Can AUTOTUNE make a bad singer sound good?

[@songsbyspencer]

If you’re looking to take your music production skills to the next level, check out my course, Spare Bedroom Studio! It’ll teach you everything you need to know to start recording your music at home. Join our community and start your journey today! www.sparebedroomstudio.com 🎤✨

[@LizweBanda-hz4ox]

You are the best teacher in the world! I will try this out!

[@Yash-kq2hc]

is this something paid or ? and if yes how much am intrstd

[@songsbyspencer]

@@Yash-kq2hc It's $99, and it's 48 video modules covering everything from what equipment to buy to mixing and mastering. It'll provide you with the basics of everything you need to know to start recording music in Logic Pro!

[@PauloCoghii]

Spencer, you've reached such a high level that I believe the only thing left to happen is for you to be discovered by the right people. Please do not underestimate your experience. There are many people who can benefit positively from it. Each of your videos is always a new discovery, and only a few channels give me that!

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much, Paulo! Comments like these are so important and they really give me the inspiration to keep going.

[@leocdms]

When I first discovered spencer, I was chocked at the subscription and views COUNT. I LITERALLY YELLED: HOW COME???

[@madcodrr]

@@leocdmsFR

[@i2tryhard]

My name is Spencer I thought he was talking to me for a second

[@drbarbare]

Cuddos to Sarah to put up with you on that one! It takes guts, it really does. I seem to recall voice lessons also emphasizing on the emotions behind a song, it'd be an interesting comparison to hear her again after a bit of voice training. Meanwhile, I am wondering how tou decide to layout your songs, not only the skeleton, but also how long sentences, when do fills etc... I've decided to go lyrics first for the songs this channel inspired me to write (2 so far!).

[@songsbyspencer]

Keep writing and keep jamming, you can do it! And I want to also give Kudos to Sara for being open to this. She was awesome and such a good sport.

[@JwilliamsAssociates]

Sara was great. And yeah takes big guts when you don’t have a voice. She already sounds kinda nice

[@kimngo3877]

I was going to say I love her voice​@@JwilliamsAssociates

[@nyomandundun]

It's a crime that you have less than 10K followers with your entertaining, educational, and fun videos! Thank you, Spencer! I am no musician, knows nothing about making music, yet I found your videos inspiring and incredibly fun to watch!.

[@gergelytoth5613]

Okay, then I'm gonna follow him.

[@gangiolini6201]

He’s got 20K now 👍

[@nyomandundun]

@@gangiolini6201 awesome! He deserves it 😁

[@AlexMittsVOID]

Coming back here to call attention to the fact that he now has over 40k! Trending upward, baybeeeeeee

[@TayDaley]

Welcome to my world 😅

[@lostguy478]

Your videos are so entertaining, it's insane that you can make them and post so consistently without losing quality. Keep going, I'm sure one day you'll have big and positive community :)

[@songsbyspencer]

That is the goal! Thank you so much for the support. I've got several more cool vids cooking!

[@lostguy478]

@@songsbyspencer Can't wait to watch them!

[@TheRealBuffedGaming]

@@songsbyspenceryou are so talented and I would like some advice. Whenever I sing there’s like this sharp little random off pitch sound. Also it sounds like I’m using too much air. I can’t go too high with my voice without sounding like a squealing desperate pig. Any suggestions??

[@fleshtonegolem]

Your video editing is GREAT! You lay things out in a very easy to understand and logical way.

[@lilkawasaki7701]

The fact that this quality of production and edit can be done ba a channel that has less than 10k subscribers. Awesome work there spencer

[@songsbyspencer]

It truly is a labor of love. I literally write, shoot, and edit everything myself. Hoping to turn it into a full time job at some point!

[@MellostormMusic]

Great quality. You mentioned your day job is video production?

[@Workaholic42]

Less than 10k? 😅

[@DeliciousMorsels]

Dude I love your teaching style. It's quick and to the point but entertaining all along the way, and the end product is always spectacular. I'm definitely looking forward to more videos!

[@richarddoan9172]

These lyrics had me rolling. "But only find a void of empty space with constellations that don't look like they're names." Gold!

[@songsbyspencer]

I figured I'd be literal rather than metaphorical!

[@imkbrown8780]

yea man killer stuff really... i mean it has a bubble gum sound but man its a hit tho

[@scottdarksetscoleman7042]

Void means empty space

[@AMSOLO420]

Right!

[@viniciuscomacento]

this channel deserves millions of subscribers, just love your videos! keep it up.

[@kcgunesq]

Pretty much sums up modern music. A label writes a bunch of banal lyrics, sets them to a highly algorithmic "melody" and then pays crap singers to act like they can carry a tune. Give me CCR, Fleetwood Mac or Steely Dan any day over this type of music. That said, you and the singer did a great job illustrating the point.

