I guess I don't get the big deal about using auto tune...would you leave a concert because the guitarist was using effects (ie, changing the genuine sounds of the guitar)? This is just one more way for artists to be artists. Sit back and enjoy!
The thing with auto-tune is that it will take a good/great performance and make it (arguably) better.
If it is used correctly (in a subtle and gentle way) its difficult to know that its being used.
In order to tune very out-of-tune vocals you must use extreme settings. By doing this the vocals turn out sounding non-human like. However, this is the effect used by T-Pain, etc...
I will even go so far as to say it's been used live. When I went to ACL Eddie changed microphones before and after Unthought Known... and the song was flawless vocally. Normally you are hear Eddie hit a lot of off pitch notes in any given song... but that particular performance was flawless. The rest of the show there was an obvious lack of auto-tune, but that one song...
i'm in no way saying you're wrong, but i was wondering - could the mic change have had something to do with the echo he uses on that song?
i'm more a fan of popular bands.. like the bee-gees, pearl jam
All artists use autotune to some degree. Every single one of them. It may just be for a word here or there or even a note but they all use it, from the worst of singers to the best. I work as a studio manager at a production and management company in NYC. The producer I work w/has done remixes for Madonna, Beyonce, Seal, etc and they all use it.
Ah, nope! Not all artists use autotune to some degree. Maybe the whole pop/dance/r&b/soul/rap community. Not 'all artists' in the field of rock/hardrock/alternative/heavymetal/country.
Not every single artist during every single song recording uses it but the majority of them do, in any genre.
Edit: I'm speaking specifically of song recording not live concerts.
"The Wild is chasing after me. Hot on my trail won't leave me alone. All I can see is your blood right in front of me, and I can't kill The Wild." Me
The thing with auto-tune is that it will take a good/great performance and make it (arguably) better.
If it is used correctly (in a subtle and gentle way) its difficult to know that its being used.
In order to tune very out-of-tune vocals you must use extreme settings. By doing this the vocals turn out sounding non-human like. However, this is the effect used by T-Pain, etc...
Agreed. And sometimes it's used for a single note that the singer was flat or sharp on, not an entire song. There's times where an artist nails the intensity and/or emotion of a line but the pitch may be slightly off somewhere and you don't want to re-record it because you may not get that same emotion, in that same way, again.
"The Wild is chasing after me. Hot on my trail won't leave me alone. All I can see is your blood right in front of me, and I can't kill The Wild." Me
I will even go so far as to say it's been used live. When I went to ACL Eddie changed microphones before and after Unthought Known... and the song was flawless vocally. Normally you are hear Eddie hit a lot of off pitch notes in any given song... but that particular performance was flawless. The rest of the show there was an obvious lack of auto-tune, but that one song...
i'm in no way saying you're wrong, but i was wondering - could the mic change have had something to do with the echo he uses on that song?
Definitely could have been. I won't argue with you there. I just found it curious that there were plenty of off-pitch notes throughout the rest of the concert, with the exception of that particular song... And even that could be for any number of reasons...
However, that was also the only time I've heard that song live, in person (I'm not going to count the SNL performance), so I have nothing else to compare it to really... I've heard it sung on the Los Angles boots from the tour as well, and it doesn't sound nearly as clean, sharp, or pitch-perfect... So maybe it was that he used it for the one occassion? Or maybe I am just losing my mind, I don't know??
Maybe I'm just being anal cause I've taken it to heart going to shows and hearing everyone using heavily processed vocals... I need authenticity... I could care less if it's exactly the same as whats on the albums..
I'm curiuos if Cornell will use the auto-tune with Soundgarden as blantently as he abused it the last time I saw him live... hopefully I'll get the chance to catch him somewhere and check it out... can't do lolla unfortunately...
Houston, Texas... Believe it or not, there are 7 million people here... must be a couple of fans who'd love to see you play.
I was wondering cause you mentioned "I also work as a sound designer/composer and have years of experience using Auto-tune and Melodyne (similar to auto-tune). http://www.nk-sd.com/" Wouldn't you have the software that show's the graph, so you can see each vocal pitch & sound that uses Auto Tune which pin points where you hear the mix?
