Simon Cowell Bans the Use of Auto-Tune on X Factor

“It is not needed, the British public are clever and they want to see people grow.

The actual topic aside… where have we heard this before. *snark*

Now America Idol should ban lip-syncing the group numbers.

The impish, Idol die-hard in me finds this blight on the X-Factor quite amusing. Simon is having some cred issues this summer, first with the SEO shenanigans, and now being affiliated with a show that has gotten called out on its deception. Maybe Simon’s luster will wear off by the time X-Factor finally debuts here, and American Idol will have regained some momentum in the meantime. Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?

For integrity’s sake, I hope American Idol does the same. I don’t think they use it in live performances, although I feel fairly certain they use it on the recordings.

Maybe Simon’s luster will wear off by the time X-Factor finally debuts here, and American Idol will have regained some momentum in the meantime.

As the old comparison goes, I suspect Idol is as deep in the muck as X-Factor is in the mire in this case. Don’t forget that Simon has been an insider on Idol, too. There’s little doubt he knows about the “skeletons” there as well.

I’ll bet that at the moment, different entertainment news are furiously searching for a person in AI production that would telltale (true or not) of AI using auto-tune in individual performances.

And I agree with sunny2 that AI has now a good reason to ban lip syncing in group numbers -if only because audience might confuse lip synching and auto-tuning with each other, and for many it could come as a news that the group numbers are lip-synched at all.

now, which is easier: Banning lip-synching on group numbers and throwing the group numbers out altogether? (which would be bad because I like them!)

Does anybody believe for a second that Simon Cowell was unaware of the use of autotune on his show? How stupid does he think people are? Er, don’t answer that. Anyway, it’s good that he decided to ban it. I think that’s called, “closing the barn door after the horse has bolted”. Heh.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Idol uses auto-tune in the lip-synched group numbers too. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for them. I’d like the group numbers to go back the way they were before, I always liked them precisely because they weren’t “perfect” and were kind of refreshing for that very reason, corny or not, didn’t matter, it was fun.

Simon did well to react swiftly, though it’s hard to believe he didn’t know about this before. I’m shocked that they’ve routinely used auto-tuning to make bad singers sound worse too! talk about manipulation. Why even bother watching such a joke of a show? I don’t think that will go over well here (but then again maybe nobody even cares anymore, sigh).

Now America Idol should ban lip-syncing the group numbers.

That crap started when Nigel left the show. I think that he will fix that when he comes back. It’s not that I think that Nigel is some producing wiz kid, it’s just that I remember that it was he who used to be heavily involved in the group numbers (he’d go on about picking the songs and “choreographing” the movements. Nigel used to give interviews every week. I do miss those).

I don’t think they use it in live performances, although I feel fairly certain they use it on the recordings.

They do do it in the recordings. It’s pretty obvious. You can hear it. Personally, I don’t care if they do auto-tune studio recordings. Studio recordings are intended to be pretty near perfect. That’s the selling feature. If you want raw performances, buy the live recordings. It is an industry standard, so I don’t see a problem (and the studio versions are released after the voting for the week).

I’ll bet that at the moment, different entertainment news are furiously searching for a person in AI production that would telltale (true or not) of AI using auto-tune in individual performances.

A) You don’t need to get an insider to leak it. You can hear autotune. It adds a bit of a whine. Listen to that performance that MJ has liked in the Headlines thread and it is totally obvious. Autotune was working over-time on that performance.

B) AI PTB are fiercely protective. If something leaks from the inside, you can pretty much be assured that the PTB wanted it leaked. These guys somehow runner a tighter ship than the pentagon.

C) Idol has made heavy use of reverb for some singers with “thin” voices (listen to Blake from S6 sing and you will totally hear it). People here frequently comment on it after the performances, so if lay people can notice it, you don’t need an insider expert. Your average karaoke machine will also feature reverb because it can hide a multitude of sins. Many think they also mess with the sound mix to make people sound a little better or worse (e.g. drown them out by the band to make them sound small or have that out of tune back-up singer sing louder so that it’s obvious somebody is out of tune). Others just think the sound techs are just incompetent.

