Ok, I am sick and tired of autotune. Will it ever die? It's sucking the life out of real music and I hate it. Will this ever die? What will it take for autotune to disappear for good? I saw a news article today that referenced Will.I.Am.Annoying as a "musician", really? GTFOH! LOL!

Don't listen to it then. Problem solved.

But it's freaking everywhere! LOL!

Eh get in the back of the line.

Pop is autotuned techno...kinda understandable. But when R&B is autotuned techno and Hip-Hop is autotuned techno and so on and so on...we have a problem.

I would say it has peaked in popularity, I hear alot less of it on the radio then I did 2-3 years ago.

I hate the radio but y'all still finding an excuse to listen to it hoping autotune will die. Turn it off and it will.

Timmy84 said:

I hate the radio but y'all still finding an excuse to listen to it hoping autotune will die. Turn it off and it will.

The thing is Timmy, I'm afraid to even try to hear new stuff because if that damn autotune appears I'm gonna like jump out the window screaming, LOL! It just seems like a lot of songs (if you wanna call them that) sound ALIKE and I can't distinguish them because all of them use the same crap drum beats and autotune, it takes nothing to be famous I guess.

SeventeenDayze said:

But it's freaking everywhere! LOL!

Is that so? I'm not aware of any autotune at an opera performance, a Irish folk tunes record, a instrumental album, a square dance, etc. I can't name 5 songs with autotune on them because I don't listen to the radio. If you want to be spoonfed music by a radio station, then you don't have any reason to complain about it. Turn it off, or listen to an oldies station. There's no autotune there, because it hadn't been invented.

MickyDolenz said:

SeventeenDayze said:

But it's freaking everywhere! LOL!

Is that so? I'm not aware of any autotune at an opera performance, a Irish folk tunes record, a instrumental album, a square dance, etc. I can't name 5 songs with autotune on them because I don't listen to the radio. If you want to be spoonfed music by a radio station, then you don't have any reason to complain about it. Turn it off, or listen to an oldies station. There's no autotune there, because it hadn't been invented.

Hey Mickey, well I don't want to be "stuck" in a particular era either. I think it's good to keep moving forward (but I still have a lot of older music I listen to constantly, most of which was made before I was even born).

SeventeenDayze said:

MickyDolenz said:

Is that so? I'm not aware of any autotune at an opera performance, a Irish folk tunes record, a instrumental album, a square dance, etc. I can't name 5 songs with autotune on them because I don't listen to the radio. If you want to be spoonfed music by a radio station, then you don't have any reason to complain about it. Turn it off, or listen to an oldies station. There's no autotune there, because it hadn't been invented.

Hey Mickey, well I don't want to be "stuck" in a particular era either. I think it's good to keep moving forward (but I still have a lot of older music I listen to constantly, most of which was made before I was even born).

Opera, classical, jazz, funk, traditional country, traditional R&B, folk, easy listening, blues, samba, tropical, bossa nova, etc are still being recorded and released.

Yeah I guess it's time for me to get rid of pop music then I still like Lady Gaga but not many others though.

AUTOTUNE

SeventeenDayze said:

Timmy84 said:

I hate the radio but y'all still finding an excuse to listen to it hoping autotune will die. Turn it off and it will.

The thing is Timmy, I'm afraid to even try to hear new stuff because if that damn autotune appears I'm gonna like jump out the window screaming, LOL! It just seems like a lot of songs (if you wanna call them that) sound ALIKE and I can't distinguish them because all of them use the same crap drum beats and autotune, it takes nothing to be famous I guess.

That's why the radio can no longer be turned on. Just venture out of your comfort zone.

Gaga is the Queen of autotune..... you're a mess.

SeventeenDayze said:

Yeah I guess it's time for me to get rid of pop music then

What is "pop"? It doesn't mean anything, it's short for popular music. All of these acts have had pop success:

Little Richard

Perry Como

Louie Armstrong

Elvis Presley

Pink Floyd

Run DMC

Styx

Fleetwood Mac

Robert Cray

Yanni

Manheim Steamroller

AC/DC

Kenny Rogers

The O'Jays

The Lettermen

The Beatles

Anita Baker

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Stevie Wonder

Alabama

Al Green

Tony Orlando & Dawn

Kenny Rogers

Bing Crosby

Geto Boys

The Archies

Frankie Avalon

Ace Of Base

Waylon Jennings

Donna Summer

Herb Alpert

Boston

U2

The Shirelles

Duran Duran

Motley Crue

Air Supply

I wouldn't say that these acts have a common sound that could be defined as a "pop" sound. They just happened to sell a lot during their time.

