Get In Tune

If you have turned on your radio in the last few years I'm sure you noticed the "robot thingy". Yes I'm talking about the vocoder. Do you know the origins of this wonderful device though? Antares Audio Technologies is the company getting the awesome accolades. This device has became the savior of many careers. It is used to disguise inaccuracies and mistakes, and – due to its increasing use in modern music – has allowed many artists to produce more precisely tuned recordings. While Auto-Tune is only one out of many commercial pitch correction packages, auto-tune is frequently used in the media as a blanket term to describe any audio processing with a similar effect, perhaps because it was the first product allowing pitch correction in real time. Auto-Tune is available as a plug-in for professional audio multi-tracking suites used in a studio setting, such as Pro Tools, and as a stand-alone, rackmount unit for live performance processing. Auto-tune has become the standard for professional recording studios.

The vocoder was introduced to the world in 1930 as a telecommunication application. The idea was to code speech for transmission. The vocoder was first used in the music industry in the 1970's by The Alan Parsons Project, Giorgia Moroder, and Pink Floyd. 80 babies how can we forget Rockwell's use of the device on his one hit wonder "Somebody's Watchin Me" with Michael Jackson on the hook. Nobody personified the meaning of the vocoder like the late great Roger Troutman. He finessed the keyboard synthesizer that created robotic-sounding vocals through the simultaneous use of a piano-like interface and breath controller(breath tube), somewhat like a guitar talk box. In 2004 a brother named Akon revitalized the voice box with the hits "Locked Up", "Belly Dancer", and "Lonely". This opened the door for his secret weapon to the world. Enter T-Pain. Since then everybody has hopped on the bandwagon. Hip-Hop artists like Kanye West, Chris Brown, Ciara, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne have used Auto Tune in their own songs and in those of others.

The problem I'm having is everyone is feeling like they don't have to sing anymore. I know I'm nice in the shower but this might change the way I express myself. I imagine more people are utilizing Autotune than you think. This is how we are making it happen in 2008 so get use to it. Everything is repeating itself so I wonder what is next.