# God Dammit Enough With The Fucking Auto-Tune Already **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546 "2008-11-19T23:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/21 "2008-11-20T01:27:57Z")
[Here’s another - actually my favorite track from the new mixtape (which is otherwise pretty weak).](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dFx8sbByk&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/22 "2008-11-20T01:39:19Z")
And who could forget [Eiffel 65](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H25lz7gchaw)? I think that whole damn album uses the effect. Not bad actually. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/23 "2008-11-20T01:52:22Z")
> [@SuntanTigerTamer](#): > > To this: after Cher’s song, you didn’t see a glut of pop stars using this technology. I disagree (at least, my shoddy memory tells me I disagree) - it seemed like it was everywhere back then. Could be a regional thing though, I’m in the UK. Not coincidentally, this was around the time I stopped listening to the radio. ---
**Author:** ![FreeByAnyMeans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@FreeByAnyMeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreeByAnyMeans)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/24 "2008-11-20T02:23:33Z")
> [@SuntanTigerTamer](#): > > Wayne is going to remembered as one of the greatest to ever rap, and his auto-tune phase will be remembered as his lowest point. Please. Lil Wayne is the most overrated MC of all time and his buzz will fade as quickly as it grew. On that note, Kanye is overrated as well. Best music of their careers? Not saying much. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/25 "2008-11-20T02:49:28Z")
Auto-tune is the music industry’s version of shaky-cam. Used judiciously, it’s an interesting effect to add to your palette of interesting effects. Overused and it’s crap. Even the greats make mistakes in judgement sometimes, though - I submit the low-frequency vocal distortions from Prince’s “Rainbow Children” album for the jury’s perusal. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/26 "2008-11-20T02:49:33Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Oh. Like the opera singer in _The Fifth Element_? They’re very specific that they did not digitally alter [the singer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inva_Mula-Tchako)’s voice in various documentaries. I’ve seen some accusations that they played with the timing (i.e., she sang the notes, just not as rapidly), but nothing about using a vocoder. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/27 "2008-11-20T02:55:14Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > It’s software or a device that corrects the pitch in human voice so it’s less human and more “precise”. Cher used it on “Believe” which is why her voice sounds so weird. > > Robin So _that’s_ what that was! I thought she was singing through a Slinky! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/28 "2008-11-20T03:08:11Z")
I freaking love Believe and Eiffel 65, mainly due to that exact effect. So neener. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/29 "2008-11-20T03:42:58Z")
Auto-Tune is put to its original pitch-correction use on many of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s bits in “Once More With Feeling.” It’s not hard to hear if you know what you’re listening for. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/30 "2008-11-20T03:48:16Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > A reknowned opera singer, [Inva Mula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inva_Mula) (credited as Inva Mulla Tchako) sung the part. The references I found differ on what was done with her voice - the [IMDb trivia section](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/trivia) says that she claimed a human voice could not jump through the hoops Besson required (assuming for parts of the latter half of the song, as the first half is an aria from Lucia de Lammermoor), so he had her sing the notes separately and put them together electronically. The Wiki article says that in the special edition’s commentary, it was said that “her voice was not digitally altered”. I’m not sure where the truth lies. From what I recall, I would say that indeed that part was beyond the capabilities of a human, however talented. The leaps from top to bottom are simply too rapid. I would argue that singing the notes separately and splicing them together is not digitally altering her _voice_ per se, so I wouldn’t say that there’s really any conflict there. It certainly wasn’t fixed with auto tune or anything similar. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/31 "2008-11-20T03:52:58Z")
I’m old. I don’t know who the heck any of the musicians mentioned in this thread are, with the exception of Cher and Madonna. You people make me sick. Did I mention I’m old? And, oh yeah, I liked Cher’s Believe. So there. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/32 "2008-11-20T04:10:21Z")
