Can it be a crutch? Absolutely. Have I had a learning curve with it? Yep! And still do! But it's not a tool to be scared of. It's just physics! If you'd like to support the videos I do then check out my Patreon page :D www.patreon.com/malinda
It's the same with Photoshop, everyone thinks it's bad and people only use it to appear thinner when photographers just need to use it for colour grading and stuff
I learned three things today: 1. You use tuning software 2. Autotune is not a bad thing 3. I am not as strong in my musical knowledge as I thought I was...
@@alexdiduk4611 Say that to classical signer. ;) they don't, if you don't trust me look at a classical music signer concour, and know that they don't do any tuning. They'll always sing exactly in tune. You've also metal bands like Maiden etc who don't use it at all. You've a nice story about Bruce Dickinson who recorded one sentence from the song "The Number of The Beast" (Iron Maiden for those who don't know who Dickinson is), the sentence was "the evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair ", the producer was never conviced by it, so he make him do it again and again for more than an hour. The scream you hear just after, wasn't written at all in the lyrics, it's just Bruce screaming '"YHEAAAA" when the producer told him that the take was good.
RmDIr Sudo Su there are obviously exceptions, but basically any music you hear on the radio (which basically rules out heavy rock and classical) will have tuning
As a choir singer, I can also say that you should never underestimate the power of those lower notes. I'm a soprano and we can be quite a loud bunch... (sorry to all altos out there) But if there is no altos, the whole thing would be kinda hard to listen to. And when it comes to bases... at least in my choir it's like you can't always hear them, but you still hear if they're not there... Conclusion: Dropping notes via tuning is 100% okay. You sometimes need those lower notes or it'll all sound weird... XD
OwO wow, oh and i'm not sad, it's tottaly fine for me (a girl) to be an alto except i got bullied for no reason because of that (what's wrong with an alto girl) but it's fine :v
It’s okay! I’m a mix between alto and soprano (depending on time and day) so I get it! My boy classmates can’t sing a high note without shouting, and it does suck but it’s something I’ve done before.
As an audio engineer, I can hear the difference :) It's also super frustrating because many people equate any vocal effects (reverb, delay, compression, etc.) to autotune. So even if it doesn't sound like you use "autotune" to those of us who know the difference, people just hear any effects they don't like and automatically think you're using autotune. It's more likely their way of saying "I don't like the amount of reverb you used".
Any effect (even autotune) can work if used properly. As someone who falls into the anti camp a lot, i would say it's just about when and how much they're used. Worse than auto-tune for me is hearing too much breath.
@@some_Phreak I'm not here to debate effect usage. The point is that most people just hear an effect they don't like and think it's autotune because of the stigma caused (mainly) by T-Pain.
I'm not an audio engineer, but I can also hear the pitch correction in some of Melinda's songs. I have nothing against pitch correction but I think Melinda's producer could have tried just a little harder in some parts of some specific songs
Exacly but in music there more of thos epeople who have classical paintings at their home, see your Photoshop picture and say a real artist does not need Photoshop to create images. Only those who can't draw or photoshoot right" But I actual would be with that when we gonna talk about actual own serious music and not this here which has to come weekly. I would produce it like the singer has to sing only every verse. So when something inside that is wrong the singer only have to sing the line over and over again till its perfect and not the whole verse or song.
Im actually super curious now to hear a version of a song without tuning, and then the version with tuning, just to see the difference that a little bit of tuning could make! I feel as though that would further my understanding! With or without tuning you are a beautiful person and an amazing singer! And either way, as long as the meaning and emotion is still left in the song, then I'm fine! Love you Malinda! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
THIS! THANK YOU!! As a music production geek it drives me crazy when people talk about how a song is bad because you can "hear the autotune" (which a lot of times is just reverb lol, software like melodyne doesn't sound robotic if used sparingly and skillfully). Tuning vocals is so necessary to get a good, modern sound. Thank you for educating people on this!!
This was the first time I have heard a side by side comparison of conventional tuning versus ideal harmonic resonance and although I was familiar with the terms, hearing the difference was really cool. Just intonation adds so much more depth to the harmony, I'm guessing this is because of the ideal ratio of canceled to elevated frequencies. Thank you for this truly informative video. I love how you explain these things with so much confidence and humor while at the same time being so humble and genuine.
For some strange I mainly see absurd hate comments accusing pop artists of using autotune to make their songs in the first place, as if they think autotune is a composing software rather than a tuning software. It's eerie, really. I hope those people find and pay attention to this video. And I enjoyed the music theory lesson.
Paytron B. I know how a TH-cam video works (I didn’t mean for that to come off as rude as it sounds). For me lol, it would probably be a cut every few seconds
It's great that someone has finally addressed this! I also think it's great that you have succeeded in addressing this without being slightly evil to other artists, as I have seen other people make a video similar to this while destroying other youtubers. Keep being my favorite TH-camr!
Bob Buethe Yes I know, the points i made were to prove wrong other comments which now have been deleted! She makes it very clear that she uses tuning 😅
Those “few cents off” is what gives music it’s soul. The record label that owns Queen’s music is now auto tuning Freddy Mercury. This is why modern pop music is so robotic and sterile and sounds the same. Auto tune also “snaps” the note to the pitch and sometimes when a person is sliding up the scale or has great vibrato then program snaps it to a pitch it thinks it needs to go to. Malinda you have a phenomenal voice and know how to use it. Auto tuning is not necessary for any one. I like honest performances. Nobody is flawless and that makes us human and brings out the soul of the music.