I’m shocked that they’ve routinely used auto-tuning to make bad singers sound worse too! talk about manipulation. ?

That will give some weight to that lady who is sueing the show. If X-Factor does routinely do this, then it’s potentially ruining people’s reputations. How could they be so petty? There are enough people who sing badly, you don’t have to make it even worse.

Does anybody believe for a second that Simon Cowell was unaware of the use of autotune on his show?

Simon totally knew it was being used. He reminds me very much of Captain Renault from Casablanca:

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” (just as the croupier hands him his winnings).

Simon totally knew it was being used. He reminds me very much of Captain Renault from Casablanca.

BRAVO on that reference! Now, let’s round up the usual suspects.

Why even bother watching such a joke of a show? I don’t think that will go over well here (but then again maybe nobody even cares anymore, sigh).

If it’s not really considered important by a good many people that someone on AI be able to sing in tune consistently and in fact someone like that can win (see Dewyze, Lee), then I really don’t think whether people are autotuned or not will make a difference in the public’s voting. In fact, given the sort of audience that AI seems to draw nowadays, the autotuned contestant, especially if it’s the overdone, R&B sounding sort (more like a vocoder), will probably be a rather popular one. Of course they haven’t gone to the point of making it that obvious…yet.

(Do I sound like I wouldn’t be surprised if they have used it from time to time? Oh crap, I wouldn’t want people to get that idea. /sarcasm)

But it really seems the best singer in the competition no longer is the favorite to win (not in AI and probably not in X Factor in either the UK or soon in the US) – if pure vocal skill was the deciding factor in terms of who would win, then Big Mike, Siobhan, and Crystal probably should have been the final 3 this past season. Aaron and Katie may have been the ones to round out the top 5. But that’s neither here or there at this point.

Simon totally knew it was being used. He reminds me very much of Captain Renault from Casablanca:

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” (just as the croupier hands him his winnings).

LOL! From the sound of the article even, Simon wasn’t upset that Auto-Tune had been used but that the use had been made public. It’s like a crook who regrets nothing other than getting caught.

First of all, I’m not a native English speaker, so my writing maybe hard to understand in parts. Sorry in advance:)

I was doing sound engineering things a few years ago, so I can tell you: nowadays, almost every recording stuffs are processed with some pitch correction technologies including the Auto-Tune. Mainly to correct only some bad notes after recording of course. But every processor always affects the tone of vocal, shaving off the depths, the overtones or other elements of voice like rasp, grit, edge and so on. So, engineers (at least I) never use the pitch processors on some important notes, but usually would retake phrase by phrase any number of times as possible if a singer can’t hit the notes properly.
And judging by a type of vocal, Lee’s is not suitable for the processors because of his tone and singing style, Crystal’s or Aaron’s are more comfortable with being processed. As for iTunes versions, I imagine that you can point out which notes by Lee were processed easily but Crystal’s and Aaron’s would be difficult to find out. (I don’t mean that Crystal’s or Aaron’s are more pitch corrected than Lee’s.)
This is just my opinion though.

And of course, if not on purpose to add an ‘electric’ effect, the pitch correction software never should be used for live performances nor over whole recorded vocal track. I’m glad that Ai hasn’t used any kind of processors for competition performances by now.

For integrity’s sake, I hope American Idol does the same. I don’t think they use it in live performances, although I feel fairly certain they use it on the recordings.

I am sure they use it in recordings – and why wouldn’t they? Recordings aren’t judged (or the basis for voting); they are for the entertainment of the fans. Who wants to hear an off-key song over and over on your iPod?

Now America Idol should ban lip-syncing the group numbers.

Group numbers are not part of the competition – they are TV variety performances (and the contestants are paid for them). The contestants are individual aspiring pop singers. They are not claiming to be a vocal group like The Mamas and the Papas that blend and sound good together. Even if they were an experienced chorus, it is almost impossible to get good TV audio recording when the singers are moving all over the stage. On live TV, yet. Also, don’t forget that you are hearing the backup singers in the mix as well – so even if everything was recorded live, the result still wouldn’t tell you much about the finalists.

So I am praying that the producers use every trick in the book to make the group numbers as appealing as possible.

