Autotune can be seen as a voice-processing software that would be helpful to correct or enhance the pitch of a singer’s voice while making a song.
Autotune has brought great ease and change to the process of making music. Some decades ago, if your vocals missed a tone while making your music, you had to start recording again or leave the mistake as is. none of which would be an easy decision.
Autotune was invented in 1997 by Antares Audio Technologies. The app has since been of great use and a necessity in every recording studio. There have been other brands of vocal enhancement software in the past two decades, each with its own unique features.
Mark Taylor and Brian Rowling used this software just about one year after its creation in producing the song Believe for legendary musician Cher.
They managed to create a distorted somewhat robotic effect which is known as the “Cher” effect up till today.
The effect of this invention has been felt a lot in the pop music world and in rap. Artists like Tpain, Kanye West, and Snoop Dogg have been known to use the software very creatively for their music.
African contemporary music hasn’t been left out much. Listening to afropop songs, you could clearly tell that the sound has been finetuned by this software.
Another good thing about the software is its ease of use; you just need to download and install it on your laptop. The next step is to import it into your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), and then you are good to go.
The use of autotune has also been greatly criticized, as some artists use the software as a tool to modify their voice during a song. creating the illusion of listening to an instrument instead of a human voice. However, others have argued that autotune has created a new creative style of music that people enjoy as well.
Whichever argument you support, it is still very clear how this invention has revolutionized the making of music and allowed artists to express themselves in new and unique ways.
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