Re: Why pitch-corrected vocals sound so mechanical

On 4/11/2025 12:47 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

On Apr 11, 2025 at 2:05:52 AM PDT, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com>
wrote:
 

On Fri, 11 Apr 2025 08:13:40 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDJF4lR3_eg

>
He's done a number of those analysis that shows just how modern music
gets modified all the time. Either pitch correction or compression of
the audio happens all the time.

 I've noticed this on recordings going back to the 80s. When I play along with
film soundtracks, I often have to push the tuning slide in and make my trumpet
almost an inch shorter than it normally is because the recording is so sharp,
indicating it's been sped up from how it actually sounded in the studio when
it was recorded.
 

I grew up watching, a 1982 musical called "The Pirate Movie" starring Kristy McNichol.  I think I saw an interview with her once where she commented she couldn't sing and it was all done with computers.  I never noticed it at the time, but now I can kind of tell there's some auto tune happening.  But until I heard her say that, it never crossed my mind they had auto-tune in the 80s.
Another favorite musical is "Josie and the Pussycats."  I love the movie and I love the soundtrack.  I very recently got to meet Rachael Leigh Cook at a convention, and I asked her about her singing in the movie. She said she can't sing at all, and it was all done with computers. That one sort of surprised me, since I never noticed the auto tune in her voice.