Autotune live in the Super Bowl?

[Iggy Poop]

What the hell is up with the pregame and anthem stuff? Every year I hear more and more Autotune. First Queen Latifa sounded shaky and then Carrie Underwood came on and sounded great until the last note when it sounded like the Autotune changed it to the wrong note. She was pretty much on until then. Wasn't it last year that they had Billy Joel do the anthem and they Autotuned the shite out of him too. Am I the only one hearing this?

[PDC]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

What the hell is up with the pregame and anthem stuff? Every year I hear more and more Autotune. First Queen Latifa sounded shaky and then Carrie Underwood came on and sounded great until the last note when it sounded like the Autotune changed it to the wrong note. She was pretty much on until then. Wasn't it last year that they had Billy Joel do the anthem and they Autotuned the shite out of him too. Am I the only one hearing this?

I didn't hear any Autune on either. There would have been artifacts from the crowd noise. It would have been too obvious when it was matrixed and compressed to smithereens in the truck. I think what you heard was just nerves and the inability to hear and stay on pitch. QL yanked out her IEM didn't she? CU seemed like her mix was off and she was forcing her vocal. She sounded tired toward that last note to me. I would be too.

[Iggy Poop]

Maybe I'm just so used to hearing autotune. But it really sounded like that last note from CU went to the sharp note unnaturally.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

Maybe I'm just so used to hearing autotune. But it really sounded like that last note from CU went to the sharp note unnaturally.

I think the last note was off due to the crowd being so loud.
I heard no autotune.

[s.d.finley]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

I think the last note was off due to the crowd being so loud.
I heard no autotune.

yep, me too, no AT that I could tell and I loathe it when I hear it.

oh yeah..... Saints Baby!!!!

[mikethedrummer]

I was more stoked about their drummer's kit =0. Those custom cymbals were awesome. Turns out its Ringo Starr's son!

[Jalabodu]

Re: Carrie Underpants

Please tell me where you hear AT in this. (what min:sec) I don't hear it. I've worked extensively with AT and I even know how to mimic it (without using it) in vocal performance.

YouTube - Carrie Underwood - NFL National Anthem

Her pitch is excellent. Her vocal breaks near the end and if it were AT'd it would have been VERY obvious at that point. Also her vibrato is varied and controlled. If you use vibrato on a live track on AT it HAS TO BE THE SAME SPEED EVERY TIME IT KICKS IN. Sorry, I don't hear that here.

If I'm wrong (but I don't think I am) and there's someone out there WHO WAS THERE IN THE TRUCK who knows otherwise, I'd love to be corrected. Otherwise I'll just trust my ears. Sounded good to me.

[nodoubt45]

Originally Posted by Jalabodu

Re: Carrie Underpants

Please tell me where you hear AT in this. (what min:sec) I don't hear it. I've worked extensively with AT and I even know how to mimic it (without using it) in vocal performance.

YouTube - Carrie Underwood - NFL National Anthem

Her pitch is excellent. Her vocal breaks near the end and if it were AT'd it would have been VERY obvious at that point. Also her vibrato is varied and controlled. If you use vibrato on a live track on AT it HAS TO BE THE SAME SPEED EVERY TIME IT KICKS IN. Sorry, I don't hear that here.

If I'm wrong (but I don't think I am) and there's someone out there WHO WAS THERE IN THE TRUCK who knows otherwise, I'd love to be corrected. Otherwise I'll just trust my ears. Sounded good to me.

thats an old deal there.....def not todays version

[Tony Shepperd]

I did all of the pre records and mix for America the Beautiful for Queen Latifah. As far as I know there was no Auto-Tune involved in her live vocal today.
Of course I turned my mixes in last Wednesday and she did sing a pre recorded vocal last week. But I'm fairly sure no Auto-Tune was used on her live vocal.
Actually I'm more frustrated by what they did to my mix than anything else.

[Iggy Poop]

Ok guys. If you all agree, I guess it must be my own "NY, everyone's out to get ya" attitude talkin. It just sounded like her last note (brave) went sharp from AT not naturally. But I'm wrong alot.

[ianzxcvb]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

Ok guys. If you all agree, I guess it must be my own "NY, everyone's out to get ya" attitude talkin. It just sounded like her last note (brave) went sharp from AT not naturally. But I'm wrong alot.

Hang on there - 1:12 to 1:18 sounds like there might well be some automated pitch treatment...



She might have something like a TC-Helicon voice tone in the chain that'll by default do a little chromatic tuning - as well as balance, compress, de-ess, etc.

Not that it detracts from her one bit - a great singer.

[Robert Randolph]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer

I was more stoked about their drummer's kit =0. Those custom cymbals were awesome. Turns out its Ringo Starr's son!

Me and my wife thought the same thing. Glad I'm not alone. They really sounded great.