SeventeenDayze said:

Yeah I guess it's time for me to get rid of pop music then I still like Lady Gaga but not many others though.

What Micky said.

No, he means Pop as in Shitney Spears, Madonna Corpse, Gaga etc.

PlayboyOriginal said:

No, he means Pop as in Shitney Spears, Madonna Corpse, Gaga etc.

What sort of sound do they have that makes them pop? Pop is music purchased by the majority of people at any particular time, which could mean:

big band jazz

folk

country

disco

rap/hip hop

psychedelic

new wave

rockabilly

soft rock

dance

smooth jazz

hair metal

arena rock

singer/songwriter

bubblegum

pop funk

adult contemporary

girl group

dance craze songs

doo wop

teen idol

rock 'n roll

soul

"race" music

surf rock

vocal groups

could be considered as pop. Even the Three Tenors (opera) used to place high on the pop album sales chart.

MickyDolenz said:

PlayboyOriginal said:

No, he means Pop as in Shitney Spears, Madonna Corpse, Gaga etc.

What sort of sound do they have that makes them pop? Pop is music purchased by the majority of people at any particular time, which could mean:

big band jazz

folk

country

disco

rap/hip hop

psychedelic

new wave

rockabilly

soft rock

dance

smooth jazz

hair metal

arena rock

singer/songwriter

bubblegum

pop funk

adult contemporary

girl group

dance craze songs

doo wop

teen idol

rock 'n roll

soul

"race" music

surf rock

vocal groups

could be considered as pop. Even the Three Tenors (opera) used to place high on the pop album sales chart.

You are being overtly too technical. Pop has become its own genre known as bubblegum pop which Shitney Spears, Madge etc have popularized. Listen to any BS album and you can clearly hear pop.

PlayboyOriginal said:

You are being overtly too technical. Pop has become its own genre known as bubblegum pop

Well then it is not really "pop" in sound, but pop as in popularity. Bubblegum was made in the 1960's and early 1970's, usually with cartoon bands or TV acts like The Archies, The Banana Splits, Partridge Family, The Beagles, Brady Kids, Josie & The Pussycats, etc. A lot of this was produced and/or written by Jerry Kasenetz & Jerry Katz. Goffin & King, Neil Diamond, Boyce & Hart, Toni Wine, & Ron Dante also wrote for bubblegum acts. There were also actual bands/groups who made bubblegum like the Ohio Express, the DeFranco Family, The Pepperment Rainbow, and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. The Jackson 5 were called "bubblegum soul".

Autotune is a piece of software?

what did it ever do to you?

spank yo mama?

MickyDolenz said:

PlayboyOriginal said:

You are being overtly too technical. Pop has become its own genre known as bubblegum pop

Well then it is not really "pop" in sound, but pop as in popularity. Bubblegum was made in the 1960's and early 1970's, usually with cartoon bands or TV acts like The Archies, The Banana Splits, Partridge Family, The Beagles, Brady Kids, Josie & The Pussycats, etc. A lot of this was produced and/or written by Jerry Kasenetz & Jerry Katz. Goffin & King, Neil Diamond, Boyce & Hart, Toni Wine, & Ron Dante also wrote for bubblegum acts. There were also actual bands/groups who made bubblegum like the Ohio Express, the DeFranco Family, The Pepperment Rainbow, and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. The Jackson 5 were called "bubblegum soul".

All of that plus Shitney Spears, Madonna Corpse and Gaga are all corny, cheesy, bubblegum Pop. Thank you for giving us the history.

Autotune is only bad if it's used by talentless people like Kesha and T-Pain.

MickyDolenz said:

SeventeenDayze said:

But it's freaking everywhere! LOL!

Is that so? I'm not aware of any autotune at an opera performance, a Irish folk tunes record, a instrumental album, a square dance, etc. I can't name 5 songs with autotune on them because I don't listen to the radio. If you want to be spoonfed music by a radio station, then you don't have any reason to complain about it. Turn it off, or listen to an oldies station. There's no autotune there, because it hadn't been invented.

It's used in abundance in the type of music that they play in shopping centers, supermarkets and sometimes even in public transportation too. Clothing stores are the biggest offenders in that regard - I like all kinds of music and listen to some silly crap too, but they just seem to pick the worst of the bunch to be played at those places. What I've found really irritating is that people are often using some really heavily autotuned songs as their ringtones. You're walking somewhere, minding your own business and then you hear "Uuuu-waAAA-aaa-Eeeh-yieeuuueeaah!" coming out of someone's goddamn pocket. As loud as possible, of course.