All that said, I would hope that AI avoids stacking the deck sound-wise during competitive performances.

Recordings aren’t judged (or the basis for voting); they are for the entertainment of the fans.

Although voting is over for each AI performance that is released in a studio version, voting may not be over for the contestant. I think those studio recordings can and do influence future voting, especially when a singer sounds much better recorded than in live performance.

But it really seems the best singer in the competition no longer is the favorite to win

That has never been true. You don’t vote for the most technically perfect singer, you vote for the person you like, who may or may not happen to be the best singer. The idea of the “best singer” in any case is largely subjective, unless someone is so overwhelmingly superior, in most cases it’s just a matter of preference who you think is best. For example, I happen to think that Tamyra Gray was a better singer than Kelly Clarkson in season 1 (and she was unquestionably better than Nikki McKibbin and Justin Guarini who out-lasted her), but she got voted off in 4th place.

While I would agree with you that in Season 9 Crystal was the best singer (but no doubt others would disagree), she had problem winning people over getting them to vote for her. That would be her problem entirely, not Lee or the voting public.

ETA – BTW, I don’t think I have ever noticed anyone being auto-tuned during live shows in X-Factor. Offering some evidence here – Danyl Johnson’s spectacularly off-pitch performance of I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWq1NW27n7E

I don’t believe that auto tuned will be banned on X Factor.
Only the staff will be banned from ever using the term auto tuned.
It will continue.

@dejank I can tell you nowadays, almost every recording stuffs are processed with some pitch correction technologies including the Auto-Tune.Mainly to correct only some bad notes after recording of course. So, engineers (at least I) never use the pitch processors on some important notes, but usually would retake phrase by phrase any number of times as possible if a singer can’t hit the notes properly.

Thanks so much for this explanation. It is nice to see a Sound Engineer, or whatever you call yourself, comment on a story like this one. I was always interested in how the whole Auto-tune was used. There is such controversy out in the blogosphere about this-lots of heated discussions, and not just in reference to X-Factor or AI. Here is a link to another very interesting article called, “Auto-Tune: Why Pop Music Sounds Perfect by Josh Tyrangiel” http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1877372-1,00.html It is from 2009, but it references Randy Jackson at the end..you know what he says about being pitchy, lol.

I knew I loved Simon for a reason…

I myself don’t mind autotune in the Top 40

But the use of Auto-Tune on the X-Factor made it sound absolutely horrid on the live show

The Danish version of X Factor is notorious for its heavy use of autotune and other electronic sound manipulation. The performances often have that “perfect” studio quality sound that’s impossible to achieve without lots of sound manipulation. Check out this video of Jesper from this year’s contest (he came in 3rd).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvQmcEsvk1Q&feature=related

His singing begins at about 1:30. Autotune, added reverb, and volume smoothing are evident throughout the entire performance. Even when he’s running across the stage, his voice is smooth and flawless. The final note at 3:40 is so manipulated it makes him look like he’s lip-syncing, even though he isn’t. The whole performance seems more like a music video than a live performance.

If anyone on American Idol gave a performance as perfect sounding as this, it would create a huge controversy.

Here is another Danish contestant giving an impossibly perfect sounding performance (singing begins at 1:15):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhhPypOXh2w

As for iTunes versions, I imagine that you can point out which notes by Lee were processed easily but Crystal’s and Aaron’s would be difficult to find out. (I don’t mean that Crystal’s or Aaron’s are more pitch corrected than Lee’s.)

I’m actually interested if anyone can point to which notes in Lee’s recordings that might have been auto-tuned. I’ve heard all his recordings and I can’t say I have noticed any auto-tuning, perhaps something more subtle might have been done so it would be interesting to see which notes might have been processed this way. (I don’t think his singing needs auto-tuning, any pitch problem he might have on AI could be attributed to nerves or anxiety on live TV.)

