Auto-Tune: The Imperfection of Perfection

By: Dave Edscorn

It’s not often that I get too upset about new trends in pop or hip-hop. In my opinion, both of them are too far gone to waste too much time complaining about, but I feel that the time has come to rant a bit about the monstrosity that is the pitch-correction program Auto-Tune.

My first conscious experience with Auto-Tune was listening to T-Pain’s guest spot on “The Good Life” off Kanye West’s Graduation album. I didn’t think much of it at the time, my reaction was most likely akin to “Who is this man and why does he sound like a robot?”

Since then, I feel like I hear Auto-Tune everywhere in hip-hop. T-Pain may have invented the technique of using the program to distort his vocals, but it didn’t stop there. Last November it went from fad to full-blown movement with Kanye’s album 808’s and Heartbreak, where West sings every song through Auto-Tune. He uses the technique to provide a cold and emotionless effect, which is exactly what makes it inaccessible to me. What is music when you take emotion out of it?

Even more disturbing is when the program is used as its creator, Andy Hildebrand, intended. As a pitch-correction program, Auto-Tune allows notes to be bumped to a perfect pitch, ensuring that any singer can release a song that is perfectly in-tune.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372,00.html?iid=digg_share, check it out, it’s very informative), this is done more often than most people realize. Most pop songs these days have been run through Auto-Tune, making the vocals far more perfect than most artists can achieve on their own. The side effects? Singers may be getting lazy, assuming that they can get by with a few lousy takes and still produce a great-sounding track. As consumers, we may be getting lazy as well. We expect every song coming out to be a little pitch-perfect gem, making it difficult for dedicated artists that actually try to sing well on their own to get proper recognition.

Personally, I prefer a little grit in my music (the day that Lucero or the Hold Steady start using Auto-Tune is my last), and don’t have much time for musicians that see digital alteration as perfection. However, what about my kids? Are they going to dig through my records and complain that Pete Townshend is out of tune and Mick Jagger is a little pitchy? Auto-Tune may be taking the emotion out of hip-hop, but it’s also taking the soul out of everything else.