Music History

Here’s the Guy We Can Blame for Auto-Tune

I hate Auto-Tune. Hate it.  I despise the “Cher effect” and everything T-Pain does.  I loathe how Aut0-Tune has made it possible for sub-standard singers to become famous.  It’s a cheat. And Auto-Tune has allowed all music to take on an otherworldly, perfect-pitch sheen that strips all humanity away from performances.

Autotune 7

So who can we blame for this? An oil exploration engineer named Andy Hildebrand.  Yes, he invented Auto-Tune while looking for fossil fuels.  Here’s a screenshot of Auto-Tunes ancestor.

landmark-software-autotune

Venture Beat has the whole story of how looking for oil ended up giving us Ke$ha.

 

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 39530 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Here’s the Guy We Can Blame for Auto-Tune

  • I wish that only substandard vocalists were using auto-tune.

    George Michael released a song a few years ago that used it. I mean, this is George Michael. Like him or not, it’s hard to deny that he’s one of the most phenomenal male pop vocalists of our gen. The man has the kind of vocal control that most people pray for. And he’s using auto-tune simply because it exists.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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