[LinusWendel]

Originally Posted by Robert Randolph

Me and my wife thought the same thing. Glad I'm not alone. They really sounded great.

I thought that was Nigel from Spinal tap..

[pedrohead]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

Ok guys. If you all agree, I guess it must be my own "NY, everyone's out to get ya" attitude talkin. It just sounded like her last note (brave) went sharp from AT not naturally. But I'm wrong alot.

There was most definitely some AT issue at the end (heard it here in my nice 5.1 home theatre, maybe it didn't show up on some people's TVs).

On the end of the land of the "free" line, here was some bad quantization trying to jump between notes, then on the "brave" there was some bad garble noise like it wanted to move to a different note than what she was singing and it was mixing with the original note (for some reason reminding me of a sound effect from "The Matrix").

... clearly there, and done badly. You are not alone.

[mrufino1]

As has been mentioned, that performance that was posted was not from last night's superbowl- the seahawks and panthers are watching her sing. There was not any autotune used last night on her or queen latifah that I heard. I actually heard human beings singing (granted, 2 human beings whose voices I don't like, but not corrected nonetheless).

[pedrohead]

Originally Posted by mrufino1

As has been mentioned, that performance that was posted was not from last night's superbowl- the seahawks and panthers are watching her sing. There was not any autotune used last night on her or queen latifah that I heard. I actually heard human beings singing (granted, 2 human beings whose voices I don't like, but not corrected nonetheless).

I don't know anything about (nor have I seen) the attached video.

I just know from watching it live last night that there was some badly botched autotune just on CU's performance (only at the very end). Caught it as soon as it happened, rewound the DVR to hear it again. Bad.

[BrandRecordingCo]

I did not notice any auto-tune. I did notice some notes simply being off key. I'm not sure where some of you were hearing auto-tune...

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by PDC

I didn't hear any Autune on either. There would have been artifacts from the crowd noise. It would have been too obvious when it was matrixed and compressed to smithereens in the truck. I think what you heard was just nerves and the inability to hear and stay on pitch. QL yanked out her IEM didn't she? CU seemed like her mix was off and she was forcing her vocal. She sounded tired toward that last note to me. I would be too.

I didn't think I heard any retuning on her vocal -- but it was pretty pitchy in places (of course, we all probably have a hunch how hard it is pitching yourself when your last phrase is still banging around the stadium like a pinball) and there were some, let's say, provocative, note choices.

EDIT: I've re-rolled the handily included clip a few times over the last few lines and while I'm 99+% sure that her leap on "free" is her (I mean, that's a move singers have been making a long time and the changes in her voice sound like the changes in a human voice doing that, not the telltale signs or retuning, there is a melismatic thing on "home of the" that did sort of sound like a retuning jump... but I think it could go either way and, since I don't recall any other other A-T tells, I'm still sticking with untuned.

That said, I'm pretty sure she did have some guide tracks going in her in-ear. It's a hunch, but that's my hunch, based on the fact that, while she was pitchy, her tonal center didn't appear to drift through the course of the song. (Jump from near the beginning to near the end and see if you don't think she's basically working off the same basic tonal center -- in a meandering melody that has often led normally solid singers astray.)

[emfrank72]

I think some people just want to hear auto tune in everything. I thought I just heard a performance where she had some pitch problems at the very end.

[Jim Williams]

I heard auto tune on one Budweiser commercial. It was done as a joke. Now auto tune is known as a joke. The public just got a huge education from that. Those that use it will be laughed at, how cool is that?

That ought to kill it off quickly as no one likes getting laughed at (unless you are a comedian).

Auto tune is now known as a cheating device like pre-recorded backing tracks. The public, once educated will reject those depending on that crutch. Budweiser just did Autotune 101 for them.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[ianzxcvb]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

I heard auto tune on one Budweiser commercial. It was done as a joke. Now auto tune is known as a joke. The public just got a huge education from that. Those that use it will be laughed at, how cool is that?

That ought to kill it off quickly as no one likes getting laughed at (unless you are a comedian).

Auto tune is now known as a cheating device like pre-recorded backing tracks. The public, once educated will reject those depending on that crutch. Budweiser just did Autotune 101 for them.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

The way Taylor Swift got absolutely panned by NYT, Lefsetz, etc after going naked (vocally) with Stevie Nicks at the grammys; I'd be surprised if Carrie Underwood didn't have something in the live chain. Either she has some Helicon in there or she practices with it and it's shaped her vocal style.


Pass the Guacamooooole!!!


Blatant auto tune might be becoming a joke - but the desire to rely on it in the current Cowell culture is greater than ever.

