The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Arts February 29, 2008

Sound Effects Replace Talent

If you’ve been in a bar or club in the last year, you’ve experienced it. From the depths of the mid-’80s comes one of our generation’s hottest pop music gimmicks — voice modulation. The sound produced by the autotuner, the most widely-used modulator, manifests in the robotic, super-synthesized vocals used in so many of today’s most celebrated hip-hop and pop tracks.

The mechanism behind the device is simple: it keeps a singer’s imperfect voice in perfect tune. But the reason that the effect sounds so foreign to a listener is a bit more complicated. While a person might have a very good sense of pitch, it is nevertheless impossible to sing perfectly on key at all times. Moreover, the human ear is accustomed to hearing notes sung between pitches. When Pavarotti hit a high one, for example, his vibrating voice encompassed both the desired note and numerous semi-tones around it.

The autotuner, however, calculates which note a vocalist is aiming for and adjusts the pitch of the vocal track so only that one, pure, unwavering tone is heard. The resulting sound is a bit like a voice and an electronic keyboard pouring out the same melody on top of one another, eliminating any trace of human imperfection. And, apparently, audiences dig that.

First employed in the pop sphere by R&B star Roger Troutman on his 1980 debut album, voice modulation enjoyed brief mid-’80s popularity in some mainstream pop songs and as something of a gimmick at live shows. Years later, the effect resurfaced in some early ’90s gangster music, perhaps most famously in the chorus section of Tupac Shakur’s “California Love.”

Voice modulation was not to emerge again until 1998, when Cher released her Grammy Award-winning dance track, “Believe.” Cher’s massively successful single, complete with its quavering auto-tuned vocal effect, marked the true beginning of the autotuner’s rise to pop prominence. Today, the device is used by artists ranging from electronica whizzes Daft Punk to rapper Snoop Dogg to Prince. Contemporary rapper/producer T-Pain has made the effect his personal trademark, employing it on both his own tracks and on those he produces, such as Chris Brown’s Billboard chart topper, “Kiss Kiss.”

There is some debate as to why this effect has caught on as of late. An optimist might point out that the autotuner creates a catchy and relatively unique sound effect that artists are experimenting with simply because it sounds good. However, the use of these vocal apparati might also hint at an actual deficiency in the music industry these days: frankly, some pop singers can’t sing.

And this isn’t so much their fault. Many young celebrities are simply the products of record companies and are increasingly being marketed as multi-talented, renaissance stars regardless of their actual training. Consider the case of Paris Hilton. In the early 2000s, I would have told you that Paris Hilton was, of course, a model. When she suddenly became an actress in Bottoms Up and House of Wax, I was a bit put off, but I conceded that modeling and film acting have a few things in common and didn’t fault her for her less-than-stellar performances. But when I first heard Paris’ new hit single on the radio, I’d had enough.

Today, young stars are more icon than artist, more poster child than child prodigy. A record company is interested in someone with star power, someone with pizzazz and spunk, someone who will keep the media begging for more. Oh, and the singing? Leave that to the professionals.


 
 
   

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