I’m also interested to know what exactly is done in the studio sound processing-wise in general. This following recording by David Cook is likely an example of studio processing – probably badly done, so I’m interested to hear an expert opinion on this (for example what was done exactly). It was rather startling when I first heard it, because his voice dropped an octave in the middle of a note (around 1:54 mark on the word “be”) –
David Cook – Music of the Night -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfd4xzPdWvY

Did they lower the note by an octave (by auto-tuning or whatever sound manipulation technique) then mix with the normal one to give the voice more body or something? Or did they record two separate notes and then mix them together?

Hazehel wrote:

I’m actually interested if anyone can point to which notes in Lee’s recordings that might have been auto-tuned.

Below are two versions of Lee singing “Chasing Cars” live in the semi-finals. The first is the live version we heard it on TV. The second is the live version that was released on ITunes. During the semi-finals, “studio” versions of the songs were not released. Instead, Idol took the live versions and cleaned them up with autotuning so they sound almost like studio versions, but you can tell they are live because applause is heard at the beginning and end.

(Not all the semi-final live songs released on ITunes got the same degree of autotuning. Tim Urban had at least one song where his ITunes version still had some obvious bad notes.)

In the videos of Lee’s song below, listen to the first three words of the song: “Do it all.” In the original version, “all” is badly off pitch, but the autotuned version is perfect.

At the very end of the song, he sings “those three words.” In the original, “words” is badly off pitch, but the autotuned version is perfect.

There are numerous other notes in the song that have also been autotuned.

The bottom line is that the original version of the song is full of off notes and sounds pretty awful to me, but the autotuned version sounds absolutely terrific. In fact, it’s my favorite recording of the entire season. It illustrates the dramatic effect that autotune can have. And it might explain why Simon was so generous with praise for Lee despite his pitch problems which Simon always has a good ear for. Simon was able to look past the bad notes and realize that Lee would sound great with some vocal airbrushing.

Lee DeWyze “Chasing Cars” (original live version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b342D0vfyY

Lee DeWyze “Chasing Cars” (ITunes autotuned live version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDkKm0Uo3G4

Lee DeWyze “Chasing Cars” (original live version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b342D0vfyY

Lee DeWyze “Chasing Cars” (ITunes autotuned live version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDkKm0Uo3G4

Thanks for the example, although that is not quite what I meant (because we already know his problem with pitch live on TV, so I meant studio ones). I think some notes were definitely different, although I’m not sure about some of the other examples given (the “all” was a bit wobbly, but he did hit the right note, and the iTunes one also dropped in pitch). The “here” in “if I just stay here” seems a clearer example. I’m thinking that they just overlaid a slightly better version of some notes over the original ones because I can still hear notes drifting off-pitch slightly here and there. It definitely sounds richer in the released version, so they did more than just fix a few notes (like the David Cook one, I’m still wondering what exactly they did to make it sound like that). Is it auto-tuned though? Just wondering because it doesn’t sound like the characteristic auto-tuned sound, or do auto-tuned notes only have that characteristic sound when they have been altered significantly?

ETA – also that some recordings off the TV might be different depending on how they did it. I vaguely remember an instance where people watching in HD TV heard something much worse then those who didn’t. Something about HDTV using different feeds.

Another thing that just occurred to me is that the contestants did perform the same songs in rehearsal in front of audience before the live show, so it is not entirely certain if they are the same performance. Did they release a video with that so we can check? The applause at the beginning is definitely different, also Ryan’s voice missing, even the applause and cheering sounded different at the end (on another video), and the clapping and cheering in the middle also missing, none of which necessarily means that they are different, just can’t be sure they are the same one.

I have no time now, so I’m going to post later some examples which I think they processed with pitch correct technologies. Here I’m writing a few points briefly just as to “Live version”.

When they’re making “Live version”, they don’t have to use the identical mixed sound which you can listen to on TV sets or in an auditorium.
Each sound sources can be recorded on separate tracks, like, vocal track, drum sets track, keyboards track and so on.
And as Hazehel pointed out above, they can use rehearsal sources also.

That means, they can choose every notes from two takes if they want, and it is possible to “reduce” fatal failures to some extent (not only singer’s failures but also backband players’ or a mixing engineer’s) .
This kind of techniques is used widely for “live version” merchandises.

I’m rooting for X-Factor to crush Idol. Don’t know why but I am :)