[Iggy Poop]

I guess the debate goes on. Like I said originally, I thought Billy Joel had the same thing going on a couple of years ago. There was a note he hit somewhere that sounded....I don't know...not like him. Could've been some sort of auto tuner not necessarily antares. I just keep hearing things like that pop up every year at the SB. Maybe because I'm so aware of it my mind is playing tricks on me but I swear it sounds like a digital tuner altering a singer to the improper note.

[Jim Williams]

Keep in mind that these are digital mixes sent digital to the feeds. There is a bit of digititus there whether auto tune is used or not. It's the "cylon" effect. All modern broadcasts have that sound now. It's not far off from FM broadcast MP-3's and XM radio.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

I guess the debate goes on. Like I said originally, I thought Billy Joel had the same thing going on a couple of years ago. There was a note he hit somewhere that sounded....I don't know...not like him. Could've been some sort of auto tuner not necessarily antares. I just keep hearing things like that pop up every year at the SB. Maybe because I'm so aware of it my mind is playing tricks on me but I swear it sounds like a digital tuner altering a singer to the improper note.

Well, that was painfully obvious -- outrageously obvious (yet there were many fans posting in the YouTube thread that featured it insisting they thought he sounded 'great' -- just like in the threads of poor Taylor Swift and the "Rhiannon" debacle)... No one's real voice could do what his 'voice' did (nor would we have thought, before T-Pain, that anyone would want to ).

[John Eppstein]

Originally Posted by ianzxcvb

The way Taylor Swift got absolutely panned by NYT, Lefsetz, etc after going naked (vocally) with Stevie Nicks at the grammys; I'd be surprised if Carrie Underwood didn't have something in the live chain. Either she has some Helicon in there or she practices with it and it's shaped her vocal style.


Pass the Guacamooooole!!!


Blatant auto tune might be becoming a joke - but the desire to rely on it in the current Cowell culture is greater than ever.

I thought Taylor Swift sounded just fine - It's a goddam live performance! It's not SUPPOSED to be perfect!

The critics are idiots.........

[bebopxx]

Originally Posted by Iggy Poop

What the hell is up with the pregame and anthem stuff? Every year I hear more and more Autotune. First Queen Latifa sounded shaky and then Carrie Underwood came on and sounded great until the last note when it sounded like the Autotune changed it to the wrong note. She was pretty much on until then. Wasn't it last year that they had Billy Joel do the anthem and they Autotuned the shite out of him too. Am I the only one hearing this?

I didn't hear Auto-Tune at all on Carries' voice, for the National Anthem... definitely not

For what current mainstream/pop/country chick singers are out there now, I find her sense of pitch/intonation to be actually very good
On the opposite end of that scope, I would consider Taylor Swifts' sense of pitch/intonation, to be actually GOD AWFUL.. probably one of the worst I've ever heard... ( basing this opinion on "live" performances )

And if in fact there was AT (but there wasn't).. that very last note fermata she held (which is tonic/root key) was close enough in the key center of what-ever key she sang the Anthem in, that AT would have pitch corrected it to the tonic

Because of the over-abuse & bastardization of AutoTune... seems like anytime someone hears a live singer, they just assume now that they are Auto-Tuned

[bebopxx]

Originally Posted by John Eppstein

I thought Taylor Swift sounded just fine - It's a goddam live performance! It's not SUPPOSED to be perfect!

The critics are idiots.........

I hate to completely disagree with you, but I've heard chick wedding band caliber singers, better by a mile - ( specifically referring to pitch/intonation )

[paultools]

This is the proper version...
I think the pitch shift on "brave" is some sort of doppler thing from fading the crowd mics up as she held the note.
Decent performance, and y'all know I am nit-picky!



Well, it does sound a little suspect on proudly WE hailed, ramparts WE watched, and GAVE proof, but no AT

[mrufino1]

Definitely no AT on her performance from last night, but she did hit a few notes out. Yes, refreshing to hear someone without autotune. Not refreshing? The fact that she sings it last night because she is known, not because she is good. As mentioned, many many singers that can sing in tune 99% of the time without the help of autotune. many of them singing in wedding bands or similar situations (I work with quite a few who are fantastic, definitely not famous). I am happy though that for the most part, she just sang the song, didn't put it in 4/4 (there should be an automatic prison sentence for that, arranger and performer both- that's like the smooth jazz version of take 5 that is in 4/4...), only screwed with one phrase (one too many, but still, better than some...). .

[ianzxcvb]

Originally Posted by John Eppstein

I thought Taylor Swift sounded just fine - It's a goddam live performance! It's not SUPPOSED to be perfect!

The critics are idiots.........

I see your point - these days there's too many critics judging live harshly rather than appreciating the honesty of it - and Taylor was very brave to go naked alongside a singer of Nick's calibre.

It's a shame in these days of youtube and twitter storms that careers can be ruined for want of a nacho's worth of Guacamooooooooole.