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The use of digital pitch correction software on vocal recordings

To my mind, this practice is fraught with dishonesty.

The most obvious issue is:
- with digital pitch correction software applied to it, a vocal recording presented to the listener is done so under the pretense that it presents the human voice singing, when in fact any number of moments therein are the result of a program shoehorning the human-produced tones into a “perfect” tone” (whether it may be a Bb, C, F#, Db, or whatever), thereby negating the human expression and negating the validity of the pretense.
Much like a photo portrait of a human body post-airbrushing ceases to be a “true” presentation of that body, the viewer is not being presented with a faithful representation of that human form.

The next issue is:
- rampant apologia within the industry.
I’ve even heard an industry insider say, “pitch manipulation software does nothing we couldn’t do in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It just lets us do it for a lot less money.”
That’s a cute thing to say, but incorrect.
The finished vocal recording that was changed by the implementation of pitch correction software is, by definition, different from the finished vocal recording featuring none.

I am welcoming the thoughts of Audiogon members regarding this practice.

tylermunns
baylinor's avatar
baylinor
1,434 posts
 

I have fallen in love with electronic music, so who am I to complain about vocal pitch adjustments. 

tylermunns OP
601 posts
 

@javaruke I’m sorry, but would you please clarify what a “pension fund concert vocal” is?
I don’t know what that is.

Your inquiry as to whether or not digital pitch correction may be used in live applications is not a “hijack” at all, but a great question.
The answer is, yes, it is common these days for pitch “correction” software to be used in live “singing.”

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,255 posts
 

For recorded music I don't think it's an issue.  It's really not different than any number of other studio effects. 

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,196 posts
 

Very important observation for me...

I’ve never felt profound emotions with a vocal recording that used digital pitch correction.

Humans aren’t machines.
The human expression that occurs when a human sings is what we want to hear when we want to hear singing.
If we want to hear a synthesizer, we can listen to a synthesizer.
If the artist gives me a Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Daft Punk-type thing, I know what to expect.

If a person’s inability to sing on pitch is so problematic, why are they singing at all?

The moving pulse coming from an interpretation is located in this fine line or border between perfection and imperfection... If you artificially created "perfection" you loose the expressive vulnerability and the power of this internal struggle in the artistic gesture which is a tool in the artist body...If you dont master singing for sure "imperfection" as a constant state cannot be a transient expressive tool anymore used by the artist...

This pulsating borderline between perfection and imperfection is the key to the expression... This cannot be artificially created...

 

As said the great french poet René Char :

"Imperfection is the peak "

 

jhnnrrs
115 posts
 

Pitch correction allows supremely non-talented flops to proliferate in the pop music field.  Hacks like Post Malone and The Weeknd, who have no actual voices outside of what was concocted with a computer have no place in the annals of music.  Add to that the building superfluousness of live musicians in a recording studio, one sees the future of music as a computer-created corporate entity.  Very, very sad.

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