Autotune was invented in 1997 by Dr. Andy Hildebrand as he tried to figure out a way to make the art of "mixing" easier for artists. The year after, Cher decided to use it for her song "Believe", which was immediately hit with a wave of controversy that would carry all the way to the 2000s.
Soon after, other artists like Eiffel 65, Kanye West, Britney Spears, the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Iver, and more all started to incorporate autotune in their music. Each artist that used it in the early to mid 2000s was met with a great amount of criticism and protest from listeners. However, many artists, the Black Eyed Peas especially, argued autotune was the way of the future and therefore undeniable. Soon, it began to shape music as we know it. Pop became much more hyper, with heavy club beats and audio that matched that feeling. R&B used it in more creative ways, with Kanye West using it to describe his grief and heartbreak. It took over the mainstream and soon enough it was undeniable that it was making music sound good. Acceptance then began to grow everywhere to the point where it's quite literally unavoidable these days. It's in every genre, in every song, on every radio, in broadway cast albums, and even on every single vocal competition show. Yes, that's right- none of those shows are in the slightest bit honest. |
After doing all my research, I then proceeded to write an opinion article surrounding my thoughts and frustrations with autotune in the music industry. I came to the conclusion that I really don't hate autotune, I just hate the amount of dishonesty it's grown to. Frankly, I associate it amongst the long list of beauty standards set by makeup and modeling industries. Average people don't sing like those using auto-tune but shows like The Voice-- who's whole thing is that "average people" can be talented and get big-- use autotune, it becomes a complete lie that negatively affects those who aren't perfect.
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For the art portion, I sought to show the negative effects of autotune in specific genres, while showing the strength in others. Originally I chose songs "I Dreamed a Dream" and "C'mon" by Ke$ha because I knew them and knew I could do them, but due to circumstances I switched over to songs "When He Sees Me" from the musical Waitress and "Fireflies" by Owl City.
In the end I accomplished what I desired, as the emotion in one song was damaged, as well as the vibrato. I proved that certain types of music and singing are damaged and hurt from autotune and that no autotune is better in genres like musical theater. At the same time, I also proved that autotune does belong in genres like pop music, as "Fireflies" was much better with autotune than without, as it definitely matched the instrumentation. |