[@AuntJoey]

social media following is more important than the music at this point

[@swain-Ix1tv]

erm

[@intothemultiverse1033]

Live music which is no longer live cough cough Taylor Swift

[@rosenblithjoe]

Spencer, she is a non-singer, not a bad singer, there is a difference, that I think matters in this production, which is awesome. I love your stuff and how you show the entire process. Keep it up!!!

[@Olim22]

Right, I doubt autotune could get something good out of a bad singer.

[@jacksocd1955]

Spencer, I really enjoy the clear and concise way you explain the logic behind music, harmony and technology and bring it all together. Appropriate use of technology can be a huge time saver and "fix" little errors that most of us make (and endure). Well done on a great channel.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks!

[@jamesfriesen9633]

A lot of auto tune songs really sound autotuned, but this doesn't. Well done.

[@outpostbabu676]

I have a feeling this channel is 6k subscribers going on 600k subscribers. Really enjoying it. Thank you, Spencer!

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much!

[@brostoevsky22]

I hope Sarah had a good experience and will be more interested in music. I believe in the local music communities. It's important that we make our own music. I think auto tune is acceptable for pop music when sparingly used. It's important when the voice is the main instrument. I don't think us rockers really need auto tune for our voices. Great video as ever!

[@magicmulder]

Her voice has a nice sound which many people who can hit all the notes don't.

[@fergieferguson2457]

This is the reason I listen to music from the 60’s through early 80’s when artists actually had talent!!

[@songsbyspencer]

Are there any modern artists you listen to? I'd say that the majority of successful artists nowadays are extremely talented, but the modern production style makes it harder to appreciate since everything sounds so polished.

[@fergieferguson2457]

@@songsbyspencer not really!im 59 years old so what I grew up on is still what i listen to.no pop!no pop country!classic rock and great country music from 60’s-80’s.there is a few country artists or I might say blues country outlaw country that are newer like drake white Cody jinks creed fisher Jamey Johnson of course who can’t like Chris Stapleton

[@Godybanksmusic]

Great stuff man. You explain things well. That song is a hit!

[@hackerling]

i am very surprised your channel isn't bigger, this video was awesome. i remember the prevalent narrative about autotune, especially when i was younger in regards to pop music, was that it was only for hacks to hide a lack of skill, but i've learned you'll always be able to hear when someone has actual technical ability vs someone who is hitting the right notes. in my personal experience as someone who likes singing, having access to tools like melodyne is a HUGE time saver for vocal takes where only the pitch needs a little help. it saves me from having to slice together tens of vocal takes in hopes the comp will be passable and it also saves my voice a lot of effort. i still really appreciate the art of a live performance and will always respect being able to listen to someone vocally competent absolutely crush it live. i don't mind hearing a bit of autotune or pitch correction in a final track if the result is good.

[@teynamusic]

First, cuddos to Sarah! That was courageous ❤. Second, great job from your side to write a song and arrangement that suits her perfectly. But to be fair, she naturally doesn’t have a bad pitch. I heard way worse! Pitch was and still is my Achilles heel. I don’t have Autotune, I use VariAudio (Cubase). But I try to use it as less as possible. And I have to say, I started homerecording only 3 years ago and the more I record the better my pitch gets 🤗

[@songsbyspencer]

Practice makes perfect!

[@kimngo3877]

😂😂

[@harrisbeatsfrankou6304]

Go Spencer great channel, you're helping me and many others. I have ptsd and like hundred songs and I am slowly rebuilding my catalogue and confidence. You remind me how easy it is to lay parts down. You just do it.

[@yvebella51209]

I love the way it came out. You blended it really well

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks so much 😊

[@TCOBaG]

I love the side eye from Spencer! And what a brave person going all in. Kudos to you Sarah. I’m sure it feels safer with someone like Spencer at the controls.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@adrianstephens56]

Yes, I could tell auto-tune was there - but then I'm an amateur musician (a plus) wearing hearing aids (a negative). I loved the song and the outcome. Thank you.

[@joeclifford183]

This really gave me some owl city vibes haha. There were a few times I felt I could really hear the auto tune through my iPhone speakers haha. But other than that it’s just her tone I’m not a fan of, do we have an auto tone? All that being said for someone who’s untrained and inexperienced she did amazing!

[@Nordraw]

Still sounds bad

[@luis2arm]

This content is amazing! so well written and produced. I bet you will reach 100K very soon. I'll share it with my friends to help a bit

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much for the support, I really appreciate it!

