Music

Has Auto Tune Ruined Music? (Spoiler: Yes)

I’ll tell the story again.

A couple of summers ago, I was scanning the radio when I chanced upon an oldies station playing “You’re the One That I Want” a hit from the Grease sountrack featuring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.  I HATE that song–but for some reason, I decided to listen…differently.

I was struck by Newton-John’s and Travolta’s amazing vocal control:  expressive, great breath control, careful vibrato and bang-on key.  What talent, I though.  Then I started thinking about Auto Tune.

“You’re the One That I Want” was recorded in 1978, more than two decades before Auto Tune began to appear in recording studios. Today, though, almost every studio has Auto Tune and almost every client wants to use it. The result has been an otherwordly, supernatural perfection in vocal performances, all fake.

So has Auto Tune ruined the music industry?  Not quite, but it’s damn close.  A site called Tone Deaf continues:

It’s a familiar question and an issue that’s destined to circulate in debate for some time yet – ‘Has Auto Tune Ruined The Music Industry?’

Sure, it has mauled modern music, torn into those with talent (or lack there of), and regurgitated many a robotic hint of what technically skilled voices used to sound like. But it is a tool that ultimately holds vast possibilities of unique sounds and mind-blowing creativity, yet a tool is only as advantageous as the artist using it.

Not many good things can be said about Auto-Tune for the live music lover, where any lip-synching leads to automatic shunning, many going as far to describe Auto Tune as evil.

So, ruined? Not entirely. Not yet at least. But gosh it isn’t far off.

Continue reading.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37925 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Has Auto Tune Ruined Music? (Spoiler: Yes)

  • Is fire hot and water wet?

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.