Reader Tips

Reader Tips 33 Comments

A lot of recent hit songs are more the result of studio gimmickry than the talents of the performer. The most common – and cloying and dishonest – studio trick involves auto-tuning, a form of audio processing which makes even the most massively out of tune vocalist sound like he has perfect pitch. Tonight’s amusement en route to the Tips – and this one IS amusing – shows how auto-tuning — and editing — can turn a non-musical vocal performance into a catchy piece of ear-candy. It’s important that you watch the videos in order: first the original, unaltered vocal performance, and then the finished product, a catchy little number called Backin’ Up. See if you can hear the difference.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.

33 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  2. That explains a lot about Taylor Swift.
    When I heard her singing off-key next to Stevie Nicks, I instantly changed my opinion of Kanye West’s microphone-grabbing stunt. He was totally on track.

  3. Minimal in its importance but I thought this was amusing:
    http://www.cbc.ca/politics/
    (embedded video on the right of the page).
    Notice the spelling the CBC used on today’s Power and Politics for one of the program’s upcoming segments. It reads VET$ AND JET$. And yes, with dollar signs.
    It’s shown 25 seconds into the video so you don’t have to stomach much.
    Does anyone recall the CBC labelling it the $ponsorship $candal?
    Yeah, I didn’t think so, either.

  4. Youtube video of Michael Coren interviewing Ezra Levant on his new book, Ethical Oil
    The quality of the 2nd segment is sub-par because I hit the wrong key when selecting the bitrate.

  6. POWinCA, Kanye West has taken a lot of heat for his excessive use of Auto-Tune; he once recorded a whole album using it.
    “‘I get a lot of backlash for using [Auto-Tune] because it’s a tool people use when they can’t sing,’ says West. ‘What it does for me, if I sing off-key, it really points that out.'”

  9. Re: Auto Tuning!
    I think that is so ingenious! I recall installing a reverberator in my 1967 Chevrolet. I thought that was high tech! God bless the electronic geeks who stay up all night and invent those things! Wasn’t it Marty Robbins who once blew a tube on a Fender amp. and accidentally created a new sound effect?

  10. Re: Auto Tuning!
    I think that is so ingenious! I recall installing a reverberator in my 1967 Chevrolet. I thought that was high tech! God bless the electronic geeks who stay up all night and invent those things! Wasn’t it Marty Robbins who once blew a tube on a Fender amp. and accidentally created a new sound effect?

  11. Have I been perma-warped or does the woman in the vid remind you of the warrior princess on CBC? One is an artist and one is a little, shall we say eccentric?

  13. EBD’s selection of the nite…
    A long time ago, having your voice “adjusted” for tone or frequency was something to be frowned on, like plagiarism in school. I guess that was pre-Saskatoon Public School Board policy updates…
    from Wiki, regarding former teen idol “Fabian” …
    “His career in music basically ended after he bought out of his contract with Marcucci[2] after signing a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. During the payola scandal of the 1960s,[3] Fabian testified before Congress that his recordings had been doctored electonically to significantly improve his voice.[4]”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_(entertainer)
    When The Eagles released their live album entitled “Eagles Live” (what’s an album?) it reportedly had had about 6 months of corrective studio work added, so this isn’t new…
    Rolling Stone Magazine said at the time that it was possibly the most over-dubbed live album ever, it even had 5 attorneys listed under the credits section. (again, from wiki.)

  14. Item of note:
    Fox had a Florida town hall political (1/2 voted Obama) opinion group (Hannity) When questioned about the performance of Obama, less than ½ of those that had voted for Obama still supported him.
    What was really astonishing was that when they asked the same question about Pelosi; only ONE person raised HIS white hand….Good/Bad news for those that understand Vertical organizations

  15. Sept. 29, 2000.
    Canada: I’d like to buy a headstone for the grave of a former Prime Minister.
    Salesman: What kind would you like?
    Canada: Just make it heavy.