[@wideyxyz2271]

That was cool. Tools are there for using and an aid to being creative. In the bad old days we used to cover up pitch anomalies with tasty reverb. I found if I cant sing a certain song without a mic if I mic it up and use reverb I can usually get away with it. This is another level though!

[@DrQuizzler]

It's tough to say whether I would be able to detect the Auto-tune use here. It's pretty subtle. I was hoping the experiment would feature an ear-splittingly BAD singer, like Lucy Ricardo. Sarah's actually pretty good, considering her lack of experience, so the end product is good too. I would love it if this experiment of yours won you and her a Grammy.

[@songsbyspencer]

Sarah's tone isn't bad by any means, and with some training she could definitely be a great singer. I think a lot of people assume "studio magic" can make anyone sound good. However, if you have a terrible tone, all the studio magic in the world isn't going to help.

[@jaymusik1235]

That's the power of manual tune

[@ShillyBears1]

@@songsbyspencerthat’s a thing that annoys me - I love heavy use of autotune like Playboi and yeat etc and people think u can deliver a bad take and autotune will produce a good sound , it’s the opposite in m6 experience - use heavy autotune and the take has to be damn near perfect to sound good in that style, using it subtly to make someone sound like a better natural singer like you did here and the take can be worse imo, hope that’s makes sense to anyone reading haha

[@opiegonebad58]

@@ShillyBears1 Makes absolute sense to me. I would much rather hear a song with autotune being over done to fulfill an artistic decision. I hate it however when a producer tries to 'trick' me by attempting subtle changes to make a singer sound perfect. For me, autotune is so obvious in every song I hear it in that I usually will turn the song off unless it is being used as a creative element. Producers think they are hiding it by being subtle but there are a lot of us out here that can hear it every time it is used. You aren't fooling everyone. Personally, I long for the days (I'm a 70's kid) where musicians actually had the talent to sing or play what was on the album without needing a computer or earpiece to keep them in tune or fix a poor performance after the fact.

[@deantailor357]

@@opiegonebad58 Yep, they think by setting the tolerance slightly higher or lower, or by moving the voice just flat or sharp of the actual note, they can trick the listener. You might fool people who were born after 2000 (certainly post 2010) because they really haven't heard any non-processed music so their entire reference is autotuned or pitch corrected vocals. They actually think "that's what singers sound like" which is why they're the ones on YT praising all these "bedroom singers" who record, correct, process, and then "perform" the track, with a mic and headphones as if they're singing "live" and that's the uploaded vocal you can hear. It's not real and yet you can't explain to these people that it's not, because they're incapable of understanding it. I'm so glad that I bought and own physical copies of original works because one day, all recorded music will be subjected to such processing and that's all that will be available.

[@chrisk.6246]

Such a cool concept-well done, both of you!

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much!

[@Multi_ToBi]

Hello Spencer: My opinion is: if it gives people joy and love for music, I don't care whatever plugin you use! Just as long as some don't underestimate what huge amount of work professional singers put into their careers it's wonderful. Stay humble and have fun!

[@ProdByArtVolé_YT]

😮. I’m glad I stumble across you when I was looking into working my auto tune better. Wow it really gives me the hope in mastering my tools and getting way better at this. Felt like I found a quest item and can finally turn in the quest to “unlock” more parts of the “game!”

[@calvinstraveldreams]

The short answer is that Autotune (and Melodyne) can make a bad singer TOLERABLE, in that it can make it so that if said singer stays within a very narrow range of notes, then their voice is acceptable enough to where it won’t get in the way of a good instrumental or ruin a good vocal melody (see CHVRCHES, Capital Cities, and Carly Rae Jepsen for examples of how singers with very weak vocal ranges can still make good songs, with the pitch correction compensating for their weaknesses as singers). However, Autotune/Melodyne is NOT a talent replacer, largely because if your notes sound REALLY off, it still won’t sound good…

[@icarus8471]

They won't make a bad singer a good singer. But they can make a good singer a great singer. That is how pros use it.

[@ikmor]

​@@icarus8471 Which is disgusting. -_-

[@Mullewarp]

@@icarus8471 They can make a good singer sound great (or better pitchcorrect), but they cannot make a good singer a great singer. And if you are already a great singer like Freddy Mercury for example autotune will make you sound dead and erase the personality of your voice.

[@yasmeleon]

For my own recorded music I'm happy about Melodyne, because my strength lies in dynamics along a rather large range, and I can do my best dynamics when I don't have to worry about being a few cents flat or sharp. (I could probably use a bit of ear training for my lower range especially though)

[@MikeSalopek]

found your channel tonight as youtube recommendation through the writing chorus video from 3 days ago, subscribed, and now I am down a rabbit whole. LOVE these. As an old metal guy you have great layman's terms examples and explanations anyone can understand. I am a fan

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much for the kind words and for subscribing!

