Autotune on the Oscars

blackwatch5805 · 23rd February 2009

Did anyone else hear autotune all over Queen Latifah singing on the Oscars?

rack gear · 23rd February 2009

what was the pop/punk song during the action sequence montage?

krs · 23rd February 2009

ThetaAlpha970 · 23rd February 2009

It was on everyone...Let's just turn this into a "Best Autotuned Performance" thread.

Red Dog · 23rd February 2009

It was especially bad on John Legend too. Why would the production audio guys do this? All of these people are perfectly capable of singing just fine. From their standpoint, I assume they want those long held-out notes to lock in just fine. Well, that's great. But both Queen Latifah and John Legend do a lot of pitch slides in and out of phrases. And that's where is sounds horrendous.

The worst part: everyone at our party thought they sounded great. When I brought up the over-use of Auto Tune, I was met with a bunch of "overly technical" criticism. Turns out that no one else in the room noticed it. This is a sign of the sad state of the conscious of music consumers.

Studiocat · 23rd February 2009

I heard it on Latifah and Legend, but I didn't notice it on Hugh Jackman or Beyoncé. Was I just not paying attention? It didn't look/sound like Hugh was lip synching to me either...

zboy2854 · 23rd February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by redvelvetstudios

what was the pop/punk song during the action sequence montage?

Tick Tick Boom by the Hives

mdmitch2 · 23rd February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Dog

The worst part: everyone at our party thought they sounded great. When I brought up the over-use of Auto Tune, I was met with a bunch of "overly technical" criticism. Turns out that no one else in the room noticed it. This is a sign of the sad state of the conscious of music consumers.

Funny thing is -- I had pointed it out to my wife a while ago when Kanye was overusing it on SNL, and I didn't even notice it on Queen Latifah until my wife pointed it out to me. I guess I wasn't really paying attention. But at least it shows that "average" listeners (such as my wife) do notice it once they are aware of it's existence.

audio ergo sum · 23rd February 2009

Why do they bother with humans anyway... never understood that. A computer reproduces frequencies much more reliably and in tune.

Now which tuning temperament did they use? I wasn't sure if it was Werckmeister II or Kirnberger III? What do you think? For something like the Oscars also syntonic temperament might have been appropriate IMO.

P.S. on a more serious note: has anyone told these idiots that tuning a human voice by force equally tempered makes a good singer's intonation worse? A human voice has the big advantage of freely using the intonation for each individual note that is perfect. Now a C# in A major is different than a c# in c# minor or even a d flat in b flat minor. We haven't even talked about intentional variation of intonation carrying an emotion, slightly sharp, slightly flat, or portamento. Idiocy wherever you look, the machines are slowly taking over...
If you can't sing your notes right you are not supposed to be in the Oscars show anyway.

Autotune is for background choirs, maybe.
For solo voice, in that genre QL was singing, it is a crime.
Autotune for Dummies chapter 1: Google "portamento"
Portamento - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NeoVXR · 23rd February 2009

PMFJI
oscar is yearly, but who eats up the prime time bandwidth, now see what they do

Quote:

official channel of german idol:
(I hope it does play to foreign IP ranges.. click twice)
Videos - DSDS, Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Castings, Videos, Jury, Dieter Bohlen, News
Videos - DSDS, Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Castings, Videos, Jury, Dieter Bohlen, News
???

Quote:

a contest winner, manila style, live IRL
YouTube - All I Ask of You by Rachelle Ann Go
and at her weekly job:
YouTube - ASAP09: YRS - Rachelle Ann Go - Hopelessly Devoted - 08Feb09

so whats the difference

I almost completely stopped to watch our cable TV package...
they are tuning more and more..
I'd prefer AM radio anytime if the performance is worthy

punkrock2424 · 24th February 2009

does anyone have a link to a video of this???

wesarvin · 24th February 2009

I didn't catch QL, but on John Legend, I couldn't tell that he'd been autotuned. Hugh DEFINITELY wasn't autotuned (some of his notes were a bit off), and it seemed that Beyonce wasn't singing at all. It totally sounded like a track. A broadway-style headset mic doesn't reproduce transients that well. Heck, how could it, if it's on your cheek? Hugh was the only one that sounded real.

NeoVXR · 24th February 2009

I found QL on youtube yyesterday, so it may still be surviving..
and I support the statement that it was tuned.

jPod · 24th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarwes

[...] and it seemed that Beyonce wasn't singing at all. It totally sounded like a track. A broadway-style headset mic doesn't reproduce transients that well. Heck, how could it, if it's on your cheek? Hugh was the only one that sounded real.

I'm no expert, but my first thought was "since when did those thin little mics sound so good"?

audio ergo sum · 24th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by jPod

I'm no expert, but my first thought was "since when did those thin little mics sound so good"?

