auto tune

[jimtzu]

i recently came across an old version of auto tune 1.3.. currently using sonar 3. is it compatible or even worth messing with? and if so, how does one use it.

 

[Cylkk]

yes it works fine with sonar 3, don't really udnerstand the rest of your question though- have you read the manual?

 

[Rokket]

It's supposed to help out singers who "mess up a note or two" and sing them a little off key. But it can sound really fake when used on someone who can't sing. You're better off without it, IMHO.

 

[Codmate]

It's supposed to help out singers who "mess up a note or two" and sing them a little off key. But it can sound really fake when used on someone who can't sing. You're better off without it, IMHO.

It's great for BVs IMO.

It's also good if you use it sparingly on a lead that you don't want to drop because other than one or two tuning problems, it's a great take.
I'm no expert, but I think the mistake people make is to use it over a whole track, when it becomes really noticable. I tend to use it on just one or two notes - and very carefully too. I tend to cut the portion I want to autotune out of the main track, put it on its own track and then put the autotune on that track. Usually the portion is very small. I apply the autotune with great care - playing with the settings and specifying the note(s) required via midi.

I think if you're careful with it, it can be a great tool. As with all these things if you don't use it with great care it can sound rubbish.

I know Marius De Vries is a fan of it, so it can't be all bad

 

[ssscientist]

You're better off without it.

Seconded. Nothing like a dose of 'auto tuning' to ruin a perfectly good vocal. The 'bad' notes are not so bad if the singer can carry a tune at all.

And you'll probably waste enough time getting it going to write a couple of new songs...

 

[Track Rat]

Autotune is a tool like compression or reverb and just like reverb or compression, it can be used badly. I use it surgically, NEVER over a whole track.

 

[xfinsterx]

If you take the time to learn the notes that the signger is using it can be an effective way of perfecting a take.

Its good to set the retune speed to almost all the way slow, and the selctor to almost all the way choosy.

In this way it works quite tranparently in my experience with it.

But also as others have stated, if the vocal take isnt worth a damn, Auto wont save you in the end.

 

[Lurk_R]

Autotune is a tool like compression or reverb and just like reverb or compression, it can be used badly. I use it surgically, NEVER over a whole track.

My two cents? It's a nice tool that gets too much of the wrong use. It's like adding spices to soup. Or better yet, women and their perfume. Instead of using just enough to bring out her essence, she bathes in it, and you can smell her a mile off downwind. Autotune is the same. It gets abused and you can hear it even with the vocals buried in the mix.

That being said, it's a nice tool if you learn how to apply it. And DON'T use the example of today's music as how to use it. That's the place it seems to get the most abuse.

 

[dachay2tnr]

Autotune is a tool like compression or reverb and just like reverb or compression, it can be used badly. I use it surgically, NEVER over a whole track.

Exactly.

I don't understand the hangup everyone has over autotune. Get over it. It ain't going away. It's a friggin' tool. It won't make a good singer out of a bad one any more than reverb will. However, properly used it is mostly undetectable and can save a whole lot of time with retakes.

Do not use the automatic mode. Use the graphical mode and only where it is absolutely needed.

My two cents? It's a nice tool that gets too much of the wrong use. It's like adding spices to soup.

Yeah, but don't blame the salt. Blame the a$$hole cook.

 

[dgatwood]

I find that the automatic mode works well on monophonic solo instruments---trumpet, trombone, bass (usually monophonic, though not necessarily). If things aren't exactly in tune, it saves you from having to go back and re-record the entire track. Of course, that's basically doing a constant adjustment, which you can do with other, cheaper tools fairly easily, but it certainly saves time and effort.

Even the best vocalists can be off on a note once in a while. Ditto on what xfinsterx said: set it almost all the way to 'clumsy' and as slow a start as possible, and it sounds fairly natural, even allowing some vibrato while still bringing the occasional goof back into shape. After doing that, though, I always go back and listen to it. If anything is far enough off to create noticeable artifacting, it means that it is correcting significantly, and that spot needs to be re-recorded (or it means that you have a smear that shouldn't be auto-tuned).

Auto-tune can make a bad singer sound like a robot or a good singer sound great, depending on how it is used. I've always thought it would be fun to sing something a quarter step sharp and run auto-tune just to get an intentional robot sound on something. Maybe it's just me.

 

[dicblack]

So how do you use on vocals to that "CHER" sound?
I wanted to try it out on some R&B vocals. Could someone walk me through.
Thanks

 

[Mr. Moon]

f#cking autotune...

-mr moon