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Post by escalibur on Mar 1, 2013 20:46:51 GMT -5
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Post by klein on Mar 2, 2013 11:46:39 GMT -5
It's a generational thing. Back in the 90s or early 2000s auto-tuning wasn't used nearly as much as it is today. That is also evident in the earlier Lifehouse albums. But things have changed and nowadays it is EXPECTED by the listener and radio to have a perfect sound on a record. There are very few bands who still kick it old school (Foo Fighters come to mind) and keep their hands off of electronic trickery. Also, as the article suggests, POP music has fused a lot more with electronic music which is why you have stuff like Ke$ha today, just to name one. Who knows how long this trend will last. I still have hopes people will come to their senses. I can't even stand listening to the radio anymore because of how artificial everything has become. Lifehouse has also fallen victim to this on their last 2 albums. Hopefully this is a dieing trend.
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Post by YesNoMaybe on Mar 2, 2013 12:45:25 GMT -5
We may not like the use of autotune, but I think the article makes it clear that bands may not feel that they have a choice in the matter.
Despite this, I wonder what would happen if one band would just not use autotune and advertise their single/album as not autotuned, or no technology was used to alter the singers' voices...
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Post by klein on Mar 2, 2013 19:09:19 GMT -5
They do have a choice in the matter, in the end all they have to do is tell the producer to cut back on the tuning. There are some producers who tune every single note, others only tune a few here and there and leave the rest natural. I think this is also why some of us have been asking for LH to try a new producer on the next album because the tuning has become overkill. Listen to this: wastinglight.foofighters.com/They recorded the entire album on analog tape in Dave Grohl's garage. Not a single computer was used. Article on the recording process: www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun11/articles/foo-fighters.htm |
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Post by YesNoMaybe on Mar 3, 2013 2:57:58 GMT -5
I cannot deny that the naturalness of the album sounds great. But does this stil fly on the radio?
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Post by celticflower on Mar 3, 2013 4:18:56 GMT -5
I think it does work on the radio..quality is good enough, but still it has a lovely raw edge to it:D
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Post by gogonutz on Mar 3, 2013 14:55:23 GMT -5
The line in the article that, to me, said it all was: "it saves a ton of time" and in the music industry, time literally is money.
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Post by escalibur on Mar 4, 2013 2:33:32 GMT -5
Anyone heard of Sara K.? Have a listen of her album from 2006: grooveshark.com/#!/album/Hell+Or+High+Water/8628629 I would say it's a mixing masterpiece. That mixing will provide you another dimension of your headphones or speakers. So yes there is hope. I dont want even to think about how would Lifehouse sound with this producer/mixing skills. |
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Post by gogonutz on Mar 4, 2013 7:03:11 GMT -5
The emergence of auto-tune isn't really that big of a problem for me. Of course, there are a lot of musicians, producers and engineers who keep using auto-tune as a fix, rather than a tool, which is not helping a song much in my opinion, unless it is used on occasion for dramatic effect.
However, a trend that worries me much more, is the way songwriting (in general) has become more generic, less imaginitive. Of course there are lots of exceptions, but once bands break through, or at least have a steady stream of income via radio play and concerts, things seem to average out musically. Lyrics get more predictable, arrangements lose their layers, and everything comes down to a riff, a beat or a loop that sticks in peoples heads. As long as people can't get it out of their heads, whether it is due to annoyance or because it's upbeat, that's not even relevant anymore. If it does that, it spreads, whether the song has any thought or meaning or emotion or whatsoever. That is what worries me more. Songs aren't really songs anymore (and yes, this is a gross generalization), they are products, purely made for gain. And this is under the pressure of the music industry and music professionals who are scared of the changing market in which physical products like CDs and merch aren't as popular anymore. People buy the music digitally and novelty and vintage items still do well as merch, as well as the occasional tour shirts, but most of the merch has become way too expensive and people buy stuff online that costs less than half.
So, the music industry still needs to reinvent itself, stop being scared of the digital age but embrace it. With iTunes, Spotify, Last.FM, soundcloud and all the other services out there, there are so many great opportunities for artists and labels to get interactive with their music. Why would someone pay 20 - 40 dollars for a CD if they can get the songs online for 5 - 10 dollars? (I know why I would, but most people don't bother buying CDs anymore). And instead of bringing all that merch on tour, bring a small selection as a showcase of sorts and use the webshop to sell novelty items, personalized items and vintage items.
This won't directly solve the problem I described, but it could make the music industry start to evolve, which would get the need for mass-produced cookie-cutter bubblegum songs out of there (or make it less obvious) eventually, or at least that's my hope.
PS. I'm not really talking about Lifehouse here, just music in general.
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Post by klein on Mar 8, 2013 18:34:11 GMT -5
PS. I'm not really talking about Lifehouse here, just music in general.  lol. but seriously. I agree with everything you said. But I *do* believe this applies to Lifehouse as well. I don't see how anybody can deny that their lyrics have become more generic lately. However, I don't think that this is only due to lack of inspiration (although that certainly seems to be part of the reason) but because that is how pop music has evolved and obviously they want to reach the audience that listens to that kind of music. I really wish Lifehouse had branched off in a different direction, more towards rock maybe and experimented more with their edgier side rather than their soft/bubble gum side. Why? Because as you could see in my post about the Foo Fighters you can get away with not using state of the art computer gear. Because it's raw. It's honest. It's artful. Three words I miss in the Lifehouse universe lately. Maybe they will surprise us with a true rock album next. I'm not getting my hopes up but I would like that. |
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Post by lh778 on Mar 27, 2013 20:38:04 GMT -5
You know, perhaps Jason has a hard time with Only You're The One because it's auto-tuned to the max? Such a beautiful song, but man it's hard to sing even for his range. This just dawned on me. Wow.
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Post by escalibur on Mar 28, 2013 14:28:18 GMT -5
You know, perhaps Jason has a hard time with Only You're The One because it's auto-tuned to the max? Such a beautiful song, but man it's hard to sing even for his range. This just dawned on me. Wow. @ 0:58s ->  |
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Post by klein on Mar 28, 2013 20:19:50 GMT -5
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Post by escalibur on Mar 29, 2013 7:18:20 GMT -5
Oh man that was horrible and I feel sad for him. I just cant believe that they did that for themselves.
This is LH that I remeber:
(obviously i'm not alone)
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Post by lh778 on Mar 29, 2013 12:45:21 GMT -5
You know, perhaps Jason has a hard time with Only You're The One because it's auto-tuned to the max? Such a beautiful song, but man it's hard to sing even for his range. This just dawned on me. Wow. @ 0:58s -> Yeah, if you were getting at the auto-tune there, wow that stinks. It was like every time the chorus came up that I really noticed it. Soundchecks should be live with no interference.  |
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