[@philipshergold4771]

Amazing! You really have mastered the craft of writing and mixing music. How do you make your vocal comps sound like one take? My takes always sound different whether its the room dynamics or how far/close to the singer is to the microphone. Maybe i just need a better acoustically treated room? 🤔

[@squidmaster964]

Amazing content, and I love the thoughtful takeaway near the end of each video. More please!

[@KCGeno]

I absolutely object to singers who can't hold a decent note, and never could, becoming millionaires via AutoTune. (I worked in the country music industry in Nashville, and I know of at least three who match this description.) I do NOT object to an older entertainer, who USED to be able to sing well, using AutoTune as a help in their old age. If you can't sing, please don't become a singer for a living. There are too many supremely talented people who are more deserving of their big break.

[@joetroutt7425]

I too live in Nashville and agree with you. Hearing great singers down on Broadway with no auto tune is where you find the real talent. Not some recorded demo somebody sends with tons of effects and auto tune on it.

[@ikmor]

If you use autotune or pitch correction, it should be against the law not clearly tell the listener. -_-

[@flyguy437]

This is magnificent! I learned a lot here. You both not only sound terrific but it's a great song.

[@songsbyspencer]

I really appreciate that!

[@Issachernandez1]

Really enjoying your videos, watching your process, and learning some things along the way 👍🏽

[@maurikmalasllani2848]

You make everything look very simple, as if everyone could do it. That is what sets you apart, you are an inspiration to people like me who write and record their own songs. Your skill in music and video is amazing. You deserve to have a KZbin channel with millions of followers. But I think there are maybe not so many of us here but good ones... congratulations to you and Sara and keep up the good work. Greetings from Italy.

[@johnatyoutube]

Absolutely you can hear it. Not only does it make you both sound more in tune, but it takes away the humaness in your voice. It's sad what autoune and pitch correction has done to the music industry and how it's being abused by record companies. Next, with AI, they won't even need bad singers to make pop music. All technically modified music should require a label. Some of us still appreciate great singers in all their natural glory and humanity.

[@johnsmith-es7zk]

I'd rather listen to a skilled singer with naturally good voice any day of the week.

[@ikmor]

​@@johnsmith-es7zk I'd rather listen to an almost bad singer than an electronic one. Brr

[@WendyRaycroft]

So cool! I love the rawness of this video. Please make more videos with Sarah! She is great...

[@broderp]

I would have liked to hear the song in its entirety without the autotune for comparison.

[@songsbyspencer]

My bad!

[@rayt3894]

Great tutorial Spencer! To be fair, you did give us a raw vocal sample of Sarah's vocal near the start for comparison. Overall, I think you demonstrated the manual side of auto tune, allowing greater control to avoid the ubiquitous robotic computerised sound. Both your voices blended well in the end product also. Respect to Sarah for volunteering!

[@nocturnalsurf7021]

Ok man, I had to subscribe. You are very informative and talented. I love learning about recording and music in general, as I am an artist myself. What really kinda sold me and put the cherry on top though.....I absolutely love how into it Sara was. Doesn't matter to me if she can hit the correct notes or not. What happened was she would close her eyes and you could tell she was just really feeling the music! That was great! Now, if I could only figure out why my mixdowns keep playing with total silence in PreSonus. That is frustrating.

[@songsbyspencer]

The support and kind words mean so much! If you're using Apple, you should switch to Logic. It is the GOAT of the daws IMO.

[@TheAustralianKanga]

i appreciated the effort from both of you well done

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much 😀

[@ChanahAngelicaKamen]

Absolutely incredible work! The song is really lovely! There are a few times when there's just a sort of synth tone quality to the voice where the autocorrect kicks in, but with the rest of the instruments in the arrangement and their tone, it creates a very cohesive feeling. Someone in the comments said it reminded them a bit of Owl City, definitely has that really sweet, pop vibe where the voices have a dreamy, almost synth-like quality. So the autotune feels more like a it's creating a tonal element rather than pitch correction usage here, brilliantly done!

[@shaylevinzon540]

I really like this content, you deliver it so well Make me wanna go in the musical direction

[@songsbyspencer]

You can do it!

[@olson_media]

You should totally finish that song and keep the duo aspect, it's actually fire and would love a full version

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks! A lot of people are asking for the full song. I hope to one day finish it!

[@AlexEscalante]

You are the highlight of my day. You are so talented and your music is simple and beautiful. So much inspiration! BTW: your voice, at least in this song, reminded me a bit of Death Cab for Cutie

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you for the kind words and the support! It means so much. I've only heard a couple DCFC songs, I'll have to give them more of a listen!

[@AlexEscalante]

@@songsbyspencer I love Transatlanticism!

