Vocal plugins Saints or sinners ???

[gussyg2007]

Ok here's one , I had a young lad come down my studio the other day to come and sing a song that i have i split on,he was passed onto us by a very reputable pr company , they have informed us he has major label interest and he needs some songs to complete his album, his peeps are really lovin a tune that me and my colleague have got ,so he arrives promptly at the studio to come and sing it.
Sooo he's young good looking very polite and very respectful,says he has learnt the tune and is ready!!! It's quite clear from the moment he opens his mouth he is no stevie Wonder
1. Autotune....... i get him to sing the chorus line until its reasonably in key autotune the life out of it and then get him to re-sing it using the afore mentioned vox hey presto!!!! a vocal that i can tune without the dreaded warble

2. Harmony engine ........he has no idea how to harmonize so, i get the harmony engine out find the 3rd & 5th harmony solo them get him to sing along with them hey preso !!! harmonies done for the bridge & chorus

3. Vocal align ..... self explanatory really got all the vocals tidied them all up, now we have a song that is aligned in time and in in key

now I'm the first guy to slag off these manufactured pop acts ,but the tools we have now are able to turn artists the 20 years ago wouldn't of stood a cats chance in hell of making it,but hey if it's gonna make me some money I'm in!!
Is this the way we are all going ??Money first talent last ??
But hey gotta pay my bills somehow !!

[fakiekid]

At the end of the day, the way I see it is that is now part of your job. If he had left with a bad vocal performance, the label etc would be quick to first point the blame at you! Unfortunately that then has an effect on your image and we don't want to look bad etc so we use the tools that are given to us to rectify it!

If you gotta pay the bills, do whatever you can I say!

[gussyg2007]

True enough , turd polishing seems to be the order of the day!!
I wonder if the labels know or care about the true vocal ability of half the artists on there roster ??

[PinnacleProdUK]

Originally Posted by gussyg2007

he was passed onto us by a very reputable pr company , they have informed us he has major label interest and he needs some songs to complete his album, Sooo he's young good looking very polite and very respectful, Is this the way we are all going ??Money first talent last ??
But hey gotta pay my bills somehow !!

You have summed it up - good looking - very respectable

Marketability and Image come first.

I'm afraid the talent comes in at a lonely 3rd as far as major labels are concerned

but back to your OP, having these tools at our disposal can make a bad vocal half decent and as long as they are not abused and they are used in the right way then no problem, pretty much goes for any processing!