Opinion: Not Everybody Can Sing with Auto-Tune
We’ve all seen the interviews on Genius where artists voice-crack through the video as they desperately attempt to explain their lyrics. Although it is accepted that Auto-Tune is essentially a cheat code in music, in this article, I am going to try my best to defend the use of Auto-Tune. There is a common misconception that anybody can sing with Auto-Tune, however, while it does make music substantially easier for vocalists who are not 100 percent on-key, the use of Auto-Tune and genuine singing talent are not mutually exclusive. Auto-Tune can sometimes be a stylistic choice--like in Justin Bieber’s song Heartbreaker and Billie Eilish’s song NDA--and even if it isn’t, there are many instances where Auto-Tune is incapable of assistance.
In order to even discuss the implications of Auto-Tune, we must first have a basic understanding of how something called “pitch correction” functions. When a sound’s frequency is increased, it raises its pitch. However, when a sound rises in pitch, it shortens in length. Conversely, when a sound falls in pitch, it stretches in length. What pitch correction does is it increases or decreases the frequency, while also adding or removing excess sound. This stretches or shortens the sound to accommodate the change in duration while maintaining the adjusted pitch.
What separates pitch correction from Auto-Tune is that pitch correction requires the user to manually determine how high or low a note’s pitch should change, whereas Auto-Tune automatically changes the pitch based on the closest note within the scale of the song. The most common pitch-correction tool is called Melodyne and is often used with the intention of achieving a more human, natural sound. Auto-Tune, however, often produces a rather robotic, artificial sound.
Fun Fact: Auto-Tune was originally developed by Antares Audio Technologies. Despite there being many alternatives, Antares Auto-Tune remains the most popular among its peers.
At this point, Auto-Tune may seem to be a miraculous aid to musicians. However, while Auto-Tune may help vocalists stay in-key, it does not guarantee that the vocalist will sound pleasant. Every vocalist has their own vocal range--soprano, alto, tenor, and bass are some popular ones--and Auto-Tune only offers assistance within the ranges a vocalist naturally resides. Auto-Tune does not eradicate voice cracks nor does it help a vocalist sing outside their vocal range. Energy, emotion, and inflection cannot be artificially added to a vocal track--these characteristics must be organic to the vocalist.
While Auto-Tune dramatically helps vocalists stay in key, it does not magically give vocalists the power to genuinely sing.
Auto-Tune is arguably one of the most significant tools in modern music, and that’s for good reason. It has unleashed many musicians’ creativity and even birthed entire genres. However, the misconception that Auto-Tune miraculously gives its user an angelic voice is completely false. While Auto-Tune makes raw vocals sound dramatically better, the power to sing remains something the individual must develop themselves.
Image from antarestech.com