[@Statictothesoundmusic]

Spencer, love the direction of your channel. Inspiring me to get back to the grind and make content. Feel honored to have known you in the burg and am excited for you to do big things. Cheers. -Austin

[@crocoshark4097]

You know, by "average non-professional" standard I think she actually has a really nice voice

[@shashindharmarathne]

She does! At least better than me

[@chrisb7528]

Same

[@drakocarrion]

Certainly not a bad singer by any means. She can clearly hold a note

[@BeckVMH]

I was thinking the same.

[@penuelodiaka652]

Yeah

[@georgeroberts442]

Cool demo! Nice song. AutoTune worked very well. Never heard of it before, but yes I can hear something that sounds like a little reverb, a little high end sizzle that tells me that something electronic was done to the audio signal. I bet that could be corrected for with a limiter and maybe a device that would flatten the sound just a little bit. I’m no audio engineer, but I think you’ve got a winner there!

[@songsbyspencer]

Thank you so much for watching! And yes I agree, I think it's pretty noticeable. By just turning down the retune speed, it'll make it less noticeable!

[@devavratchachad]

Its so cool that you can make an entire new song for teaching in a KZbin video.. amazing🔥

[@songsbyspencer]

@@devavratchachad I appreciate that greatly! I take that approach in almost every video I do. It’s a lot of work but it makes the content in the video much easier to apply for the viewer.

[@devavratchachad]

@@songsbyspencer thankyou.. its really great work 👏 subbed instantly!

[@t.ahendy581]

That was such a great peek at what is out there. The song at the end is pretty catchy. Awesome video.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks for watching! It means a lot.

[@o3zon]

6K subscribers?! I think this has to be a YT bug, I was expecting more like 600K. This is an amazing, well produced, entertaining and informative content, the reason we have the internet. Well, the second reason, the first one shall not be named here.

[@1dkappe]

This type of video is ancient. Not surprised it didn’t get more traction. Sorry.

[@KP-rz3gk]

Loved it. Since you showed us “behind the curtain” I think I could pick out auto tune a little better now. Super fun.

[@songsbyspencer]

That was the goal!

[@KurtGerster]

Anyone who has ever seen Madonna live must assume that Auto Tune has existed for a long time.

[@songsbyspencer]

I think the first instance of pitch correction on a vocal recording was Cher's "Believe", which came out in 1998. I'm not sure when it was first utilized in live performances, but it's pretty common nowadays.

[@Nicenigel14]

I was wondering if you had another KZbin channel before or how you are so good at making videos, but that makes sense now knowing you own amd run a video production company! As always, such a great video!

[@PRFSSR_X]

This guy is GOATED for showing us this.

[@JimRoggenbauer]

I recorded back before autotune and once sang one line fourteen times to get it right. I guess I could make a case for either way. There is however no substitute for hard work and determination to get it right. Great video!!!

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks, Jim! I usually record 5-6 takes and create a combination of the best moments from each. Then (and only then), I'll use pitch correction to fix the occasional note. Most of the time however, I don't have to use it!

[@Apexsilverevo]

1:49 Oh yeah, I am definitely in the same boat as Sarah 🤣 Pretty sure I am tone-deaf when I sing but have had some luck with a few songs, but that is probably because I make sure to stay in my vocal range. I do have a better falsetto for some reason but my singing voice is more in the baritone (I'm guessing) range. Never had vocal lessons. I was able to complete expert modes in Rockband and Guitar Hero though 😂

[@songsbyspencer]

Rockband and Guitar Hero are the ultimate tests. Those games actually got me into playing guitar- believe it or not!

[@soulwarriorwithn]

Hey man! This was AMAZING! Is the song available to listen to anywhere? This is a huge 10/10. If not, if possible, could you make a full version? Appreciate you both for sharing your talents and taking your time to make this video!

[@songsbyspencer]

I appreciate the support and I'm so glad you like the support. I need to finish the song! I only made this short version for this video. One of these days I'll finish it!

[@MrsFrogmother1]

Autotune takes the beauty of a natural voice out and turns into into a mechanical voice.

[@yamilmsilva]

You’ve got me in tears… (I don’t want to sound corny) THAT WAS AMAZING. I’ve been procrastinating for a month to start recording and building EVERYTHING on my own. Because I am a bit afraid. But after watching your video, I have NO excuses. I must start recording. Thank you so much 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@songsbyspencer]

This is what it's all about! THIS is why I make these videos. Thanks for watching! Now go record some awesome music! You can do it.

[@questioneverthing1892]

This song is actually really good. It's better than a lot of celebrity garbage out there right now. Great job. 👍

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks!

