Michael never used auto tune, right?

[1nn5]

I really want to hear recording session like the leaked one of Give In To Me.

 

[dam2040]

No! I also think he sounds amazing on that album. His vocals are more mature, if that makes sense, just a little deeper than usual, but yet he could still go really high. He shows some really great vocals there.

I think his vocals really really shine on certain songs. It baffles me to see it get such a negative rep.

 

[Hess]

I think MJ sometimes edited his voice - melodyne maybe - but he only used it as effects - not to try to sing in correct tune - he knew how to do that.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Producers & sound engineers who worked with MJ stated that there is no auto-tune in his songs.

But they did say that certain of his songs were comped.

Comping is often confused with auto-tune, but in essence they are two different things.

Comping is a technique that allowed his producers/sound engineers to comp through several takes of the vocal track & then to cherry-pick the best phrases (or, words, or syllables, or even ad-libs) of each recording, stitching them in the end together into one flawless composite master track.

Even some of the best vocalists in the world comp their songs, whereas auto-tune has to do mostly with low quality vocalists.

 

[dam2040]

Producers & sound engineers who worked with MJ stated that there is no auto-tune in his songs.

But they did say that certain of his songs were comped.

Comping is often confused with auto-tune, but in essence they are two different things.

Comping is a technique that allowed his producers/sound engineers to comp through several takes of the vocal track & then to cherry-pick the best phrases (or, words, or syllables, or even ad-libs) of each recording, stitching them in the end together into one flawless composite master track.

Even some of the best vocalists in the world comp their songs, whereas auto-tune has to do mostly with low quality vocalists.

This is not a bad thing, at all, really. It's a good idea. One take or the best ones?

Most pop artists (probably every genre!) now are entirely comped.

 

[MJTruth]

Yes, I expect pop music is particularly affected by compositing vocal takes. Perhaps it's less prevalent in rock but I'm not sure.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Pitch corrective software didn't exist when Michael was first starting out. It was pretty uncommon until Auto Tune was introduced in 1997, so Michael and other recording artists relied on either flawless performances or "punching in" (i.e., re-recording small sections of vocal or instrumental tracks) to stay on key.

That is to say, nothing on Michael's albums pre-1997 is Auto Tuned or pitch corrected. There are, of course, various effects and manipulative devices added to his vocals on certain songs, but never to outright correct his pitch. Everyone Michael ever stepped foot in the studio with came out with at least one comment on his apparent perfect pitch, so I'd say he never needed it.

Random fact: in "Black or White," during the line "And it's true, either you're wrong or you're right," the word "right" is incredibly off-key in the lead vocal. Michael covered it with on-key background vocals. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of that in his other songs that we don't know about.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

Pitch corrective software didn't exist when Michael was first starting out. It was pretty uncommon until Auto Tune was introduced in 1997, so Michael and other recording artists relied on either flawless performances or "punching in" (i.e., re-recording small sections of vocal or instrumental tracks) to stay on key.

That is to say, nothing on Michael's albums pre-1997 is Auto Tuned or pitch corrected. There are, of course, various effects and manipulative devices added to his vocals on certain songs, but never to outright correct his pitch. Everyone Michael ever stepped foot in the studio with came out with at least one comment on his apparent perfect pitch, so I'd say he never needed it.

Random fact: in "Black or White," during the line "And it's true, either you're wrong or you're right," the word "right" is incredibly off-key in the lead vocal. Michael covered it with on-key background vocals. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of that in his other songs that we don't know about.

Reminds me of the story that it was a demo vocal and his engineer convinced him to not re record it.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Reminds me of the story that it was a demo vocal and his engineer convinced him to not re record it.

If I remember correctly Bill Botrell said that they used the first take of Bow and that Michael wanted to record it again to fix that and to more takes but Bill convinced him to use that take because he loved it so much.

 

[8701girl]

Long notes from MJ

3:25 - all the way to the end. This one is insane.

[youtube]aJo5fh4JQJU[/youtube]

2:15 - 2:23
[youtube]S9nhTLWuJfU[/youtube]

I didn't know there was a "studio" version of Liz Taylor song cuz I thought it was just a one off live song performance liz

 

[mj_frenzy]

Reminds me of the story that it was a demo vocal and his engineer convinced him to not re record it.

If I remember correctly Bill Botrell said that they used the first take of Bow and that Michael wanted to record it again to fix that and to more takes but Bill convinced him to use that take because he loved it so much.

MJ’s scratch vocals ended up on the official version of the ‘Black Or White’ song.

“… As soon as I sorted out the guitar and drum machine parts on day one, Michael performed a scratch vocal as well as some BVs [backing vocals]… and for me the best thing about 'Black Or White' was that his scratch vocal remained untouched throughout the next year [of the ‘Dangerous’ album sessions] and ended up being used on the finished song… I thought the [scratch] vocal was brilliant, and that the loose, imperfectly layered backgrounds were perfectly charming… “ (Bill Bottrell, 2004)

Eventually, MJ himself liked the final result (with his scratch vocals on the song), as well.

