Auto-Tune Cons

The Greatly Controversial World of Singing

Arguably, the most-valued tool in the process of music shaping was not created for the commercial purpose it now serves. Auto-tune is a computer program that was created in 1997 to get a clearer reading of seismic activity, not altered by small flaws in the instruments used to record the activity. Shortly after its birth, it started developing into one of the most used tools in the music industry, which helps some less-talented singers appear to be on-key on a recording. Auto-Tune accomplishes this by modifying their voice on a computer platform to match their voice with the closest key. In other words, it allows persons to become singers who may not have the best of voices by electronically smoothing

The vocal cords are muscles, and like every other muscle, exercising them enables a better performance. Because of auto-tune, it takes less work to make a good album, which has resulted in more singers, but it has also resulted in many singer's success being determined more by their image than their singing. For example, Lana Del Rey, a famous singer, cannot hold a note for more than a split second before her voice shakes and swerves. Her live performances are heavily diluted with a backing track to support her weak vocals. Even with her lack of vocal ability, she has reached the top of the music charts with several of her singles. Auto-Tune takes away the faltering voice and replaced it with a smooth, polished finish. It is worth noting that with the release of her new album, her fan base has dropped drastically. Many critics believe this is because she decided, the week before her album was due to be released, that it should be recorded live, and delivered raw and unedited. The sound of the album was so different from her other albums that people were not able to identify with her singing. As auto tuning strives for the song's producer's vision of vocal perfection by assisting the unripe singers, it also takes away the little tidbits of the ripe singers’ voice that add unique flavors. The development of auto-tune has created pressure on singers to utilize it to sound more comparable to other artists. Not only this, it also allows singers to become famous without having met the previous requirement of being able to sing well. As a consumer, auto-tune does make a recorded track of a rough singer more pleasant by smoothing over the rough parts; however, the technically perfect singer doesn't exist. Attempts to electronically alter a singer's voice to sound more technically perfect makes their voices sound too similar and processed to create a lasting impression of awe, as well as