Sound check

With auto-tuned songs dominating Indian music charts, experts feel that it’s time to accept its diverse possibilities, instead of treating it as a ‘cover up’ for bad vocals

Back in 2010, when Sahir Nawab, a Mumbai-based multi-disciplinary genre-fluid musician, started using “auto-tune”—a software that enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance—the concept was still in its nascent stage. At the time, though, people were divided over its use. A lot has changed in the last decade.

Bollywood has now jumped on the auto-tune bandwagon, says Karan Jhaveri, a music producer and composer. A quick glance of YouTube’s most trending Indian songs is enough proof to show how autotuned music, which often sounds robotic, is currently ruling the charts. Bhjopuri music artistes are not too far behind.  

Karan Jhaveri, a music composer and producer, says that autotune adds a new layer and texture to the vocals

Nawab says that auto-tune has reached a stage of “domination”. “Everyone is into it now, be it the indie producers or the commercial music industry.” According to Jhaveri, what makes this an interesting phase for auto-tune, is how diversely it is being used. “It has come back in a different way. Instead of correcting vocals, it is [now being] used to add another layer of texture to the singers’ voice,” he says, adding, “The purpose has changed completely. But, it’s a good thing, especially when you are making music for the masses.”  

When Nawab started using auto-tune in his productions, he remembers that there was a lot of resistance to it, as authenticity was still preferred over manufactured sounds. “But, the newer generation has grown up listening to these vocal styles, so it’s really normal for them.” He feels that auto-tune has the power to make a simple song sound fresh. “If you want a different feel and vibe, auto-tune can save the day.”

Mae Mariyam Thomas and Sahir Nawab

While Bollywood mostly uses autotune to enhance vocals, Bhojpuri music makers have been using autotune more liberally in their productions. A query on social question-and-answer website Quora.com, as to “why Bhojpuri music makers and fans seem obsessed with auto-tuned and digitised vocals” threw up interesting responses, with one user claiming that it was “about [the] taste of the target audience ie [the] rural youth which finds such [electronic] distortions cool and funky”.

A misconception about auto-tune, says presenter-podcaster Mae Mariyam Thomas who runs the music podcast Maed in India, is that “if you use it, you are a bad singer”. “But, that’s not necessarily the case. You still have to be a relatively good singer if you need to pitch correct your singing. When a bad singer uses auto-tune, the sound you get is almost comedic. It’s like a parody voice that doesn’t sound particularly melodic,” she says.

Depending on the user-case scenario, autotune could be one of the best things that happened to us or even the worst, says Nawab. A simple best-case scenario, he says, would be of an aspiring musician, who doesn’t have the money to spend on high-quality production, but really wants to put their music out there. The worst case would be when a good singer starts relying heavily on auto-tune, even during live shows. “You can’t rely on something that is here just to help you,” he says.

According to Thomas, genres like hip-hop, pop, electronica and dance music are the ones that use autotune the most. It’s, however, yet to catch on in India like it has in the West. Where American pop singers like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Beyoncé use minimal auto-tune for minor corrections, a lot of Bollywood singers consider it to be demeaning, says Nawab. “However, this [auto-tune] has developed really well, especially with younger artistes who don’t judge calibration or talent of a musician based on autotune,” he says. Jhaveri says he has used auto-tune in most songs that he has composed. “I like the tone and texture because it makes the voice sound warmer, and not robotic [as it is often presumed].”

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