Music Made With A Bad Mix

Pitch-correcting devices have existed for decades, and are now a major part of the music recording industry. Over the years, music has changed and the question became, do music producers generically manufacture entertainers and recording artists?  Because of  audio processing devices like “Auto-Tune,”  a lot of artists are able to produce a commercially accepted sound. Critics say that consumers should hold artists accountable for creating  music that can not be reproduced in live settings.  No matter where the discussion ends up, we must identify  how we got here in the first place.  

Go back about 50 years ago. The fifth season’s  first episode of “The Brady Bunch” TV show, which was broadcast on September 14, 1973, was titled, “Adios, Johnny Bravo.”  The episode’s premise was based on how ‘celebrity-status’ can be completely manufactured.  Almost 50 years after that particular “Brady Bunch” episode was broadcast, we are truly in a time  where “human talent” can be manufactured and completely manipulated on a regular basis.

On June 5, 2009, rap music artist Jay-Z released a song titled, “D.O.A.” (Death Of Auto-Tune), which referred to the way so many Hip Hop and R&B artists were following a trend of using the Auto-Tune voice effect to enhance their music.  In the end, the song (D.O.A.) did not have any long-term impact on Auto-Tune’s popularity in the recording industry. Most audiences don’t care if someone can hit a certain high note in their performance. The abundance of voice enhancer-dominated music is approaching the decade mark, and Auto-Tune has consistently places song after hit song on the Billboard Charts.

One of the first uses of a talk-box device was invented by Doug Forbes in 1963. The first actual uses go back to the late 1930s. Other incarnations were invented long before then.  Bob Heil is credited with inventing the first high-powered talk box in 1973.  The history of the Talk Box is a long one.  This is not a new invention, and history definitely demonstrates that fact.

On the PBS series, NOVA, in a July 7th, 2009 interview, Harold “Dr. Andy”  Hildebrand spoke about voice compression, as it related to his Auto-Tune pitch correction technology.  When addressing whether novice singers were using his Auto-Tune technology to seem as if they can sing expertly, Hildebrand asks, ” … we didn’t intend non-artistic uses of Auto-Tune. Pop music is entertainment, like movies. Is the actor who plays Batman “cheating” because he can’t really fly?” In other words, Pop music is not Opera and the measurement standards are different.  The question is whether people want to hear an unenhanced voice, and whether natural vocals  are better than manufactured vocal effects. Do people just want to be entertained without considering what it means to represent masterful singing and unique talent? 

There was a time when record executives figuratively scanned a singer’s Resume to see if ‘church choir’ experience was listed. There was a time when people knew what ‘vocal control’ and ‘natural pitch correction’ meant. Today, the emphasis is on being an entertaining performer, and not necessarily a great singer.  If someone didn’t have a great voice, they simply sang in a style that worked for their specific vocal range. They could still be themselves and be a great artist. 

Is what we hear today the product of  a bad audio mix? Does the music recording industry hide mediocrity by using voice correcting technology?   Is technology now an extension of the voice, and inseparable from who we are? Do we listen to music to hear vocal quality, or are we only looking to  be entertained?  Is there a consensus standard that artists should be measured by? It seems like each music listener decides for themselves.