autotune

[johncomic]

I hope: that autotune is like disco -- something that lends an electronic sameness to popular music, making pretty much all artists sound interchangeable... something that enjoys a brief vogue for a few years [although it feels like it drags on forever] but eventually everyone gets tired of it.

I fear: that autotune is like multitracking or click tracks -- something that is seen as an indispensable tool for making recorded music sound “good”... something that those who record popular music will never voluntarily do without, now that they have it at their disposal.

Time will tell, I suppose...

Comments

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

What's your objection to multitracking?

I see it as much the same as the process you're using for your comic project: layers of work, each of which is developed in specific ways, so that the finished whole will be of hopefully superior merit.

To me, autotuning is quite different: a mechanical remedy for human laziness or lack of chops. This is similar to cartoonists who draw one panel, scan it, copy it, paste it in three more times, type the dialogue above the heads, and call that a strip.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Hmm, perhaps I was needlessly imprecise...

I have no objection to multitracking whatsoever. I think it's one of sound recording's greatest inventions. My point is that I fear autotune may become seen as equally valuable and essential, when it “clearly” is not.

Plus, while multitracking is wonderful and many things are impossible without it, it is possible to record music without it... but most audio engineers wouldn't dream of doing it that way even if they could.

[abbeyrd.livejournal.com]

Completely off-topic, but I'm interested in both your and Curmudge's opinion after seeing your last sentence. What do yuo guys think about the online comic A Softer World? I'm curious on a personal level, because I went to school with the male half of the team that creates it. I'll share my opinion after I hear from you guys.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Ummm.... interesting. Well done. Fun. And yes, I would call this “valid comics” in that the images do add meaning to the whole thru their interactions with the text. Even though these guys don't draw. [If I were to say that foto-comics aren't really comics, Scott McCloud would never forgive me. ;) ]

However, I'm also tempted to toss out there the idea that, if their graphics were created by an artist, it might make for a “fuller comics experience”. But I'm not sure if that's just kneejerk prejudice on my part, and also not sure if that's irrelevant to what these guys are wanting to achieve.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I had never heard of it before.

My first reaction is that it's interesting and original. However, I also think it would profit from a broader creative scope if the visuals were limited only by imagination, as opposed to available photos.

This is the same way I feel about things like computerized basslines, sound samples, or other hands-off tools used in music like hiphop. If you want to maximize your creative options, you're gonna have to learn to play for real.

[abbeyrd.livejournal.com]

Interesting, thanks for indulging me guys. :) I feel bad 'cause I don't really like it (reminds me of pretentious hipster twaddle), but it has a fair number of fans so I doubt Joey would really care either way.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

“Pretentious hipster twaddle”? :D I dunno if I'd say that -- I usually have a low tolerance for such. Arty and odd, sure, I'd say that.

Mind you, I didn't read them all, maybe I just picked the “wrong” ones, and narrowly avoided the PHT. :D