[@octavianr526]

Great demo. I have no experience, but I am an audiophile and I can tell there is something added to your voices. I noticed that on many singers. But the song is nice and sounds fine.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks for watching!

[@edh8827]

I can hear the pitch correction immediately. I don't think it's just another tool - it creates a sound that even the most accurate singers can't copy. It's being organic & unique, with a story to tell, that makes a great singer so captivating. Pitch correction is turning a singer into a piano note. If I hear pitch correction or auto tune now, which is often, I turn it off. I'm not hearing the actual singer. However, your friend will hopefully now want to start singing & get some lessons. Singers need to know that pitch correction can never be copied by the human voice - it's a computer rendition.

[@dldave1978]

This is a great video… Very informative high-quality production. You do a great job! I hope you get more subscribers. I enjoy your channel.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks for watching! It means a lot.

[@pcchau20]

I can tell the autotune parts, but only because I heard the original without autotuning. If I were just listening to this post-production, I wouldn't be able to tell.

[@shitstorm3714]

This channel needs to be pushed!!! AWESOME!!!

[@daggad02]

Ha that was so much fun, she did great !

[@domliu3284]

Fantastic break down of the process in this song. Loved the song

[@songsbyspencer]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@Skilastic]

Holy cow this song sounds very original. I love it. It’s a shame I can’t find it anywhere but here. I would literally add it to my playlist if it was on iTunes.

[@opiegonebad58]

Great video. Just stumbled across your channel. Well done. As for can I tell autotune was used, absolutely I can tell. It isn't just the "T-Pain stound" that gives it away, that is the obvious tell that most people can hear. Autotune also turns the voice into an artificial computer generated sounding voice the second it takes over. For me, autotune is blatantly obvious in every song I hear it in, usually within the first few seconds of it kicking in. For me, it is the change in voice tone that gives it away faster than the artificial up and down pitch correction.

[@ChiefSupreme6803]

Based on my zero years of experience, I think her natural voice sounded pretty good. Wait, nevermind...

[@Nichole-Kerr]

Excpet she’s sings off pitch.and she sound terrible!

[@antonnym214]

Excellent demonstration; and it seemed like quite a challenge! I'm autistic. In my case, I'm not tone deaf, but I am tone stupid. I cannot discern any pitch correcting. I couldn't even when you had the "raw" and "fixed" takes in the beginning of the video. HOWEVER, I've been told by professionals that EVERYONE uses pitch correction, so we have to presume it is there, even if we can't tell it. I LIKE that I can't tell. That's a nice tune! I grew up in the 70s, so I'm old School: Boston, Bob Segar, Elton John, Queen, Bruce Springsteen... that era. But this is nice. I have heard Al Yankovic and to me, your voice sounds a LOT like his. It works for this genre. All good wishes. I subscribed.

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks for subscribing! I appreciate the kind words. Nowadays pitch correction is extremely common, but not everyone uses it. It really comes down to the genre. In Pop and Hip-Hop it's almost always used, in Rock music it's sometimes used, and in indie/lofi it's rarely used.

[@tasilovonheydebrandtundder6851]

I am against Autotune and here's why: Using it deprives a singer of singing the take correctly on their own. Most decent singers can hit the pitches they need to hit, but they may need multiple takes. We have become so chary of spending more time in the studio than absolutely necessary that we essentially make every production all about post production, using bits and pieces of a singer's performance all pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, rather than letting full takes of verses and choruses permit the singer to truly interpret the material. Our digital tools have come to overwhelm the personality and uniqueness of each singer.

[@Theicons62524]

In my opinion, I don't think it's bad. Sure, people using it without real talent is a little bit misleading and just an easy way to become popular without doing anything. But I think you bare minimum need to be able to hit some notes and learn. I like people who are authentic.

[@richardknott2021]

If you are not a good singer..this is heaven sent to someone who loves to sing but is not good..just my humble opinion.

[@Nettixxx]

Unfortunately, you’re the only person who doesn’t use it as much as it isn’t needed. Autotune isn’t necessary but in many situations pitch correction is

[@mavfan1]

And most just don’t care and autotune will continue.

[@joetroutt7425]

Here's the take on just using auto tune post production. It saves on how much money the label spends on the artist trying take after take to get it right and some may never do it in that session and have to come back the next day costing more money. I'm sure the artist feels cheated bc the producer says "great take, we'll just fix some minor issues in post" rather than getting the chance to get it right. Such is the cruel world of the music business.

[@mrflandoor]

I just discovered you on a tuesday at 3am and I loved the video and your work! Greetings from Argentina! Keep the good work!

[@songsbyspencer]

Will do! Thank you so much for watching, it means a lot.

