The first well-known use of auto-tuning was done in 1998 by Cher in "Believe", which the produces tried to cover as a talk box, a more commonly used device during this time period. Following Cher’s début of auto-tuning producers used the tone correcting software sparingly, only correcting the extremely pitchy notes. T-Pain kicked down the door of this secret in “I’m Sprung”. His use of the auto-tuning feature was so blatant that it took the music world by complete surprise. After the initial shock wore off crowds flocked to hear the radical beats put out by T-pain. In his article of “Pro/Con: Auto-tuning the music industry” David Toa writes this, “Critics have made T-Pain declare himself the "most hated-on artist" in the game, yet nowadays everyone seems to be sampling his style.” (Toa) In the Hip Hop industry artists from the veteran P-Diddy to popular artists like Rhianna, Justin Timberlake, Kayne West, and many more have dabbled in the new “T-pain” style. This is not without opposition, however, as artists like Ne Yo and Jay-Z find that auto-tuning takes away from the lyrics and music. In his new song D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune) Jay-Z launched an attack stating that, “But the music y’all making/ Ganna make it the Great Depression…Get back to rap, you T-pain-in’ too much… This is the Death of Auto-Tune, moment of silence.” (Jay-Z D.O.A Lyrics) His song is a declaration to the public that not all hip hop/rap/R&B artists are all caught up in the auto-tune hype. T-pain, also known as "The Auto Tune King", says, ““Oh yeah,” about whether he’ll still use Auto-Tune. “Definitely now. Jay-Z said something … I gotta do it now. It’s nothing outta the ordinary, so I’m ready.” (Reid and Rodriquez) T-Pain feels his music has a unique appeal to people that forces them off their feet and onto the dance floors. T-pain also writes all of his beats and lyrics. His talent is found in weaving the different elements into songs we adore like, “I’m Sprung.”
The reaction from the music fans varies, like Jenna Bushell from David’s article relates the rising of auto-tuning to this, “It's 1956 and Elvis Presley is to appear on "The Milton Berle Variety Show." During his appearance, he sang his own brand of music that mixed rhythm and blues with country and rock. This fusion of sound made Presley wildly popular with teens, but left many critics uneasy.” Elvis, with his unique blend of music, also had the music world reeling on its heels about what they thought of this up and coming version of sound. Although he was first greeted with hesitance, Elvis later on went on to become one of the biggest music legends America has ever known. In contrast David wrote, “But when judging music, quality trumps originality. Constant Auto-Tuning promotes lackadaisical, unmotivated recording, as more artists rely on technology to correct growing lists of flaws.” From this perspective artist do not have to have talent to top charts, but instead a good producer and editor willing to put in the time for them. The songs then have the tendency to lose meaning and sparkle as they give into the bumping, repetitive beats most favorable with auto-tune. Lost in the editing process are songs with depth and true meaning that connect with the crowds of listeners. David goes on to say that, “To truly succeed, the Auto-Tune needs more depth. Unfortunately, artists have yet to mint passionate work with the plug-in.” Backing his argument he states, “Other artists seeking to produce powerful material such as the highly successful, non-Auto-Tuned Ne-Yo, abstain from the plug-in altogether. "[Auto-Tune] takes the emotion out of your voice," Ne-Yo said.” It seems that although auto-tuning finds popularity on the radios and in the clubs, it will not find favor in the eyes of the music fans wanting more than a beat to bob their head to.
The version of auto-tuning the T-pain initiated will become its own style of music, just as Elvis with his blend. Where auto-tuning needs to die is with the artists and producers with no music talents and out only for monetary gain. Today, the number of fake vocals, lip sync concerts, and pitch corrected notes is a joke. When T-pain released “I’m Sprung”, he wasn’t inviting people without talent to join the music field. The Disney Channel sweetheart, Hillary Duff, broke from her adolescent roles with the release of her first album, “Metamorphosis”. After listening to just one song it becomes apparent however that the vocals on the track are more computer than actual singer. Producers realized what a gold mine they had. Actors that could act and sing? There could not be a more perfect combination. Mandy Moore, an accomplished actor and singer, made a splash in her hit movie “A Walk to Remember”, where her really powerful and uncomputerized vocals awed viewers. With the outbreak of auto-tune producers could now cheaply copy the magic made in the film. There is a place and time. The occasional correction of a pitchy note on a track, the creation of T-pain’s hypnotic club beats, and tasteful additions in other music is an acceptable use of the auto-tune software. Where the auto-tune crazed producers crossed a line was faking a talent that someone does not possess. Auto-tune is like a fool’s gold. Shined and fashioned into jewelry in an attractive and alluring manner and people will wear it, but no matter how much you shine or rearrange the pieces of fool’s gold it will never match the value of the real thing. Instead the pieces will get lost in the collection of worthless debris.
Five years ago T-pain had no idea the phenomenon his music would release into the musical world. His steps down the auto tune path will become legendary and will have forever changed the face of music, both for good and bad. Although the merit in the use of auto-tuning has received extreme controversy in the music industry, I feel that if used as T-pain had, for swaying beats in the club and on the radio, then auto-tune will find its place in the music world. Instances where auto-tuning should not be used are for faking a good voice on a singer that can’t sing. When America goes to a concert they want to hear the singer. They don’t want to be scammed by being lip-synced to; they can hear that on the radio. They really don’t want to find out that the singer can’t hit a note to save their life; they have the shower for that. Instead music fans from all over gather to hear awesome vocals preformed by an artist that practiced hours to ensure the notes come out just right. America wants authenticity.
Bibliography
"Lyricstop." Tpain: I'm Sprung. Web. 8 Mar 2010.
"Metrolyrics." Jay-Z: D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune). Web. 8 Mar 2010.
Reid, Shaheem, and Jayson Rodriguez. "MTV." T-Pain Will Still Use Auto-Tune On New Album Despite Backlash. 06 11 2009. Web. 8 Mar 2010.
Toa, David. "Pro/Con: Auto-tuning the music industry." Is the "T-Pain" effect a brilliant innovation or a bland rip-off?. 01 06 2009. Silver Chips, Web. 8 Mar 2010.
Worrall, Joe. "State." Interview: T-Pain. 03 10 2009. Web. 8 Mar 2010.
