Ok, usually auto-tune is pretty noticeable. But I’m on the bubble trying to figure out if Vanessa Carlton’s Private Radio is really her voice. There’s a chorus around the minute mark where the word “comes” in the phrase “when the night comes” sounds trilled to me. But I’ve listened to it again and again and I am vacillating between “that’s just her voice” and “she’s been subtly auto-tuned”. What say you?
Auto-Tune can be used subtly, and in the hands of a skilled engineer with a great ear is undetectable. But the skill and the musical knowledge to use it with a subtle touch is not often available.
It was intended to save an otherwise perfect performance, one that had the emotion needed for the song, but where the singer was a tiny bit flat or sharp on a couple of notes.
But it has been abused to try to bring mediocre singers into key. The problem is not that they are a bit flat or sharp, the problem is that they can’t sing for shit.
A great singer is one who sounds wonderful in a small room without a microphone. I’ve never seen Vanessa Carlton live, so I honestly don’t know if she can sing or not. But I try to stick to seeing performers at small venues where they can’t Auto-Tune.
But it can be used to great comical effect.
Seriously, that’s also a demonstration of how simple and effective the technology is, even for things that were never intended to be music. Who knows who can really sing or not these days?
And put to even cooler effect: http://www.symphonyofscience.com/videos.html
You don’t have to tell me! I’ve loved those folks since their early videos.
As I said, go see bands and individual performers at small clubs. You’ll see real singers. But if you see people at large venues, you’ll likely be hearing Auto-Tune.
There is some digital tuning happening, but it is subtle. I’m not sure actual Autotune is being used, instead of manually fixing parts. That said, there are some effects, like the reverb, that seems to be designed to mask any Auto-Tune.
I will offer this, though: here’s a live performance (audio only) from YouTube. You can hear a lot more places where she goes out of tune for effect, and a few places toward the end where she just seems tired. It seems that what Auto-Tune is being used in the mixed version is being used for its intended purpose–to fix little problems.