Smashing Pumpkins Syndrome

What are we calling him these days? Yeezy, Ye? Since those are non-names, I shall use Kanye West. I made the claim to 

abrahamKim

that the song Gold Digger is his masterpiece. Sir Abe suggested it's one of his masterpieces, so I asked for other ones. He suggested the album 808s and Heartbreaks, and I just gave it a listen for the first time.

I have coined the phrase "Smashing Pumpkins Syndrome" for bands/artists that produce music with excellent instrumentation and melodies that are ruined by the vocals. Sadly, the album 808s and Heartbreaks has Smashing Pumpkins Syndrome for one very specific reason--Autotune.

Autotune showed up in 1996, and has been used by artists  to correct the pitch in recordings. Early use was subtle, and most people probably couldn't even detect it. This all changed in 1998 when Cher released the song Believe, which had Autotune cranked all the way up resulting in an unnatural, robotic voice. This song ushered in the post-Autotune era when artists began using it unabashedly to alter their voices for ostensibly artistic reasons.

I grew up listening to music in the pre-Autotune era. I don't have perfect pitch, so I don't notice when a singer is off-pitch unless he or she is really off-pitch. Great singing voices naturally convey emotions that connect to human beings. Some voices, like those of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Adele, and Bono, are clean and pure. Other voices like those of John Fogerty, Melissa Etheridge, Bruce Springsteen, and Rod Stewart are infused with an unreproducible timbre that would be difficult, if not impossible, to match artificially.

I realize that the younger generations have grown up listening to music that has been predominantly auto-tuned, and so they consider that sound normal.  Do I think every song with Autotune is bad? No. It is a tool we have now that can be used in various ways. But if you have a great voice, why use Autotune to excess?

It's an old-school approach, but my test for any great artist is to evaluate how they sound a capella or with minimal instrumentation, such as an acoustic guitar or a piano. Maybe there are great artists who are great because of their use of all the tools and technology currently available. My ears and musical taste have not been tuned to that frequency.