This is not a bad thing, at all, really. It's a good idea. One take or the best ones?

Most pop artists (probably every genre!) now are entirely comped.

Pitch corrective software didn't exist when Michael was first starting out. It was pretty uncommon until Auto Tune was introduced in 1997, so Michael and other recording artists relied on either flawless performances or "punching in" (i.e., re-recording small sections of vocal or instrumental tracks) to stay on key.

That is to say, nothing on Michael's albums pre-1997 is Auto Tuned or pitch corrected. There are, of course, various effects and manipulative devices added to his vocals on certain songs, but never to outright correct his pitch. Everyone Michael ever stepped foot in the studio with came out with at least one comment on his apparent perfect pitch, so I'd say he never needed it.

Random fact: in "Black or White," during the line "And it's true, either you're wrong or you're right," the word "right" is incredibly off-key in the lead vocal. Michael covered it with on-key background vocals. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of that in his other songs that we don't know about.

Bruce Swedien wrote in his book (‘In The Studio With Michael Jackson) that there were cases in which MJ recorded up to 25 different vocal takes for a certain song.

But normally, during his career MJ used to record no more than 5-6 different vocal takes for a given song (according to Bruce Swedien).

The scratch vocals of ‘Black Or White’ being used on the official version of that song was certainly one of the few exceptions.

 

[8701girl]

I really want to hear recording session like the leaked one of Give In To Me.

Yeah me too!

 

[Nite Line]

Am I one of the only ones who thought MJ sounded great on Invincible?

I think his voice sounds great on slow and mid tempo songs but on fast tempo songs, his voice appears to be a bit strained at times.

 

[1nn5]

When I was young, and I wasn't a fan of Michael, I didn't know that is him who is singing Don't Stop Til You Get Enough.

 

[Dan]

Hi friends,

I just watched a video about the auto tune effect and immediately came to the conclusion, Michael never used that because he didn't need it. Still I would like to ask around whether anyone knows a part in a song or something where Michael used that effect?

Thanks everyone!

I think it's possible. Remember that auto-tune isn't nearly a bad thing at all. It is when it's abused because a singer can't actually sing but the world knows Michael could sing. It's used absolutely everywhere in the music industry and it's mainly used just to slightly even out keep everything straight, just in case one note even flickers for a brief second, it doesn't mean they can't sing it's just nobody is absolutely perfect and sometimes notes can flicker out of place for a brief moment, we may not even notice it though. People like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber (say what you will) are phenomenal singers with really great voices but even they have a light brush with auto-tune. It's the same as lip-syncing, Michael did that right? It doesn't mean he was a bad singer it just means that he gets tired, the melodies are hard to keep up with every single night, it's normal. Like what has also been said, it can also be used as a vocal effect as an artistic choice, people like Cher, T-Pain, and even Prince have been known to use it as an effect. So I think it's possible, I'm not saying he did because I genuinely have no clue if he did or not but I wouldn't care if he did because it's so widely used (again, not to make bad singers good but just make sure everything is exactly on pitch 100% of the time).

 

[Saburo24]

I think he used the autotune in the Privacy choirs.

 

[Stefano MJS]

I think he used the autotune in the Privacy choirs.

What bout one more chance and butterflies? XD

 

[8701girl]

I think he used the autotune in the Privacy choirs.

Thats right think he did too

 

[wonderouzmj]

Thats right think he did too

He only says yeah yeah

 

[8701girl]

yep youre right

 

[MJTruth]

I think it's possible. Remember that auto-tune isn't nearly a bad thing at all. It is when it's abused because a singer can't actually sing but the world knows Michael could sing. It's used absolutely everywhere in the music industry and it's mainly used just to slightly even out keep everything straight, just in case one note even flickers for a brief second, it doesn't mean they can't sing it's just nobody is absolutely perfect and sometimes notes can flicker out of place for a brief moment, we may not even notice it though. People like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber (say what you will) are phenomenal singers with really great voices but even they have a light brush with auto-tune. It's the same as lip-syncing, Michael did that right? It doesn't mean he was a bad singer it just means that he gets tired, the melodies are hard to keep up with every single night, it's normal. Like what has also been said, it can also be used as a vocal effect as an artistic choice, people like Cher, T-Pain, and even Prince have been known to use it as an effect. So I think it's possible, I'm not saying he did because I genuinely have no clue if he did or not but I wouldn't care if he did because it's so widely used (again, not to make bad singers good but just make sure everything is exactly on pitch 100% of the time).

Very well explained.
It's 100% certain that autotune or some equivalent effects WERE applied to some MJ songs on Vince. It's a fact of life but it doesn't make MJ a worse singer.