As if you needed another reason to hate T Pain, here’s one more: his concerts suck dirty, sweaty donkey balls. Now, I know what many of you are thinking: “You went to a freakin’ T Pain concert and expected to hear actual performing?” Look, I never liked the guy, but my friend’s boyfriend had a boner for him, so I was dragged to three, yes THREE, T Pain concerts. I love rap music and I think rap shows are the best- even if the ones where the rapper is clearly rapping over a recording to make his voice sound stronger. That said, let me tell you what happens at a Tpain show: Tpain shows up 2.5 hours late. T pain comes on to the stage with 3 guys and talks about being rich for at minimum 10 minutes (Seriously) T Pain sings the hook of some incredibly popular song (elapsed time: 35 seconds) T Pain tells us how rich he is for another 5 minutes T Pain sings the hook of some incredibly popular song (elapsed time: 35 seconds) T Pain brings his body guard out with a box so he can change his grill. T Pain brings out his grill maker guy, who stands there like a doofus while they talk about being rich. T Pain sings the hook of some incredibly popular song (elapsed time: 35 seconds) T Pain brings out some atrocious girl group he’s trying to pimp T Pain tells the girl group how rich he is for 5 minutes. T Pain sings the hook of some incredibly popular song (elapsed time: 35 seconds) You get the idea. It went on like that for 2 hours until he brought out Busta, who is AMAZING live. Busta’s 30 minute set easily made up for the shitfest of T Pain. Fuck T Pain. Fuck his Apple Bottom Jeans. Fuck his boots with the fur. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/33 "2008-11-20T04:15:57Z")
Oh! I’m not done venting yet, damnit. The bass is always turned up so fucking high at his concerts that you can’t even hear what he’s saying. I’m used to the heavy bass of rap shows, but this shit is ridiculous. [I made this here video of one of the show’s for my friend’s boyfriend.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK_Kw6ZIXOM) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/34 "2008-11-20T04:20:42Z")
Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why” is another famous example of Autotune abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/35 "2008-11-20T04:30:38Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Fuck T Pain. Fuck his Apple Bottom Jeans. Fuck his boots with the fur. (With tha FUR!) I like the stylized autotune in moderation, but totally dig well done talkboxing. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanTigerTamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SuntanTigerTamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanTigerTamer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/36 "2008-11-20T07:30:34Z")
> [@FreeByAnyMeans](#): > > Please. Lil Wayne is the most overrated MC of all time and his buzz will fade as quickly as it grew. > > On that note, Kanye is overrated as well. Best music of their careers? Not saying much. Wrong. The most overrated MC of all time is hands down Nasir Jones. I am no latecomer to Lil Wayne; in fact the best part of his music is that you can hear him grow from a mildly talented teenager in the late nineties to the lyrical monster that he is now. Besides a few under appreciated guys like the GZA, Ras Kass and Royce Da 5’9", there really isn’t anyone who can compete with his lyrics and the way he turns a phrase. And cause it’s my thread, I’m going to declare this hijack over. I won. Thanks for playing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/37 "2008-11-20T07:39:15Z")
I don’t think this thread should be over without a link to this (Youtube): [I Need a Computer to Sing This Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PszFo51u-qA) (As seen in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493753).) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/38 "2008-11-20T11:09:50Z")
Anything done to alter Cher’s voice is an improvement, except making it louder. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/39 "2008-11-20T11:34:43Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I don’t think this thread should be over without a link to this (Youtube): > > [I Need a Computer to Sing This Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PszFo51u-qA) > > (As seen in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493753).) That is full of awesome. I don’t mind some use of electronic voice manipulation (Bob Mould has done some good experimentation with vocoders, for instance), but I especially hate the use of auto-tune to get a bad singer in tune - listen to them try to sing live and you’re hit over the head with how poorly they really sing. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546/40 "2008-11-20T11:50:39Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > How much does it “correct” the voice. If some with with a horrible voice sings through it, does it sound better? Passable? Good? I’ve heard various non-singing reporters play with it. It’ll make someone who can’t sing sound better, but it’s not going to give anyone magic powers. In fact, this Sunday on NPR’s Weekend Edition, there will be a segment where Liane Hansen does this. Obviously, I haven’t heard it yet, so I don’t know how she fared, but (IIRC) Renee Montaigne did the same thing and while she sounded better, she still didn’t sound good. Its intended use is to correct those little quirks that can make a difference between a good album and a great one. OTOH, it’s a toy that will be played with until producers get bored with it and go on to the next toy. Robin [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-dammit-enough-with-the-fucking-auto-tune-already/473546.md?page=3)