Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune
Original author(s)Andy Hildebrand
Developer(s)Antares Audio Technologies
Initial releaseSeptember 19, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-09-19)[1][2]
Stable release
10[3]
Operating systemWindows and macOS
TypePitch correction
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.antarestech.com

Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies.[1][4] It uses a proprietary device to measure and correct pitch in music.[5] It operates on different principles from the vocoder or talk box and produces different results.[6]

Auto-Tune was initially intended to disguise or correct off-key inaccuracies, allowing vocal tracks to be perfectly tuned. The 1998 Cher song "Believe" popularized the technique of using Auto-Tune to distort vocals. Cher's song was produced with the assistance of the musical duo Roy Vedas, who had released two months earlier the song "Fragments of Life", which features the technique. It has since been used by many artists in different genres, including Daft Punk, Radiohead, T-Pain and Kanye West. In 2018, the music critic Simon Reynolds observed that Auto-Tune had "revolutionized popular music", calling its use for effects "the fad that just wouldn't fade. Its use is now more entrenched than ever."[7]

  1. ^ a b "Antares News". AntaresTech.com. August 19, 2000. Archived from the original on August 19, 2000. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Preve, Francis. "Antares Kantos 1.0 Audio Synthesizer (PC/Mac)." Keyboard 28, no. 10 (10, 2002): 92-95, 97.
  3. ^ "Auto-Tune Pro X". Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "AUTO-TUNE". USPTO. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  5. ^ US patent 5973252, Harold A. Hildebrand, "Pitch detection and intonation correction apparatus and method", published 1999-10-26, issued 1999-10-26, assigned to Auburn Audio Technologies, Inc 
  6. ^ Frazier-Neely, Cathryn. "The Independent Teacher—Live Vs. Recorded: Comparing Apples to Oranges to Get Fruit Salad." Journal of Singing – The Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing 69.5 (2013): 593-6. ProQuest. Web. 16 June 2014.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pitchfork was invoked but never defined (see the help page).