Auto-Tune’s been getting a bad rap lately, and it’s really not the poor girl’s fault.

First, a bit of an overview for those unaware. Auto-Tune, produced by the fine people at Antares, is a relatively simple concept. It is a music production plug-in that will analyze the audio brought into it (usually a monophonic instrument, such as a voice). It will identify the pitch, and shift that pitch, in real time, the closest note value. Controls are available to set it within a certain key, or change  how fast it clamps down on errant notes. Essentially, it is rounding everything off, sanding hard corners and covering blemishes.

Here is the situation that showcases Auto-Tune’s intended use: You have a singer, and he or she has just laid down a perfect take. Or at least as perfect as man has achieved. Confident delivery, emotionally deep, and all that jazz. Here’s the problem with the thing: there is this one, singular, note that is flat. Just enough. Off too much to be unnoticed, and too little to be charming. Will you sacrifice this gorgeous piece of vocal talent over the minuscule issue of pitch? Thanks to the tools of the modern studio, you don’t have to! Throw some Auto-Tune on that bitch. And there, pitches are tightened, and the track is saved.

However, Auto-Tune is known nowadays for how it responds when pushed to its limits. Pitches are locked down hard and fast, with no room for vibrato, glissando, or any real humanity. When people decry the use of Auto-Tune, this is what they are referring to, and any pop music listener should recognize the sound almost immediately.

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T-pain is an innovator in this respect. He his currently the most public and vocal (guffaw guffaw) proponent and user of Auto-Tune, although there are certainly earlier examples (see: Cher). He is so intrinsically tied to the sound that when a certain Weezy F Baby (he would ask you to not forget the F) copped the technique, he became known as “T-Wayne”.

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In certain ways, Lil Wayne is also influential in Auto-Tune use. He made it OK for rappers to implement the sound, without having to utilize any actual singing talent. I wonder if he knows what he’s done. I wonder if he lays awake thinking about the evils he has unleashed upon the world. I doubt it. I hear untold amounts of money make for excellent bedding.

So, when music snobs, their noses held high, declare the evils of Auto-Tune, this is what their referring to. This is not, however, Auto-Tune’s only purpose. There’s the example posted above, a workman present in any modern studio. Then there are more interesting applications. For example, Daft Punk’s more famous vocal based tracks, such as “Around the World”, and “Harder Better Faster Stronger” push the unnervingly-perfect quality into full on robot speak.

When the first bits of Kanye West’s 808′s and Heartbreak began to trickle out, fans and critics derided him for seemingly appealing to trends by adopting sung, auto-tuned vocals. Really, though, what he was doing was, and still is, a completely unique approach to auto-tune, and pop songwriting in general. No one else has really been able to imitate this type of stark, electronic sound. Besides, it’s hard to argue with Kanye’s reasoning. From an interview with Fader: “I’m using auto-tune because I don’t give a fuck. I like the way it sounds.”

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One final example: “Lightspeed” by Matt and Kim. As we’ve seen above, Auto-Tune is typically associated with Rap and R&B. However, here it is applied to great affect in perhaps one of the happiest songs you will ever hear. It only requires bare instrumentation, and the effect only makes itself apparent when the vocals begin to careen wildly.

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So, my fellow digesters and critics of music. Don’t criticize Auto-Tune as you did before you were properly educated. The old girl deserves better than that. Criticize, instead, the song writers and record producers using the effect in such unimaginative ways. In that same vain, I say to my fellow song writers and record producers, experiment for God’s sake! Do something interesting with the thing! Put on a rhythm part, a string part, anything but a vocal!

Or you could just use Melodyne. Whatever.