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Moog's MF-401 Auto De-tune Fixes Music

Max Romantschuk writes "Moog Music has released the MF-401 Auto De-tune, a revolutionary new DSP device that promises to undo the clinical results of Auto-Tune. According to Moog Music, 'even a T-Pain vocal can be restored to its complete original character, scrubbing the pitch correction and leaving the untreated vocal in all its wavering sharp or flat glory.'"

14 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Too bad this isn't real by drcosquared · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lady Gaga as a drunken sailor...endless possibilities

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    1. Re:Too bad this isn't real by JBMcB · · Score: 2, Informative

      Loads of "recording artists" use Autotune. When used properly you can't tell it's being used. Guys like T-Pain just crank the rate of note blending way down so it's more obvious.

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    2. Re:Too bad this isn't real by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 5, Funny

      Lady Gaga as a drunken sailor

      That would be Amy Winehouse.

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      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
    3. Re:Too bad this isn't real by Bakkster · · Score: 2, Insightful

      She may not crank it up to 100% in-tune and 0ms transition time (T-Pain/Cher level), but I'm willing to bet that either she does it herself, or the producer or record label does it for her. I doubt any pop music created in the last several years doesn't use auto tune, on at least a subtle level.

      Any artist who doesn't use it probably points it out already. Unfortunately, it's about as common now as compression. I doubt we'll see it go away any time soon.

      Though I do wish I could buy one and turn every singer to the Florence Foster Jenkins setting.

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    4. Re:Too bad this isn't real by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      YAY music continues it's downward spiral into the toilet!

      Compression + autotune = crap.

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      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    5. Re:Too bad this isn't real by treeves · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I agree. "In all things, moderation."

      I heard an interesting podcast from Time magazine about Auto-Tune.

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      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  2. damnit by blackraven14250 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This would be awesome and perfect - if it weren't April 1st.

    *sigh*.....you can only dream.

  3. Cool by rapturizer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now I can hear the artist in their original glory. Sort of like colorization for music. This will revolutionize music!

  4. /moogerfooger/ by al0ha · · Score: 3, Funny

    Seeing that was worth clicking on the link. LOL!

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  5. Re:Damn by tnk1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You know as well as I do that Elba wouldn't work. Unless you want an extra Hundred Days of processed music, send them straight to St. Helena.

  6. Definitely offtopic, but still by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 3, Funny

    I know there are lots of people here who hate Howard Stern, but did anyone else hear Richard and Sal prank calling the pizza parlor with Autotune on their voice? Completely ridiculous.

  7. Re:Is it possible? by spazdor · · Score: 2, Informative

    Depending on the sophistication of the autotuning algorithm, sure it is.

    If the vocal is being corrected using naive pitch-shifting or phase synthesis or something like that(i think gsnap and Antares Autotune both fall in this category), then the vocal formants will be shifted up and down right along with it. Since formant frequency is usually constant (or close to), a signal processor could pick up on the modulation of the formant, and apply the reverse pitch-shifting in order to make the formant constant - in the process recovering the original pitch modulation.

    On the other hand, if the autotune was done in Melodyne, which allows you to flatten the formant modulation independently of pitch, all bets are off.

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  8. Re:Hurray! by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 3, Informative

    The H910 had to be switched in and out manually to be used as a pitch corrector, so no, it wasn't autotuning. It was, however, still used to artificially manipulate vocals to the correct pitch, so the distinction is operation method, not principle.

    Autotuning was a function on the 1987 Eventide H3000 (IIRC), so the statement that there was no such thing in the 80's is still incorrect.

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  9. Be Careful What You Wish For by howlingfrog · · Score: 3, Informative

    Some studio-manufactured AutoTune pop stars can actually sing, and some can't, and it's often surprising which is which. If you watched the Oscar telecast a few years ago, you know that Beyonce is a real musician. Christina Aguilera has talent (though chooses not to use it). Several of the High School Musical kids turned out to be decent singers or actors or both once they got out from under Disney's thumb. And on the other hand, despite the strong genetic component to musical talent, pre-AutoTune professional musician Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter can't sing at all without the help of her robotic overlord. As a film projectionist, I had to watch Last Song the other day. In one scene, Miley sings along with the radio AN ENTIRE FUCKING HALF-STEP SHARP! For non-musicians reading this, that's the interval between two adjacent piano keys. If you play two notes together that are separated by a half-step, it sounds awful. And anyone who's not completely tone-deaf can tell it sounds awful. It takes a modicum of musical training to identify the specific problem, but anyone can tell it's wrong. So remember, AutoTune is saving your ears from that crap every day. If it had never existed, there would be fewer no-talent hacks on the radio, but now that they're there, turning it off is a scary, scary idea.

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