I searched the board to find any reference to A-tuner, but alas I could not. I'm just wondering if anyone has an inkling as to whether or not Devin uses Auto Tune. I'll be completely honest in saying that I'm not 100% on what exactly auto tuning does, but I read a topic on this over on some Opeth boards and it piqued my interest.

This is what an auto-tuner does

But an all seriousness, auto-tune does exactly what it says. If you sing/play a note off-key, it puts it in key... kind of.

So is it used as a crutch of sorts, or is it a legitimate tool to help people with actual ability?

So is it used as a crutch of sorts, or is it a legitimate tool to help people with actual ability?

Most pop artists abuse the shit out of it- see Kanye West.

Doesn't seem like some thing Dev would be into.

That depends on who you talk to.

T-Pain (and a lot of rappers and R&B singers these days) use it to change the sound of their voice. Some people hate that (Edit: like Dan). Others love it. Others think it's ok.

Other people use it to hide imperfections, such as an off-key note they hit. Some people hate that. Others love it. Others think it's ok.

It's up to you. My personal opinion of music is use whatever resources you have to get the sound you want. Others will disagree. On this forum, auto-tune probably won't receive a warm reception, but as a musician, you should form your own opinion of what works for you.

Auto tune (read: Pitch correction) can be used in several ways. The most common one these days, so it would seem, it to get that vocoder, T-Pain/Lil Wayne/Generic-"rapper"-here effect. However, its used on pretty much...EVERY modern record as pitch correction. Meaning it interprets the note and if its off pitch slightly (or more than slightly) it'll determine what note it thinks the singer was trying to hit. And then if it guesses wrong, you can manually place the note. Sometimes you have off days and it can be an extremely helpful tool for getting everything sounding perfect, because lets face it, our voices aren't always perfect on their own.

[swervedriver]

The few Hz of pitch correction that is sometimes needed can make a world of difference to how the music sounds, in the sense of it being much easier on the ears. It's the same with moving a slightly off beat to the right place in the rhythm.

I think Devin's using Melodyne for tuning vocals (he twa..twitted about that once).

Personally I think existence of such things is a bit depressing but whatever - we've already got used to lots of "cheating" techniques used in recording: overdubs, heavily edited takes, quantized performances of keyboard/drums, some psychoacustic processors magic etc. So additional cheaty gizmo shouldn't be that issue should it. If music is ace and artist can deliver it live in decent way I can live with it.

Yeah, thats pretty much it, they help make things go back into line. I remember watching a vid where he was recording someone singing, and the guy got it a little off pitch and he was like... "Sorry, gotta retake it, no auto tune here." Or something along those line, twas a little muffled.

Personally I hate auto tune, because it makes people just sound unnatural and weird. If you're going for that effect, then cool, whatever. But I dislike the fact I can hear it retuning people as they sing. I find it really off putting. Espeically when the person already has a fantastic voice. (Take note Gackt. wtf. )

[swervedriver]

For small pitch corrections it isn't notable. Only for that modern rap stuff that was mentioned earlier, and Cher (Believe anyone?), where you can be singing whatever the hell you want and pitch-correct it to a melody you make up later.

Yeah, thats pretty much it, they help make things go back into line. I remember watching a vid where he was recording someone singing, and the guy got it a little off pitch and he was like... "Sorry, gotta retake it, no auto tune here." Or something along those line, twas a little muffled.

Personally I hate auto tune, because it makes people just sound unnatural and weird. If you're going for that effect, then cool, whatever. But I dislike the fact I can hear it retuning people as they sing. I find it really off putting. Espeically when the person already has a fantastic voice. (Take note Gackt. wtf. )

Ah yeah, the Soilwork video.

I don't think Dev uses auto tune, it's usually very easy to hear, and in all honesty I would be disappointed if he did because in my opinion it takes the musicianship out of being a musician.

Good example of auto tune used as a crutch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbIa_9Qc7xk

[youtube]8z13AjI8n4I[/youtube]

Couldn't bypass the thread without posting that video...

Can't say I like Auto-Tune. If you can sing you can sing, if you can't you can't. If you fuck it up, try again. Don't be taking cheap shortcuts and fixing it in the mix, or pretending you sound like something you actually don't.

I fucking love that song.

After watching that vocal session for Sworn to a Great Divide, where Bjorn is saying "No fucking A-tuner on this record!", it just seems like it's viewed as a bad thing. I have to admit that I would be a little saddened to know that some of my favorite vocalists used it and don't really sound the way they come across on the record. Then again, I know virtually nothing about the subject other than what you guys have told me, so mebbe it's not that big of a deal.

After watching that vocal session for Sworn to a Great Divide, where Bjorn is saying "No fucking A-tuner on this record!", it just seems like it's viewed as a bad thing. I have to admit that I would be a little saddened to know that some of my favorite vocalists used it and don't really sound the way they come across on the record. Then again, I know virtually nothing about the subject other than what you guys have told me, so mebbe it's not that big of a deal.

It's viewed differently by different people. Is it ok to use an auto-tuner to make the song better? Don't take Bjorn or mine or anyone elses opinion on it, form your own.

Even if an artist uses it, it doesn't subtract from their actual song-writing ability, though.

Think of it as a cheat code in a video game. Some people want to beat the game fair and square. Others are playing it just for fun, and might not want to waste too much time getting whatever the cheat code gets you. Either way, you get the same result at the end.