Charli XCX on Auto-Tune: When and When Not To Use | ft. George Daniel & A.G. Cook, "BRAT"

Charli XCX discusses the use of Auto-Tune on her new album "BRAT", explaining why she can no longer live without Auto-Tune, while also acknowledging the value of raw, imperfect vocals with producers George Daniel and A.G. Cook.
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EPISODE GEAR MENTIONS
Native Instruments Reaktor - geni.us/CtU0V
Native Instruments Razor - geni.us/IAcsBC5
Celemony Melodyne - geni.us/eu7eBq
Antares Autotune - geni.us/I3qOXG
Xfer Serum - geni.us/tFdDtHP
Xfer Serum Presets - geni.us/8yBnSJV
Soma Pulsar - geni.us/JkCJTzj
Malekko Manther Synth - geni.us/y5ABO
Logic Echo - geni.us/jRhQMG
Logic Pro - geni.us/X5RxJ
Avid ProTools - geni.us/j6i4
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OUR GEAR
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INTRO MUSIC: Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective - songwhip.com/laurelcollective...

[@TapeNotesPodcast]

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[@tigersteffi]

George has had to set some sort of record at this point for having the most appearances on this show

[@Caradocg]

Just shows how influential he's becoming on the pop music that everyone's talking about

[@syntheticsilkwood2206]

What I love about charli is that she always leaves faults in her autotuned vocals they're not always clean or on pitch It always has so much textures with the wobbliness and the distortion that it adds an emotion and conveys it very efficiently

[@theymademedoitiswear]

Yeah she’s using it as an instrument. Singing the melody clean is sort of not the point.

[@codesm96]

Excuses people can't sing make

[@syntheticsilkwood2206]

@@codesm96 nobody is denying that charli isn't that great of a singer but I like her voice and the way she constructs her melodies and executes them in such an effective way using autotune and other vocal effects Did you even watch the interview? And why can't artists just express themselves the way they want to Now beyonce can't write but she can still use songwriters and sell the emotions of their writing Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses

[@eli-fm5zz]

shes so right that a slightly janky sound goes hard. especially because the golden zone for enjoying a song is where the beat and flow of a song is relatively predictable but not entirely. our brains really like small diversions of expectations (which is why u might not like a song at first, then after a few listens you really like it, then after too many listens it’s repetitive and boring) so those little hiccups in the track keep it fresh and interesting. super valuable in the pop genre where the goal is often catchy and repetitive

[@cowboytonydee]

Well said

[@chompskyhonk19]

i drink and smoke and use autotune lmaoooo

[@Adovian_]

I’d buy the t shirt😂😂💚

[@chris-matthews]

bumpin that 🔑🌨️

[@Mega_Queef]

ahahaouahah

[@PINE_333]

Power trio of the century

[@soaribb32]

At least I think it works with Charli cuz her music is super electronic.

[@Rawrmuffin0]

And yet her ballads are the most raw bc its stripped back synths with the auto tune for effect

[@AnalogueDad]

Exactly

[@Ethyl.breaks]

It’s an effect like delay or reverb. If you do it right, no one notices because it’s good. Even the robot voice from the early 2000s no one thought it was good but daft punk made a career on it

[@jethro377]

@@Ethyl.breaks it's not an effect, it's a crutch

[@Ethyl.breaks]

@@jethro377 .you know people said the same thing about pink floyd after dark side of the moon.said it was cheating for using 'crutchs' like guitar pedals in the early 70s . you can use it as a crutch but no one would take it seriously if you couldnt perfrom without it. you take the human element out of it and what do you have ? nothing. you put a guitar in someones hands and theyre not jimi instantly , pedals or not . youre an entertainer being a musician, the music makes up about 10percent of it. but sure take what it was called at first its a brand called autotune,call it robot sound 3000. now what is it. at first it was meant to tune vocals to guitars right? yes. then after about five years people noticed "o we can tweak these permaters and make it more obvious" then fast forward another five years and people like travis scott produce their albums using it as an effect and then on live shows sing in their regular voice over it adding another layer so basically creating another element of sound. the human ear can only hear three sounds at once. what you choose to put out there for other people isnt even up to you in the end.labels are loan sharks. your favorite band is a tshirt company in 2020, if it sells sure cool but take the person away and you got nothing

[@JmrDavies]

Brat is a real achievement. Brilliant album.