[@tomsmart1970]

1. Why is applying technology shortcuts to make nonmusicians feel like they’re on the same plane as those who have put in years of effort to become real musicians a worthy goal? 2. Yes, it sounds autotuned, like most pop music does these days. I find that sound to be excruciating. Give me real human voices, warts and all.

[@joetroutt7425]

What I find disgusting is that all the pop singers that can't actually sing well live are duping their fans into coming to see them live by putting an album out with all auto tuned vocals. By the time their fans pay the exorbitant amount of money to see them live and hear how bad they actually sing (hopefully unless they cheat live using backing tracks or live auto tune or just lip syncing) the artists have gotten their money and on to the next city to cheat the next group of fans.

[@ReeCrowsFray]

Yes!!! Warts and all 👏🏻👏🏻 I’ve noticed my favorite singers are almost always the ones who have cracks and an emotional shakiness with some grit to it. I don’t like the peachy keen, cookie cutter, on the nose, pitched voices. It’s actually frustrating to see people who can hit the notes use this and take away from their real emotions.

[@lamborghiniespada8732]

Really cool video, very good song you made! When is it available on Spotify?

[@songsbyspencer]

One of these days I'll finish it!

[@jeremythornton6090]

I admit that I absolutely hate even the slightest bit of autotune. My attitude is, if you can’t sing, then don’t! And if you need vocals, hire a real singer. Or get a friend who can sing. Just do not use auto tune ever.

[@chords1209]

im gonna be completely honest this is a bit of a stupid take in so sorry 💀 if you're talking about the singers who literally can't sing then yeah I agree just don't sing then but if you're talking about ALL singers who use it, that's kinda insane because some of the most gifted vocalists alive such as Beyonce, Ariana Grande, lady gaga, etcetera use it. we've heard them sing with noic no autotune nothing and they sound amazing obviously but obviously there's gonna be times where they miss a note or all flat on a note so on official recordings obviously they're gonna use a small amount of autotune so you can't hear that. that doesn't take away from their immense talent though. with your logic, Beyonce can't sing cause she uses autotune. with your logic there's not a famous singer alive, or even just a singer who makes official music alive that can sing

[@Chishannicon]

@@chords1209 There are plenty of good singers who don't use autotune, and people still listen to them. If they are flat or can't sustain a note once in a while, it's no big deal. No one listening cares all that much, because raw singing by someone with the skills still sounds a hundred times better than anything autotuned.

[@nicholashylton6857]

​​@@chords1209No one be grudges an artist using Auto-Tune/pitch correction to do a little fixing up here and there. It's the, "Hang on... Humans don't sound like that." flatness people complain about. In fact, I've heard plenty of AI narrations on KZbin with more emotional punch than some Auto-Tuned vocals.

[@johnhaythorpe1063]

From your newest subscriber: I never knew recording was so hard until my friend and I created an album of busking songs. I just wish we had your talent, and ability to turn the mundane into something spectacular... well done, and Kudos to Sara; it take a lot of guts to do what she did, and the experience is more than a little humbling.

[@songsbyspencer]

You can do it! It just takes time and practice. I actually made a course that covers everything you need to know to get started recording, if you're interested. It's called Spare Bedroom Studio, and you can check it out at www.sparebedroomstudio.com

[@StanleyRage]

Her voice actually is not that bad)))

[@kenovadevs3448]

Just subscribed and this is my 3rd video. Wow! I'm loving your channel.... From production quality, humor, and educational bits. Wish I could like each video twice 💯

[@songsbyspencer]

Wow, thank you!

[@MrSmackdab]

I didn't think her voice was bad to begin with

[@DrMatthewHudson]

Exactly! If he thinks that's bad, definitely shouldn't hear my voice lol

[@Helmut_Kohl]

I think you have another point of view on this if you're more into music. Her voice isn't bad for a person, not having any experience of singing. But you can clearly hear a big difference between her and an actual singer

[@maca5645]

Same here, i think i would make Autotune self hack and implode.

[@Ashesoftheliving]

Amazing!❤ I don’t know much about all the audio correction things, but this gave me a good start. I just hit record on my phone and record the music🥲

[@songsbyspencer]

That's the first step! Just start making things- the setup isn't important!

[@Ashesoftheliving]

@songsbyspencer Thank you❤️ Yes I’m trying. It’s hard to learn an instrument but it’s so much fun at the same time. I look forward to my 30-40m guitar session everyday after work! Thanks to people like you for keeping us motivated🤙🏻❤️

[@johnopalko5223]

Auto-Tune: A highly sophisticated piece of audio processing software that lets talentless singers sound like talentless robots.

