The history of auto-tube begins with Cher. When the retune speed is set to its maximum, natural bending between notes is replaced by “zig-zag” movement, resulting in the “gerbil” or “robotic” sound we know today as the “T-pain effect” or the “Cher effect” ( Frere-Jones, "The Gerbil's Revenge) Basically, auto-tune can locate the pitch of a recorded instrument or voice and then adjust this to the correct pitch in a “user-specified scale (including minor, major, chromatic and 26 historical and microtonal scales),” matching human input with virtual scale pitch ( Auto-tune 7). In 1997, Hildebrand’s firm Antares released “Auto-tune,” a plug-in that corrects pitch in vocal and instrumental performances ( A Brief History of Antares). Hildebrande soon discovered that his technique could detect pitch in addition to oil. Hildebrand was using sound waves to locate oil reserves under the ocean using a technique called “auto-correlation,” in which sound waves were sent into the Earth and their reflections were then recorded with a geophone (Frere-Jones, "The Gerbil's Revenge"). Yet how could an effect become so popular if its only purpose is to fix “lazy” human error? If listeners enjoy such an effect, have they too become inauthentic and innately lazy people? With little real evaluation of auto-tune available, I propose an examination of the history of the use of auto-tune to get some background traction and then an analysis of its use with the hopes of getting to its core to answer the question: Why has auto-tune permeated most media in such a short period of time and with such extreme application? I think the answer to this question lies in our longing for controlled intimacy with technology and the digital.Īuto-tune began as a tool developed by Exxon engineer Andy Hildebrand. Many music critiques and sophisticated listeners scoff at its exploitation, immediately dismissing auto-tuned music as inauthentic and auto-tuned artists as lazy singers. There has been much debate about the use of auto-tune in contemporary music.
As much as many of us can’t stand the excessive amount of auto-tune being used in music, YouTube, and even television, its prevalence suggests to me that it a special case among effects being used today.