[@mjschlosser]

I just love her!!! 💚💚💚

[@necroriffmonger]

it's such a good album!! 😎

[@Carlangus]

YES 💚

[@codesm96]

It sucks ass. I hope Charli is reading this, girl you are beautiful but your music is TRASH

[@YodasPapa]

I love how the host is almost entirely unnecessary (and knows when to stay out of the way).

[@cameronarmstrong776]

george and charli 💓

[@mjschlosser]

She is my whole summer 💚💚💚

[@PeteLockhartTV]

These guys are creative powerhouses, and are definitely ahead of their time!

[@LowerLoveday]

It's the whole perfection lies in the imperfections type of thing. But it's also kind of a paradox as autotune is supposed to make everything perfect. So that's where it gets real interesting

[@orgyonmyown]

"Tuning's not my forte" she said. And that's were the Auto (german for car) comes in 😂💚

[@soaribb32]

Vroom vroom

[@Missjunebugfreak]

i've always wondered if Charli could improve her voice just by doing vocal training. And at least not smoking. But I do think the Autotune works for her style and gives her music a different character.

[@SilentAssassin01234]

Smoking would only affect your tonal quality and range. It wouldn’t affect your ear and pitch. Look at all the famous singers who smoke, Aretha, Dionne, Whitney- they had flawless pitch. The main reason is like she said, she is lazy. She isn’t a vocalist, she is a songwriter. She relies on tuning as a crutch so it has made her ear lazy. The ear is like a muscle, you need to work it regularly otherwise you will lose any skill with it.

[@finnrogue9435]

during the pandemic Tove Lo tried to make her warm her voice and train her singing voice but that didn't last long 😭😭

[@Missjunebugfreak]

@@SilentAssassin01234 You're right. It's a shame she's lazy now because it's a valuable skill to be able to have that pitch. I don't know if she could get it back if she stopped relying on tuning. Maybe some kind of training could strengthen that muscle.

[@spookeymo]

i stronly believe everyone can sing well with proper training

[@jethro377]

why put in the effort when the masses have no standards

[@itsneptunemusic]

georges karaoke latency joke went way too under-appreciated

[@lepythagore3288]

Hilarious moment, Charli's reaction "Yeah yeah I'm amazing" is great too

[@KordTaylor]

Charlie XCX is so progressive. She always seems to get the latest cool music producers and embraces new stylings. Kind of like Madonna back in the day but I’m more a Charlie fan. And yeah imma sending this to my old friends at Antares/Auto-Tune. If ya think about it, Auto-Tune on vocals is like when they put frets on a stringed instruments. 👏🏻❤️🔥

[@peanuts7324]

she doesnt embrace new stylings she created them

[@stonedmazes2587]

@@peanuts7324 agreed! Charli is as much of a pioneer as many of her peers. Not acknowledging this is the reason her music has taken so far to really get to this level of notoriety

[@michaelgreene4816]

Don't compare Madge with Charli. Apples oranges.

[@michaelgreene4816]

​@@peanuts7324Uh whuuut?

[@KordTaylor]

Weird. I don’t think you are understanding my point. I LIKE CHARLIE ALOT! My intent was to compliment that she is into innovation and raising the bar NOT to diss. Re: the producers you do need to realize she chooses them and are part of it too. Wow. Never expected such flames.