[@creepmike77]

You told em

[@zzzanca]

you forgot to mention that the software lets u create an unique type of sound that is awesome in a lot of scenarios and songs

[@Salamitommy-d5m]

100 percent. Look at all the crappy rappers today

[@timothygermangamesofficial]

While I don't have any interest in autotune, I just wanted to leave my first comment here so that you have a better chance of seeing it since it is your latest video. I recently tripped across your videos and I have watched multiple. They kept getting recommended to me, and I kept coming back. The way you put your videos together in such a way that you legitimately show the layering of each thing added is a breath of fresh air when it comes to youtube, at least for me. In my experience, much of this process is only half there, where with your content, it feels like 90% is shown. It gives me a better bigger picture view instead of surface level and then 'bam completed work in your face'. You have shown many creative ways of going about music production that I just never considered before. "For real", "Honestly", "I'm telling you", could be used as expressions to preface a comment of praise, but it doesn't really send the message home. Rather than being cookie cutter, this is instead me trying to be bluntly positive. Your content is helping me further my ability to visualize my path moving forward in music writing. I already have a decent groundwork, but this is an enhancement to it. And I truly believe that if you keep up this great work, it will continue to help inspire myself and many others. I finally went to subscribe today, and I just assumed that you would have had way more subscribers than you do currently. You will go far. This is just me long windedly thanking you for the hard work you are putting into your content. I look forward to seeing more. Cheers.

[@johnb6723]

Notice what's missing? Vibrato. A singer will never sound very good without it. All the soul of the song is lost, making it sound very "plain Jane", rather in the fashion of the Pet Shop Boys. They didn't even bring in a vibrato when doing their cover of a song by Elvis. Elvis would be turning in his grave. I have no difficulty telling a voice with the proper vibrato from one that is subject to autotune. Period.

[@adroitspartan7907]

That was a great explanation of auto-tune. Much appreciation for Sara as well who put herself out there for all to learn. Methinks AI with Autotune on the fly will make everyone a live performer. All of the processing will have to be at the edge - the mic, to reduce latency and appear in sync

[@songsbyspencer]

Thanks for watching! Some people use Autotune live and I have mixed feelings about it. It seems like it's becoming more and more common. It'll be interesting to see where all of this technology and AI leads!

[@adroitspartan7907]

@@songsbyspencer Music aficionados will be more appreciative of unplugged and acoustic performances. At the most an Amplifier. The rest can listen to the electronically A.i enhanced music for mass consumption. Also, the happiness of hitting all the right notes is an inside job. A.i. and auto tune wont replace that. Gene Kelly sang it right - "I've got rhythm I've got music ... who could ask for anything more ..."

[@tractorgt]

This is a great video! As someone who has produced some hits you've probably heard, when knowing I was going to need auto tune anyway, I'd just arm the plug in in recording not going to tape, and let them hear what it was doing to their voice. They'd self correct until the take was good and then I'd use the graph to make the real changes.

[@songsbyspencer]

That's a great tip! I'm going to try that.

[@paulpo999]

She’s way better than the average person singing.

[@HarishShanthiKumar]

This was very insightful ! Thanks for putting it out

[@songsbyspencer]

Glad to help!

[@newnoggin2]

Auto tune makes me feel sorry for everyone who uses it. They can never say I sang that and it was good. Nor can they say, I did that with no help. They will forever be lower class singers. Sad for us all and music. Autotuned singers will find it impossible to garner respect from the public nor from musicians.

[@Jamesbailey2000]

get a fucking life

[@stanleyzofastonovich1626]

Some people have a desirable vocal timbre although they are not able to sustain pitch. Autotune works well for these folks. No room for purists these days given the availability of the technology.

[@lucgeoffrion1970]

Just discovered your channel and I’m extremely happy about it. Still unsure of the difference in pitch, and how the autotune works, but I’ll listen to it again until I get it! Thanks for opening a new vision on singing!

[@songsbyspencer]

I'm so glad you're enjoying the content! I have the time of my life making these videos.

[@ThecoliseumTV]

Bro, uneducated me was totally against autotune, years ago but once i realized what, why where and when to use it, its just amazing. Its really a subjective thing whether you like it or not, but I can almost guarantee that there is a higher amount of song i listen to that are in fact autotuned. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@deontewatkins1990]

Awesome video!!! So cool! Great job!

[@songsbyspencer]

Much appreciated! I had fun making this one.

[@Will-jb6kr]

Nice work! I like the song! Needs to be on Spotify!!

[@songsbyspencer]

One of these days I'll have to finish it!

[@defface777]

This was great to watch it all come together... I kind of expect all vocals in this day and age to be helped with autotune , but it wasn't super obvious to me in this song... Well done!

[@songsbyspencer]

Much appreciated!

[@andrewbroderick6713]

This was awesome great job...your a true pro at production..