Exactly this Sir.What the world needs -- is Tom Waits, autotuned.
The numbing sameness of the sound of so many current pop stars/acts is distressing (to me) to hear. And, yes, I realize, that homogeneity isn't strictly due to processing, but rather the old adage imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Turns out a lot of this is an urban legend, although I would have said the same before googling it. He did work in oil exploration but the work was separate - and he was a professional musician at one point! https://www.vice.com/en/article/bma...e-and-changed-music-forever-interview-creatorAutotune was originally designed to assist in the sonar mapping of seabeds for the mining industry. The inventor was not a musician, so you can't blame him. I don't believe he had any "intentions" on how the tool should be used and was astonished to see the creative ways it was adopted.
Musicians always use things in unexpected ways. That's the prerogative of the artist.
Thankfully there is an almost unlimited amount of recorded music available to us, and I would guess that 95% of it is not autotuned, so it seems a little mean-spirited to complain about it.
There are other, later interviews much more complete that the one you linked to so I wouldn't describe what I wrote as "urban legend".Turns out a lot of this is an urban legend, although I would have said the same before googling it. He did work in oil exploration but the work was separate - and he was a professional musician at one point! https://www.vice.com/en/article/bma...e-and-changed-music-forever-interview-creator
I think many people sincerely love the throaty, inarticulate midrangey voice that's currently fashionable. Singers and listeners both. ...and the success that comes with it.Edited for accuracy IRL.
Someone must like it, I guess. But I'm sure it gets tossed into most pop songs as an obligatory thing.I think many people sincerely love the throaty, inarticulate midrangey voice that's currently fashionable. Singers and listeners both. ...and the success that comes with it.
It was once something made fun of because back then you mostly heard it when actors wanted to sing in their movies or the younger one-hit-wonders cranked out a song with it. Now I hear it on so many tracks from really popular people that I wonder if their fans really like something about it. Or maybe they've just been conditioned to expect the voices to sound like that.Someone must like it, I guess. But I'm sure it gets tossed into most pop songs as an obligatory thing.
Just like heavy compression, autotune is now expected for pop music ... even people that can sing use it. I think most younger pop fans would find a dynamic non autotuned recording to sound strange and unfamiliar. Luckily good quality recorded music has been around for 70+ years so it is possible to find the recording style you prefer.