[@marsupialmicron]

Woooow you’ve got an Oscar synthesizer!!! You got yo do q video about it

[@user-ic5rw3ul5e]

Omg sameeeee I have my little booklet with all my complex handwritten passwords, and I also get attempts to log into my email from around the world everyday, sometimes multiple times per hour lol

[@antoniog2854]

i wish they wouldve explained how they made the filtery bass sound 1:38

[@soaribb32]

It's probably on Patreon

[@YodasPapa]

You can see it's with Serum and it's called "step bass" I think. I reckon it's just the bass thing at the start of the song with some crazy automated/performed filters on it, but I'm just guessing. And then there's sometimes a delay that's maybe only applied to mids and higher

[@antoniog2854]

@@YodasPapa I saw that it was Serum...just wondering about the filtering and occasional echo's ect. Its probably what you say... lots of automating different parameters ect

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

yeh there was a whole chorusey effect on her vox in one of the songs that was modulating in its width but it was never spoken about

[@Cactuspractice12]

Anyone else rewind Gucci's Lemonade? Burrrrr!

[@waterglas21]

I always think she use autotune in a very tastful way

[@iPlayAdCarry]

Yeah she's real

[@literaltrash2275]

Love autotune. It totally works for her vibe and anyone who wants to use it. Creativity has no limits!

[@literaltrash2275]

I’m hooked on brat

[@basslightyeah]

I'm quite surprised they used Logic for her tracks. I was certain she'd be an Ableton user with the music she's making

[@tigersteffi]

I think George (and by extension Matty from The 1975) are pretty known to use Logic but everything then gets bounced out on to pro tools. Not sure what AG uses but i wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Ableton

[@mdnghtppl0000]

every clip ive seen of ag he also uses logic

[@zacharygallenberger9243]

AG has said he uses Ableton but that was like 8 years ago

[@antoniog2854]

AG and Easyfun are both Logic users

[@matthewwatt2295]

99% of it is how well you know the software - all the established DAWs will give you the tools to get to that same end result, it's just down to how many hours you've put in and whether you enjoy using it.

[@machinate]

A.G. referencing Whigfield is so nice - In many ways lots of those types of hits are "lost" to our collective memory now, and he's one of the champions of that style still.

[@nackedgrils9302]

I'll never forget Whigfield! Wish there could be a full episode with A. G. only, I've been a fan for more than 10 years but I may have seen a total of 5-6 minutes of him talking in interviews.

[@tildebang497]

i need to know where her sunnies are from

[@nimck6642]

Track breakdowns?!?!?!

[@Adovian_]

I drink, I smoke I use auto tune is not only a bar, it’s a t-shirt i want😂💚

[@ivymashups2544]

please consider getting the producer rick nowels on the podcast hes a great musician and did amazing work with lana del rey!!

[@Zachx]

I love when she uses auto-tune, but she really has a great voice. I wish she'd sing at her 100% again like she used to.

[@codesm96]

She forgot how to sing..well she was never that good to begin with

[@itsjasonbiitch853]

Omg George’s voice is hot

[@kirstenmccluskey4445]

Gosh, GD never looked so good with that dirty stash. I love it

[@MQZ17]

Brat is a masterpiece, I'm bias but its true

[@codesm96]

It sucks ass. Bunch of autotune cool girl garbage. It's douchey and sounds robotic

[@jelletimmermans3916]

Omgg

[@jackpantomime]

I will never not enjoy seeing George on the show

[@fedegrande8124]

1:39 what program are they using?

[@footballgirl263]

logic - basically a professional GarageBand by apple

[@sebasitn]

First thing that happens is George says she sings way out of pitch tantamount to being tone deaf and then you see AG has to restore the vibe with his authority and equanimity...

[@soaribb32]

I wonder why

[@sebasitn]

@@soaribb32 Note also a recent interview where Charli mentions having some songs queued up on a DJ set with what may look like conflicting BPM's (though as she explains, she knows what she's doing) and then feeling patronized when george points it out. Yet another instance he feels he has to "correct" her or at least assert she's doing something "wrong." People will hate to hear it but it's something I've noticed.