 

[Hess]

I do not think MJ used melodyne, autotune or other programmes to correct his vocals - he could hit the notes perfect himself.

But - I do think some programmes was used on the vocals as an effect - Privacy, 2000 Watts has some effects - but it's not pitch correction because MJ was unable to hit the noted correct himself - it's only effects to create a sound he wanted. - That's my guess. - I'm no expert.

 

[DuranDuran]

recordings

again, not to make bad singers good but just make sure everything is exactly on pitch 100% of the time.

Before autotune, some singers would sing one line at a time instead of singing the entire song through, or different takes were combined like Strawberry Fields Forever. When the technology became available in the 1970s, people could "punch in" a vocal or instrument to correct flubbed parts and bad notes. This is also how people doing their own background vocals and one man band records became possible. Prince couldn't have done what he did if he came out in the 1960s or before. It was impossible. Most recordings were live with everyone involved in the song recorded at the same time. If somebody messed up, everybody had to start over, no punching in a part.

 

[aqwsz]

How does auto tune work? I heard of it a lot but I'm no musician so I don't understand it.
I heard the way you make me feel was sped up a tiny bit for it to fit on the album? Is that true? If so how does it really sound? Is that perhaps the reason why he usually lip sync'd that song in concerts?
Does auto tune also exists in live concerts?

Educate me!

 

[edmaz]

I heard the way you make me feel was sped up a tiny bit for it to fit on the album? Is that true? If so how does it really sound?

Yes, it's true. Album version sounds about quarter tone higher than how it was recorded - not a big difference, but you could hear it. It was done not only for fit the album - a small increase of tempo adds more energy to the song.

Does auto tune also exists in live concerts?

Yes.

 

[flamyyy]

How does auto tune work? I heard of it a lot but I'm no musician so I don't understand it.
I heard the way you make me feel was sped up a tiny bit for it to fit on the album? Is that true? If so how does it really sound? Is that perhaps the reason why he usually lip sync'd that song in concerts?
Does auto tune also exists in live concerts?

Educate me!

Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel and Smooth Criminal all were sped up by 4.4%. This was to make the songs more danceable. If you use software to slow them down you can hear how his voice originally sounded like

 

[Electro]

How does auto tune work? I heard of it a lot but I'm no musician so I don't understand it.
I heard the way you make me feel was sped up a tiny bit for it to fit on the album? Is that true? If so how does it really sound? Is that perhaps the reason why he usually lip sync'd that song in concerts?
Does auto tune also exists in live concerts?

Educate me!

I'll try.

The speeding up of the BAD songs had nothing to do with Autotune. Music production wasn't even software based back then.
For the Bad songs they simply sped up the master tape (as if you would speed up your record/tape/CD), which slightly altered the pitch AND speed of the whole recording at the same time.

Pitch control software like Melodyne (developed in the 90s) is used to edit done vocal recordings to correct the pitch or whole key (not the speed). It allows to edit single parts/words of a vocal. Unless it's overused, Melodyne is a studio tool that you don't really hear.

Autotune came after this software. It does the same, but in realtime. It was made for live performances and the pitch correct is done automatically by the software. The typical "autotune effect" appears when a note is not corrected slightly, but so drastically that the software can't process it in a natural sounding way. To trigger the software to make those effects / glitch sounds that some artists use as stylistic element, the vocal has to be sung in a really wildly wrong pitch or key. Listening to their original vocal without Autotune, would sound like a complete mess. Michael never used this effect.


Those effects are not to be mixed up with the classic Vocoder and Talkbox. Those really robotic sounding voice effects. Both basically replace what the human lungs and vocal cords produce in your throat (the voice) with a steady synth tone (the more raw, sawtoothy it is, the more robot-like it sounds in the end). What's left of the human vocal is what your mouth does (forming vowels and consonants).

With the Vocoder (Voice Coder), the vocal is fully spoken / sung into such a machine / software. And the vocal cord action is then replaced in there. With the Talkbox there's a plastic tube that the performer puts into his mouth. It transports the synth sounds directly where it's needed. The performer then doesn't use his voice but only moves his mouth to form vowels and consonants. (It's working similar to those little machines making a buzzing sound, that people with larynx cancer push to their throat to "speak".)

Vocoder for example can be found in Michaels "P.Y.T." and "Say Say Say" in very small parts in the background. Also in "Behind The Mask". Talkbox was famously used by a lot of 1980s artists like Roger Troutman or Herbie Hancock. (Most known Talkbox perfomance in 1990s mainstream is probably the refrain in Dr. Dre & Tupacs "California Love").

Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel and Smooth Criminal all were sped up by 4.4%. This was to make the songs more danceable. If you use software to slow them down you can hear how his voice originally sounded like

Was this officially confirmed somewhere? I mean the exact %?