The Revolution Will Not be Autotuned

Think of Cher’s hit “Believe” and that robotic, computerized sound of her voice. (Now try getting it out of your head. Sorry.) The Autotune effect that sounded so radical at the turn of the 21st century became the defining studio effect of the decade since.

Every era of pop music has a signature sound that's as much a function of technology as musical style. Jon Pareles, chief pop critic of the New York Times, and music producer Patrick Grant say it all started in the 1950s, when engineers began experimenting with slap-back reverb — the sound of rockabilly and Sun Records. “It gives you an extra level of syncopation,” explains Pareles. “It suddenly makes a straight walking jazz bass into something that’s bounding around in your head. It expands your presence in the track, it makes you a larger figure in the musical room you’re creating.”

Phil Spector built reverb into his wall of sound, while in the 70s, phase shifting marked the sound of stadium acts like Pink Floyd as well as disco classics. In the 1980s, digital effects became small and portable, and proliferated. More recently, the grunge sound combined old-fashioned distortion with a creative use of compression to make every song jump out of the radio. Not all the innovations were planned. “When the mistake becomes the innovation” says Pareles, “that’s a beautiful thing about popular music.”

Pareles describes how Autotune and the new technique of stutter editing, instead of making the sound bigger, shrink and splice it for the age of the mp3. "We are fusing with our machines, so we've found the effect that expresses that."

Songs mentioned in this story:

• "Queer" by Garbage from Garbage
• "Be Bop A Lula" by Gene Vincent from Bluejean Bop! 
• "That's All Right" by Elvis Presley (single)
• "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes from Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes 
• "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks from Kinks
• "Brain Damage" by Pink Floyd from The Dark Side of the Moon
• "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer from I Remember Yesterday 
• "Turn to Stone" by ELO from Out of the Blue
• "Walking on the Moon" by the Police from Regatta de Blanc
• "Elevation" by U2 from All that You Can't Leave Behind 
• "Blind Vision" by Blancmange from Mange Tout
• "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" by Nirvana from In Utero 
• "Suck My Kiss" by Red Hot Chili Peppers from Blood Sugar Sex Magik 
• "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West from 808s & Heartbreak
• "Heartbeat" by Islands from Vapours
• "Till the Worlds Ends" by Britney Spears from Femme Fatale
• "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" by BT from Emotional Technology 
• "Someone Like You" by Adele from 21