When will Autotune fad die already?

I think you're on to something cowboy, perfectly tuned, the vocal is more noticeable because it can't be perfectly aligned. it is in contrast. With tuning by ear, the imperfections leave a wider range of pitch frequency for any note, so the vocal blends more easily. I think that's why I don't mind just a pinch of vocal correction here and there, the vocal's not really off, in a way the tuning's too precise.

Yepp.
I have problems to understand the intention of the use of autotune in many productions.
If it is used to fix what can be fixed and maybe should be fixed due to mentioned reasons, it should be most unobstructive, at best: unnoticable. As an unvaluable and clever tool, like editing always was.
If it's used as an obvious effect, that should be clearly hearable as well and should not leave me with the impression i have to think about if this is really intended or just a poorly made fix.
If you have a special voice, a sloppy expression or whatever and it meets the song or music, it should not be used at all just to make it sound more "polished" in a false impression it would sound more professional or perfect then.

Autotune/Melodyne/v-vocal/whatever are clever tools that can be used as they were intended and abused for all kind of creative effects. But please not for something undefined in the middle..........

Tne Iron Chic example is a brutal thing to show how not to do it.
What the hell is one thinking using autotune in a half-obvious way on a PUNK track?
Ever heard Johnny Lydon, or what?
Maybe one should remaster some Bob Dillon songs with Melodyne, oh my god, because he is so awfully out of tune? LOL.

What the heck - a singer does not even have to be a good singer technically, he must not even stay in tune - as long as he is aware of it and finds ANY way to express himself amd finds his personal style and cultivates it.
If a singer wants to be someone else without the skills to do this, this will not work, with or without autotune.
What a kind of producer does such a thing like the Iron Chic stuff??? No matter how the voice tracks sounded before, it couldn't be worse than the result....

Long ago I had an Autotune license....Like...crap WinXP? Maybe? It may have been 98 and the "gigastudio years". Version who teh F knows now...but, I bought it because it was all the rage--and you know what the only useful thing I ever found for it? REtuning samples of strings that had been tracked/edited to tempered pitch. It had an equal temperament setting--so, I would render the string line from Gigastudio as audio and then use Autotune to put each line into actual equal temperament.

Also, note about the Beatles reference--that may or may not be the case...not like I"m a Beatles fanatic, but if you listen to any recording done to analog tape--it was VERY regular practice to change the tape speed slightly for various reasons--but, right up into mix time-you could ever so slightly speed up the tape and tighten the low end...anyway-point being that you'll find a LARGE number of tape recordings are not consistent. Meaning song 1 on the album might be right on...and song two is a little higher. Song 3, they might've tuned down a half step for the singer...and then only brought it up a quarter tone to tighten the groove (yielding a flat by a quarter tone end result). Just saying--music of the first handful of decades of recording was much more of a continuum of overall pitch...and yes, tuning to the piano in the room (which can't be easily/quickly retuned) is another reason. Now, there's SO much done with digital synths and such and electronic tuners are everywhere...there's less variance. It's 99% of the time "on", in terms of the macro tuning.

I remember back in the day giving guitar lessons, I ALWAYS had to use a fixed bridge guitar for lessons, because you HAD to tune to the record the student brought. Now, like I said 99% of the time, you could tune to 440 and play along with the records. Even if they tune down a half step--that's JUST Eb, at the end of the day...unless they're playing a lot of open strings, you can just play that without tuning down--but, it's been a good while since I"ve picked up a guitar to play along with something and had to retune to the record. Not to mention that all but the best turntables and cassette decks would vary it yet again on the playback side. I think that "consistency" isn't a good thing. I think it makes more things sound subconsciously similar than they would otherwise.

Very interesting Bob. I wasn't aware of Lexicon's bending pitch. I use ReLab's LX480 plug in. It has a high def algorithm that wasn't on the original Lex, that I use exclusively, but the sim does have the original Lex verbs too. I wonder if the effect you mention happens within the plug. Also, when you mentioned headphones messing with pitch perception and intervals shrinking when headphone volume is raised, would you mind elaborating, I'd like to know a bit more about that. A good singer did a track a while back, and it seems pitchier than she usually sings, I wonder if these factors were at play. Thanks in advance..

good stuff Mr Ohlsson!!

I'm working on DIY stainless plate, cold rolled plate, and 3 spring reverbs here, I also put a cheap condenser mic in my open garage attic, as far away from my (soundproofed studio) entry door as possible, i open the door, crank whatever, and it serves as a weak chamber, not too crazy, but still pretty cool, i control it by how far i open/close the solid core entry door.
   Although great for somethings, I've always heard something less than real with the emu's, but I was never able to pinpoint what bugged me, IMO an emu could never simulate the reality of a real space, like the real thing, for a multitude of different reasons. Real vs sim, all you have to do, is go listen to a real plate verb, in a nice studio, and my guess is you'll never brag about a plugin plate again.

as far as being in tune is concerned, i think the lack of understanding is another symptom of people never playing live, when you've been in dozens of different rooms, with bands that play at ultra high spl's, or really quiet, or you've struggled(mostly as a bass player) through a gig where you have "one note bass" going on, you learn real quick, that pitch is utterly relative lol

btw, i have a jim williams modded lexicon, sounds great for what it is.

The only artist I've seen since him that can just do it is Ryan Adams, and it took 30 years for someone even close to that kind of talent to come along. The songs are just wonderful. Thanks for the reminder Tony.

if you listen to the abby road vocal tracks isolated(JK posted a few weeks ago) you can hear some buried chipmunk backing vocals, where they clearly slowed the tap down to get to those notes.