These are omnis and can sound pretty amazing for their compact size:
DPA Microphones :: Products

jPod · 26th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by audio ergo sum

These are omnis and can sound pretty amazing for their compact size:
DPA Microphones :: Products

Thanks for the link!

But could a mic such as those capture Beyoncé's performance as it was heard on the telecast?

logichead · 26th February 2009

She was lip syncing. Vocal sound was studio quality and her mouth movements didn't all match.

Who was the diva who introduced Tina Turner at the Grammy's (last year??)? That whole spoken intro was lip synced.

Best...H

narcoman · 26th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by logichead

She was lip syncing. Vocal sound was studio quality and her mouth movements didn't all match.

Who was the diva who introduced Tina Turner at the Grammy's (last year??)? That whole spoken intro was lip synced.

Best...H

who was lip syncing? QL? She certainly wasn't!!

jPod · 26th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by logichead

She was lip syncing. Vocal sound was studio quality and her mouth movements didn't all match.

[...]

I knew it was too good to be true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by narcoman

who was lip syncing? QL? She certainly wasn't!!

Nope, we were referring to Beyoncé.

narcoman · 26th February 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by jPod

I knew it was too good to be true.

Nope, we were referring to Beyoncé.

I see

23rd February 2009	#1
blackwatch5805 Gear maniac Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Norman Posts: 257 Thread Starter	Autotune on the Oscars Did anyone else hear autotune all over Queen Latifah singing on the Oscars?

23rd February 2009	#6
Studiocat Gear addict Joined: Jun 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 368	I heard it on Latifah and Legend, but I didn't notice it on Hugh Jackman or Beyoncé. Was I just not paying attention? It didn't look/sound like Hugh was lip synching to me either... __________________ Studiocat Sound & Music www.studiocat.ca adamation.blogspot.com

24th February 2009	#12
wesarvin Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2007 Location: Houston Posts: 859	I didn't catch QL, but on John Legend, I couldn't tell that he'd been autotuned. Hugh DEFINITELY wasn't autotuned (some of his notes were a bit off), and it seemed that Beyonce wasn't singing at all. It totally sounded like a track. A broadway-style headset mic doesn't reproduce transients that well. Heck, how could it, if it's on your cheek? Hugh was the only one that sounded real. __________________ http://wesarvin.com

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23rd February 2009	#2
rack gear Gear Guru Joined: Mar 2008 Location: the big rack Posts: 10,230 10 Reviews written	what was the pop/punk song during the action sequence montage?

23rd February 2009	#3
krs Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 882

23rd February 2009	#4
ThetaAlpha970 Gear maniac Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 250	It was on everyone...Let's just turn this into a "Best Autotuned Performance" thread.

23rd February 2009	#5
Red Dog Gear Head Joined: Feb 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 42	It was especially bad on John Legend too. Why would the production audio guys do this? All of these people are perfectly capable of singing just fine. From their standpoint, I assume they want those long held-out notes to lock in just fine. Well, that's great. But both Queen Latifah and John Legend do a lot of pitch slides in and out of phrases. And that's where is sounds horrendous. The worst part: everyone at our party thought they sounded great. When I brought up the over-use of Auto Tune, I was met with a bunch of "overly technical" criticism. Turns out that no one else in the room noticed it. This is a sign of the sad state of the conscious of music consumers.

23rd February 2009	#9
audio ergo sum Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Earth Posts: 3,587	Why do they bother with humans anyway... never understood that. A computer reproduces frequencies much more reliably and in tune. Now which tuning temperament did they use? I wasn't sure if it was Werckmeister II or Kirnberger III? What do you think? For something like the Oscars also syntonic temperament might have been appropriate IMO. P.S. on a more serious note: has anyone told these idiots that tuning a human voice by force equally tempered makes a good singer's intonation worse? A human voice has the big advantage of freely using the intonation for each individual note that is perfect. Now a C# in A major is different than a c# in c# minor or even a d flat in b flat minor. We haven't even talked about intentional variation of intonation carrying an emotion, slightly sharp, slightly flat, or portamento. Idiocy wherever you look, the machines are slowly taking over... If you can't sing your notes right you are not supposed to be in the Oscars show anyway. Autotune is for background choirs, maybe. For solo voice, in that genre QL was singing, it is a crime. Autotune for Dummies chapter 1: Google "portamento" Portamento - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

24th February 2009	#11
punkrock2424 Gear interested Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 1	does anyone have a link to a video of this???

24th February 2009	#13
NeoVXR Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,230	I found QL on youtube yyesterday, so it may still be surviving.. and I support the statement that it was tuned.

26th February 2009	#17
logichead Gear addict Joined: Aug 2003 Location: Culver City Posts: 405	She was lip syncing. Vocal sound was studio quality and her mouth movements didn't all match. Who was the diva who introduced Tina Turner at the Grammy's (last year??)? That whole spoken intro was lip synced. Best...H