  17. Bluetech’s link at 11:26, is hate speech,sort of
    ,if it wasn’t OK to hate jews.

    Did you know that Monica Lewinsky was an Israeli operative on a mission to destroy Clinton? I didn’t. I thought she was just a really creative cigar salesmen.

  19. PET Cemetery Intellectual/Egghead Tribunal.
    Moi has received this message from Liberal Intellectual/Egghead Iggy:
    Iggy’s message: Moi is not now a member of the “university deans” Party; nor, have Moi ever been a member of the “university deans” Party.
    …-
    “Human Rights Tribunal rules it can name university deans”
    “The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario says it has the power to both remove and appoint university deans, according to a new ruling in the case of a woman who claims racism and sexism were behind her rejection as Dean of Law at the University of Windsor.
    Professor Emily Carasco alleges a colleague “sabotaged” her candidacy last spring by raising historical allegations of plagiarism with the search committee, and as part of her human rights complaint, she asked the tribunal to over-rule the school and appoint her dean.”
    http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Human+Rights+Tribunal+rules+name+university+deans/3593395/story.html

  20. Socialism’s Death Spasms.
    Our CBC Mole reports, CBC’s Little Peter is rushing to Brussels with CTV’s Oviler to live report re socialism’s Death Spasms. TBA.
    …-
    “Anti-austerity protests erupt in Europe”
    “Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday – Greek doctors and railway employees walked off the job, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even rammed a cement truck into the Irish parliament to protest the country’s enormous bank bailouts.”
    “More related to this story
    * France hobbled by new strikes
    * Greek truckers clash with police
    * Transit strikes hit France, London”
    “All the actions sought to protest the budget-slashing, tax-hiking, pension-cutting austerity plans of European governments seeking to control their debt.
    In an ironic twist, the march in Brussels accidentally comes just as the EU Commission is proposing to punish member states that have run up deficits. Most of those deficits funded social and employment programs in a time of high unemployment across the continent. The proposal, backed by Germany, is expected to run into strong opposition from France.
    “It is a bizarre time for the European Commission to be proposing a regime of punishment,” said John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, which is organizing the Brussels march.
    “How is that going to make the situation better? It is going to make it worse,” Mr. Monks said in an interview with Associated Press Television News.”
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/anti-austerity-protests-erupt-in-europe/article1731686/

  21. Can anyone explain the difference to me between prostitution and human trafficking?
    Apparently a Justice of the Ontario Supreme Court can differentiate the nuance of each.

  23. auto-tuning?
    my gawd. it just occurred to me, has sarah palin been doing a form of this all along?
    LOL !!!!

  24. Jim Bennett has an article at National Review about political trends in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand over the last 150-odd years. As an Australian, I thought he gives an nice overview of our political history. Any Canadians want to comment on it? (Saskatchewan gets a special mention, of course.)

  28. Hmmm.Ignatieffs stance on F-35 program downright puzzeling
    peter hadekel, the gazzette sept 29/2010
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Ignatieff+stance+program+downright+puzzling/3595053/story.html
    *Ignatieff says if his party is elected he would suspend the contract because it was awarded without tender.
    So far that stance is going over like a bad joke in Quebec
    *yesterday several exec.s from quebec co’s. came right out and said it: the liberal policy could hurt investment because it creates uncertainty & instability.
    A puzzeling stance for Ignatieff
    The last time we checked the Montreal area was still a Liberal stronghold.

  29. On Tuesday the White House depuy Press Secretary said: “If you’re on the left, if you’re somebody like Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow or one of the folks who helps to keep our government honest and pushes and prods to make sure that folks are true to progressive values, then [the president] thinks that those folks provide an invaluable service,”
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42864.html
    Remember that the President thinks that ‘Fox News pushes “a point of view that I disagree with. It’s a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world,”‘
    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/014976.html
    Stolen from Ace of Spades HQ

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