[@tehkokhoe]

What level of terminally online is this

[@360ana]

lmao did we watch the same video?? charli started saying that and george assured her it’s nothing and that it was just a half tone and they laughted ab it and ab karaoke. get off the internet jesus christ

[@sebasitn]

@@360ana "just a half tone" they said semi-tone, which as you may know is like a whole fret on a guitar or a whole piano key away from where she ought to be pitch wise. Another way of saying this is usually a singer is like 10 cents give or take away from a note, while a semi-tone is 100 cents difference. This is a difference pretty much all hearing people notice, unless they're tone deaf. Notice how Charli sort of reacts to the use of the word semi-tone. Of course they're all gonna play it off and it'll look that way on camera but people in these sorts of crowds are really subtle and sensitive, to me personally it was telling that AG felt the need to counter/balance out what George was saying, and I'm with him on what he said. He is THE producer after all, whose responsibilities have traditionally included being like the coach of the artist, how you gonna let someone get them down?

[@teriko865]

lmfao

[@user-cb3vs3oh5h]

There’s never a bad time to use pitch correction. It’s artist preference.

[@user-rf5mc4zm4d]

I just bought you patreon to see the chainsmokers video and its no there!! its a scam

[@footballgirl263]

is the video kinda fucked at the beginning for anyone else? or is it just me?

[@dorianford6227]

She uses auto tune in a very tasteful way

[@sebastiananthony5442]

So Sophie was pushing Charli to use her own voice and I 100% believe that Sophie would have preferred So I to be sung by Charli just with her own voice naked bare and raw 😢

[@soaribb32]

Sophie did just that in the song Charli referenced (it's ok 2 cry) in So I.

[@peanuts7324]

ngl this is a weird ass comment

[@johncarolina4950]

Sophie would prefer the song never be written and that she'd be alive I'm pretty sure.

[@satisfactoryrelief]

how about not criticising an intensely emotional tribute to a dead friend just so you can voice a (pointless) opinion.

[@jethro377]

I remember when singers knew how to sing, now any hack can do it

[@codesm96]

It's pathetic, takes no effort at all

[@mariandown2327]

@@codesm96 she's mainly a songwriter. What is pathetic is not noticing that.

[@codesm96]

@@mariandown2327 Well her songwriting sucks. And if that sucks, and her singing sucks and her production sucks because it sounds too robotic, then you have someone who makes garbage music, like Charli XCX. What's pathetic is being a fan of such garbage.

[@sneekz07]

@@codesm96 Cry some more.

[@butlayf-dy2sj]

Why is she styled like Our Generation ? And Autotune is almost ALWAYS AWFUL

[@mouman]

This is the artists everyone is giving 10's? Saying she cant sing?

[@birdie17uk]

Welcome to 2024....

[@bia6677]

You need to be quite obtuse to not understand she thrives in lyricism and experimenting with sound, so vocals aren't the focus of her music. If that's the pop girl you want, there's 100 others to pick from.

[@noa_1104]

To me this project and her previous ones are full of satisfying/ well executed vocals (and good lyrics and songwriting) because it’s about so much more than having the most accurate pitch

[@antptrl]

@@bia6677 but I feel like charli likes to downplay herself a lot, her live vocals are fine. she’s no Beyoncé but she’s not bad at all

[@bia6677]

@@antptrl totally agree, I'd say it comes from making these musical choices for so long and being compared to other female pop artists. most mainstream acts have always had a focus on vocal quality, I can see why she'd end up feeling lesser than.

[@jnyfumare]

Remember when people actually knew how to play an instrument and could sing in tune? LOL

[@nebyenrub]

An entire podcast explaining exactly how much she lacks the talent to sing on pitch, interesting stuff!

[@austinbartnicki1385]

Auto-tune and pitch correction are two separate things completely. The former is a filter to create a specific sound whereas the latter is, well, pitch correction.

[@that_icy_stylish_bitch]

Imagine being a grandpa and instead of spending your time with your family and friends, you use to spread misinformation and ignorance on the internet.

[@nebyenrub]

@@austinbartnicki1385 auto-tune is extreme pitch correction, genius. She’s literally talking about how she’s off key, but please, keep explaining audio production to an engineer.

[@Hollow4y]

The point she’s making is that she’s become used to singing deliberately out of key when using Autotune. Singing with Autotune is a completely different instrument to standard singing, as you have to sing out of key in order to really ‘lean in’ and get a certain sound.

[@murderbear9576]

her discography is better than whatever your fave put out tbh.