as a band. He really loved that whole “pea-soup, pea-soup, pea-soup” kind of drumming. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/30 "2017-03-01T01:21:19Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My favorite singer(s) would never use auto-tune; believe me, I’d know. Bob Dylan? Leonard Cohen? Curt Cobain? ---
**Author:** ![guitario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@guitario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guitario)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/31 "2017-03-01T08:42:15Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > I have absolute pitch and find out-of-tune music to be borderline unbearable. It’s hard to describe but it’s almost like physical pain, just a really uncomfortable sensation that makes me feel very tense and like I want to run away. So AutoTune is just fine with me. Honestly, those of us without perfect pitch experience the same sensation. For example, an out of tune string bend on a guitar is horrendous. It creates dissonance, a different note than what is expected… and that causes tension in the brain. I may not know that the dodgy note is an E or a C# etc, but I know that it’s not good! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/32 "2017-03-01T15:00:43Z")
Whether or not I find auto-tune “forgivable” depends upon context. For cleaning studio recordings? As long as it’s subtle I don’t care. As a deliberate effect? If it integrates well with the piece, sure, it’s just another artistic choice. Badly done to clean up sloppy work? Hey, bad editing is bad editing and lousy musicianship is lousy musicianship. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/33 "2017-03-01T15:10:00Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > As an effect, it can be fine in the proper context. > > As a “cheat” for insufficient singing talent, yes I would be very disappointed. this. if used to fix a missed note in an otherwise good take, no problem. and its use as an “effect” e.g. T-Pain is just annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/34 "2017-03-01T15:36:39Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > Isn’t is just another technological “improvement/ enhancement” like double-tracking, vocoder, artificial echo effects and innumerable other tricks that have been employed since the dawn of recorded music? I guess, but it depends to what extent it is required - same thing for any other kind of editing effect - if someone edits the drum track of a song to minutely shift the timing of one off beat in an otherwise excellent performance, that seems reasonable. If it’s necessary to edit the timing of every percussion sound to make it fit the beat, then I’m afraid what you have is a talentless drummer. Or any other kind of editing. If you use photoshop to remove a strand of hair that’s in the wrong place in a shot, that seems reasonable (you could have done it with a comb before taking the picture). If you use it to completely change the shape and appearance of the subject, that is art in its own right, but what you have at the end is not so much to do with any intrinsic qualities of the subject. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035/35 "2017-03-01T18:52:30Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It’s when it is used as its own effect that it’s unforgivable. I think it has its place as an effect. In the vast majority of bubblegum pop uses, I agree it’s annoying. But there are cases where I think it adds to the feeling or atmosphere of a song. Take [this example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmuNK0MiXg4) by Dean and Britta (she’s a good singer and doesn’t need autotune to hit the notes). Its use here gives the music an ethereal, dreamy feel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-tune-forgivable/781035.md?page=1)