Vocal effect used a lot.
 

Hi there,

What is the effect used all the time on vocals, quite often on hip-hop/soft rap type stuff, one of the earliest examples I remember was on Cher's "Life After Love" recording. What is the name of that effect?

Cheers, Gordon.

It comes from using a vocal processor generally referred to as 'auto-tune', although there are quite a few different processors under different names that perform vocal pitch correction (Most notably, the software pitch correction Melodyne). In normal usage, it effectively and transparently allows the producer to correct off-key singing in a recorded vocal. To make more experimental use out of it, producers began making unnatural pitch bends on certain vocal notes for musical effect, (brought into the mainstream attention via the Cher song, thus dubbing it 'The Cher Effect') and eventually this effect was picked up by R&B and Hiphop producers who began using it with more frequency and with more (arguably horrific) drastic application.

Auto-tune processors were originally intended to transparently correct off key sections in a vocal recording, but Cher pulled down the pants of the auto-tune world, T-Pain sodomized it repeatedly, and a vast majority of the recording industry has now forgotten how to make love.

that flava flav song someone posted a while back comes to mind.


truly disturbing.

I can't wait until this fad blows over, it's ****ing awful.

you might as well wait for the day guitar players stop using distortion pedals.

I think I'm going to start auto-tuning distorted guitars.

hmmm interesting hahah

i wonder if you could cause pc meltdowns by trying to auto-tune too many effects? slap on some super lush slow flange on top of the fuzz and maybe a couple of delays hehehe

Would be interesting to try, if for nothing but the sake of curiosity.

I might do that for my next Electronica project. Although I'm sure my computer could handle it, If something explodes, I'll send you a bill. ;)

sounds good

here's my mailing address

mr. dave
on a boat
****, in my pants
90210


but seriously, i'm curious to hear this.

It won't work very well unless your guitar is very out-of-tune, and even then most auto-tune VSTs don't like fuzz or distortion when they are affecting a track. Although I guess you could manually adjust the pitch, which most plug-in versions allow you to do - it's just really hard to get that signature sound, I prefer to put it in the key I want and flip a few panels and it does it for me... not that I ever seriously use it.

Yes... yes it can. Lost one big "auto-tune" symphony track I was doing because of it. It was a joke but I put a lot of bloody time into that track - and it's hard as heck to find recordings of out-of-tune orchestral instruments!