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Many musicians’ career revolves around good music production. Those who are respected as great songwriters, vocalists whose NEAR PERFECT vocal pitch carry emotions that can cause the hardest of hearts to tingle bringing tears of joy have come and gone. Some never saw the limelight for lack of a seductive demo. Several multi-talented/gifted musicians have carried on in stable music careers because of the army of producers surrounding them. Michael Jackson had Quincy Jones and Rodney Jerkins and many great musicians on his list. In Hip-Hop, a DJ was born. Add fashion and exposure to the mix, and you end up with a tastemaker or a trendsetter.
Mainstream musicians have seen great success partly due to the hard work of producers and engineers around them parachuting them to stardom. Concerning the autotune, many artists (including myself) have found ingenious ways to use it. As a singer, it can be used to correct pitch. As a producer, it can be a vital tool to enhance the sound of instruments. In the last two years, rappers have stumbled on the technology and used it to revolutionize the music of hip-hop. Some have overused it recklessly while others have desisted from its use entirely. Hip Hop is diversity. To remain relevant in hip-hop, an artist must adapt to new trends or set them. That’s why artists like Heavy D, for example, are no longer related to today’s hip-hop.
As a singer, it can be used to correct pitch. As a producer, it can be a vital tool to enhance the sound of instruments.
With every new song that gets produced, every hit that rolls out of music stores, there are elements of voice modulation in each song. I feel it is very ignorant to assume that one can cause autotune use to become untrendy by merely condemning it after it became a trend. Jay Z HAS BEEN very influential in hip-hop, but the notion of the Death Of Autotune shows some ignorance on his part when it comes to production. Much of his rap vocals had to have already used pitch corrections subtly. The mere mixing of a track by a studio engineer is done to match voice pitch to the instrument. In most instances, it’s done subtly to where the correction is usually mistaken for the artists’ original delivery. Just like when Jay Z claimed to have freestyled all his albums…yeah right, how about writing a song in secrecy and then performing it as if it is a fresh spanking new freestyle. The question is how long is this generation going to keep falling for the same trick?
Roger and Zapp, Sheer, Black Street, Tupac and Dr. Dre, The Notorious BIG, etc. all used autotune at some point in their careers in the same distinctive way that T-Pain, Kanye, and Lil Wayne have used it. Only over time, the latter artists became bolder with the availability of the equipment and software. They delved deeper and experimented with a new sound. Hip-Hop needs such change and cannot remain stagnant. While a part of me is over the voice modulation fad and sides with Hov from a street perspective. I also see it fit to express that from a musician’s standpoint, songs featuring the effect will continue to dominate clubs and airwaves, because the emerging generations of hip-hop will tune Jay-Z out, despite his legacy in acceptance of something or someone newer.
The mere mixing of a track by a studio engineer is done to match voice pitch to the instrument.
If one was to interview the producers and engineers who produce for Madonna, Mariah Carey, Beyonce’, Rihanna … even Usher, Ne-yo and Chris Brown, the king of music himself – Michael Jackson, you will find that they all used some form of voice modulation to enhance the song. Autotune may take a different form, but it is not going anywhere. On this topic, I think Jay-Z’s move wit DOA was a gimmick. The Blueprint 3 might be a fantastic album, but it is not going to cause music producers to stop using autotune. The thought of that in itself is so lame that only a rookie to the business of music production will buy the idea. If we saw through John Mc Cain and Sarah Palin, we apparently see through this one. But I’ll let you tell it.*
www.freddywill.com
I see your point. This autotone is still everywhere