I don't like it how cheap it makes everything sound on decent playback equipment. On good speakers or headphones you can easily hear how thin and brittle the resulting sound usually is. It's filled with pops and clicks too. It's not smooth like an old-fashioned vocoder or a talkbox is.

novabrkr said:

MickyDolenz said:

Is that so? I'm not aware of any autotune at an opera performance, a Irish folk tunes record, a instrumental album, a square dance, etc. I can't name 5 songs with autotune on them because I don't listen to the radio. If you want to be spoonfed music by a radio station, then you don't have any reason to complain about it. Turn it off, or listen to an oldies station. There's no autotune there, because it hadn't been invented.

It's used in abundance in the type of music that they play in shopping centers, supermarkets and sometimes even in public transportation too. Clothing stores are the biggest offenders in that regard - I like all kinds of music and listen to some silly crap too, but they just seem to pick the worst of the bunch to be played at those places. What I've found really irritating is that people are often using some really heavily autotuned songs as their ringtones. You're walking somewhere, minding your own business and then you hear "Uuuu-waAAA-aaa-Eeeh-yieeuuueeaah!" coming out of someone's goddamn pocket. As loud as possible, of course.

I don't like it how cheap it makes everything sound on decent playback equipment. On good speakers or headphones you can easily hear how thin and brittle the resulting sound usually is. It's filled with pops and clicks too. It's not smooth like an old-fashioned vocoder or a talkbox is.

yea but i think thats because you actually have to play the notes with a vocoder or talkbox. that and its analog.... vs autotune is pure digital.

[Edited 8/7/11 3:10am]

So do I, and it's all over contemporary gospel now...

Mdizzles said:

novabrkr said:

It's used in abundance in the type of music that they play in shopping centers, supermarkets and sometimes even in public transportation too. Clothing stores are the biggest offenders in that regard - I like all kinds of music and listen to some silly crap too, but they just seem to pick the worst of the bunch to be played at those places. What I've found really irritating is that people are often using some really heavily autotuned songs as their ringtones. You're walking somewhere, minding your own business and then you hear "Uuuu-waAAA-aaa-Eeeh-yieeuuueeaah!" coming out of someone's goddamn pocket. As loud as possible, of course.

I don't like it how cheap it makes everything sound on decent playback equipment. On good speakers or headphones you can easily hear how thin and brittle the resulting sound usually is. It's filled with pops and clicks too. It's not smooth like an old-fashioned vocoder or a talkbox is.

yea but i think thats because you actually have to play the notes with a vocoder or talkbox. that and its analog.... vs autotune is pure digital.

[Edited 8/7/11 3:10am]

Playing the notes on a vocoder or a talkbox does bring some life to it, you're right. Vocoders aren't usually analog though - some of the very early models were, but I don't think those have been used on too many recordings. And while talboxes are analog, folks like Roger Troutman typically used his with a digital synth (Yamaha DX100, I believe - even if on a few clips he can be seen using it with a Minimoog as well).

What I don't like about Autotune is just the choppiness and the overall thinness of the sound. It's strange that most engineers and producers are very concerned over microphones and acoustics, but the autotuned parts sound almost amateurish sometimes. There's often audible "snapping" during those parts where the program has to do a lot of pitch-correction.

They had the Harmonizer in the 80s for this sort of thing, and did the job smoothly. Autotune can do the job smoothly too (Shania Twain) but it's the misuse of autotune that is loads of fun as a recording artist. You can't get mad when a song is produced exactly how the artist wanted to have it sound.

PlayboyOriginal said:

MickyDolenz said:

Well then it is not really "pop" in sound, but pop as in popularity. Bubblegum was made in the 1960's and early 1970's, usually with cartoon bands or TV acts like The Archies, The Banana Splits, Partridge Family, The Beagles, Brady Kids, Josie & The Pussycats, etc. A lot of this was produced and/or written by Jerry Kasenetz & Jerry Katz. Goffin & King, Neil Diamond, Boyce & Hart, Toni Wine, & Ron Dante also wrote for bubblegum acts. There were also actual bands/groups who made bubblegum like the Ohio Express, the DeFranco Family, The Pepperment Rainbow, and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. The Jackson 5 were called "bubblegum soul".

All of that plus Shitney Spears, Madonna Corpse and Gaga are all corny, cheesy, bubblegum Pop. Thank you for giving us the history.

I don't know about Spears and Gaga because I've never heard anything by them, but I have some Madonna albums and they don't fit the defintition of bubblegum. She's dance music. If you've ever heard bubblegum, you wouldn't call this modern music that. It has nothing in common with bubblegum. Bubblegum has a certain sound and certain kind of lyrics.