auto tune
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On Pop Music Production Geneologies: Ester Dean’s Compositional Process
In his recent New Yorker article “The Song Machine”, John Seabrook explores the songwriting process behind contemporary pop music. Today’s Top Forty hit, says Seabrook, “is almost always machine made: lush sonic landscapes of beats, loops, and synths in which all the sounds have square edges and shiny surfaces, the voices are Auto-tuned for pitch, Continue reading
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On The Trickle Down Of Electronic Dance Music Aesthetics II: Maroon 5’s “Move Like Jagger”
Almost everywhere you listen in mainstream American popular music today you hear bands coming to terms with electronic dance music’s most thumping contribution to 21st-century sonic entertainment: the “four-on-the-floor” bass drum pulse. This is the pulse that drove (and still drives) disco, electro, techno and house, as well as all kinds of derivatives of these Continue reading
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On The Posthuman Soul of James Blake
For many months now I’ve been hearing about this young English musician/DJ/singer James Blake. The BBC cited him as a musician to watch in 2011 and Blake just released his first full length album, James Blake. This self-titled recording is a striking collection of pared-down songs comprising mostly auto-tuned/processed voice, analog keyboards or piano, and the most Continue reading
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On The American Singing Voice: American Idol, Glee and The Sing-Off
If you’ve been paying attention to popular TV shows you might have noticed how important the singing voice is to the North American popular culture moment we’re in. Three shows in particular highlight the singing voice: American Idol (Fox), Glee (Fox), and The Sing-Off (NBC). All of these shows remind us how powerful the singing voice is as Continue reading
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On The Beyond Digital Morocco Project
Over the past few weeks I discussed two examples of sound collecting in West Africa. The first was the Digging 4 Gold project, the second was the Music From Saharan Cellphones project. While these projects are not without their problems–foremost among which is the question of whether or not any of recorded musicians will ever Continue reading
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