I'm very curious what other Pearl Jam tracks use Auto Tune.
if I had the vocal track only (with no instruments) I could analyse it easily and figure out which words or phrases in a song have been tuned more. The reason I know that it is being used is that, when Autotune isnt used carefully it leaves small "artefacts" or abnormalities in the vocal sound. The best way to use auto-tune is so no-one knows u have used it.
I'm not sure if PJ have used auto-tune before backspacer - i would have to listen to figure out.
Listen to "Unthought Known" at around 1:14 - the word "air". Does that sound normal to you ?
I totally hear the auto-tune there, which doesn't make it a bad (poppy) thing though. It's just when it's overdone (ala T-Pain, Kanye West) is when it sucks.
I was wondering cause you mentioned "I also work as a sound designer/composer and have years of experience using Auto-tune and Melodyne (similar to auto-tune). http://www.nk-sd.com/" Wouldn't you have the software that show's the graph, so you can see each vocal pitch & sound that uses Auto Tune which pin points where you hear the mix?
I'm very curious what other Pearl Jam tracks use Auto Tune.
if I had the vocal track only (with no instruments) I could analyse it easily and figure out which words or phrases in a song have been tuned more. The reason I know that it is being used is that, when Autotune isnt used carefully it leaves small "artefacts" or abnormalities in the vocal sound. The best way to use auto-tune is so no-one knows u have used it.
I'm not sure if PJ have used auto-tune before backspacer - i would have to listen to figure out.
Listen to "Unthought Known" at around 1:14 - the word "air". Does that sound normal to you ?
I totally hear the auto-tune there, which doesn't make it a bad (poppy) thing though. It's just when it's overdone (ala T-Pain, Kanye West) is when it sucks.
I'm sure they didn't want you to be able to hear the autotune at 1:14 or anywhere else on the album. They simply used it to tune the vocals slightly. The problem is that when its not done carefully/correctly things like this happen. T-Pain and Kanye West do this on purpose, to an extreme to compensate for their lack of singing ability...in this way its used as a vocal effect sorta like reverb could be used.
Comments
If it is used correctly (in a subtle and gentle way) its difficult to know that its being used.
In order to tune very out-of-tune vocals you must use extreme settings. By doing this the vocals turn out sounding non-human like. However, this is the effect used by T-Pain, etc...
i'm in no way saying you're wrong, but i was wondering - could the mic change have had something to do with the echo he uses on that song?
Not every single artist during every single song recording uses it but the majority of them do, in any genre.
Edit: I'm speaking specifically of song recording not live concerts.
Agreed. And sometimes it's used for a single note that the singer was flat or sharp on, not an entire song. There's times where an artist nails the intensity and/or emotion of a line but the pitch may be slightly off somewhere and you don't want to re-record it because you may not get that same emotion, in that same way, again.
Definitely could have been. I won't argue with you there. I just found it curious that there were plenty of off-pitch notes throughout the rest of the concert, with the exception of that particular song... And even that could be for any number of reasons...
However, that was also the only time I've heard that song live, in person (I'm not going to count the SNL performance), so I have nothing else to compare it to really... I've heard it sung on the Los Angles boots from the tour as well, and it doesn't sound nearly as clean, sharp, or pitch-perfect... So maybe it was that he used it for the one occassion? Or maybe I am just losing my mind, I don't know??
Maybe I'm just being anal cause I've taken it to heart going to shows and hearing everyone using heavily processed vocals... I need authenticity... I could care less if it's exactly the same as whats on the albums..
I'm curiuos if Cornell will use the auto-tune with Soundgarden as blantently as he abused it the last time I saw him live... hopefully I'll get the chance to catch him somewhere and check it out... can't do lolla unfortunately...
I totally hear the auto-tune there, which doesn't make it a bad (poppy) thing though. It's just when it's overdone (ala T-Pain, Kanye West) is when it sucks.
I'm sure they didn't want you to be able to hear the autotune at 1:14 or anywhere else on the album. They simply used it to tune the vocals slightly. The problem is that when its not done carefully/correctly things like this happen. T-Pain and Kanye West do this on purpose, to an extreme to compensate for their lack of singing ability...in this way its used as a vocal effect sorta like reverb could be used.