This was fascinating. I've been singing for a long time (mostly live, not usually recorded so far), but I never really knew about any of this, so it's really helpful. (And entertaining, as always.) The thing about your singing is that it's obvious you don't need to use tuning as a crutch, and as a result, your discreet use of tuning when the context calls for it isn't even noticeable. I think there's always a clear difference between people who use tuning to actually fake singing talent and those who don't. Granted, you did a terrific job phrasing your comments here so as not to actually diss any other singers, which is admirable.
At 9:04 it sounds like she's saying "you're asking for treble." Without puns, life would B flat. Okay, why am I still doing this? This comment is so long i'ts like someone wrote a fermata over it or something. Okay I'll stop now. Or, for all you fellow nerds, I'll "add a double bar line now." lol sorry it's my third year being in my school choir so I gotta hit y'all up with the music puns.
At 9:04 it sounds like she's saying "you're asking for treble." Without puns, life would B flat. Okay, why am I still doing this? This comment is so long i'ts like someone wrote a fermata over it or something. Okay I'll stop now. Or, for all you fellow nerds, I'll "add a double bar line now." lol sorry it's my third year being in my school choir so I gotta hit y'all up with the music puns. Oh, sorry, I thought I saw two dots next to that double bar line. My fault!
Honestly, this was a total slap to the face to anyone who hate-comments on music related TH-cam videos that they are using auto tune and that it would be better if they didn't. I appreciate how informative and well-explained this video was. Totally disproved a lot of people's beliefs about what autotune is.
TH-cam recommended this video in my feed and boy am I glad it did! I am so amazed by your videos, your singing and your thoughtfulness (love the video about mirror and self-perception). Happy to be a new subscriber!
But it doesn't work like that. The song must sound nice to sell and be heard. Only real fans go to concert and not casual listeners. Then again there are major differences Everytime every artist sings the same song live. There are bad voice days, poorly trained voices that are capable of reaching high notes but not trained enough, there are song that are not simply made to be heard live, even Adele can't sing live sometimes, or Sia... It's normal to touch up the voice a little especially in pop since it needs that smooth sound to sell...
@Hana Rose stuff like voice cracks and harshness, dry vocals etc... Are really not apart of pop music. The touch ups smooth the sound so it sounds more natural and less forced. I for one love voice cracks, Sia and Demi's voices for instance crack a lot singing live but in the studio versions they avoid that so it sounds like less of an effort. Pop is supposed to be this casual music that can be applied anywhere from fast food restaurants, to bars, to car trips... So it needs to sound as pleasing as possible. Therefore pop is smoother while rock is more rough and natural (but not pleasing to everyone's ears)
@Hana Rose with rock I just meant that strained voices, voice cracks, screams and growls are common because they stylize and reenforce certain feelings. Of course there are really smooth rock songs, even from hardcore bands. But pop unfortunately evolved into this "safe" sound. And I honestly find it too safe, its the same chorus repeated (literally) like three times and it gets old really fast. It's all so controlled it feels like more of a product than art. But actually hearing it live is so refreshing. Even when high notes are not done like studio versions (Demi and that "Fall in Line" bb5) it feels so great the listen to her trying to go around and sometimes hitiing the note briefly various times to try and make it up for the fans. It's great
maybe. lana del rey can't sing shit live, i still like some of her studio versions tho. marina (from marina and the diamonds), same. i love her songs but would i pay to see her live? nope. i don't care if someone changes their voice when they wanna be superstars, there are tons of other great singers out there who can actually sing and we can appreciate live, i went to a jake bugg concert and it was very pleasing. i think there's enough room for everyone in the industry.
I understood the part at 6:08 because my band director explains this to us ALL the time. Sometimes when playing/singing chords, it sounds better to have one or two notes be slightly off pitch than to have everyone be right on pitch. Music is weird lol
I really don't care when or why anyone uses tuning. If it makes the song sound nice, I like it. Sort of like how I don't care if a painting was made by hand or by press. If it looks nice, I like it.
@Malinda, you give a lot of information and no matter how long the videos are, I found I don’t even check how much time is left while they play because I’m not tired of listening. You could describe more and keep us all captivated. Thank you, I love what you’re doing and hope a billion people find and appreciate your work too!
I don’t think anyone is truly tone deaf, they just don’t have the training or practice to distinguish pitches. I used thought I used to be tone deaf until third year of orchestra
I was watching a video on production and continuity errors, and how people routinely sacrifice continuity for the sake of getting the better performance with more emotion, so this is a timely video. It’s like establishing... aural continuity. I love that you’re being so open and honest about this. It’s a great way to start the year off!
Thank you. I am just SICK of seeing people go "stop with the auto-tune it sucks" and all that jazz all the time. IT IS LITERALLY JUST- AGH- But seriously. Malinda is a GOOD SINGER, people. A GOOD SINGER. Even if she fixes up a bit of stuff, it doesn't mean it's completely changing the song!
I feel that you have better explained the physics--and sometimes physical--behind music and tuning! Your analysis is by far better than the one I received in my college classes! I'm partially deaf--not enough to warrant a hearing device, but definitely noticeable--and can't really hear the difference in the "highs;" so when you did the whole intonation part, I couldn't really hear a difference in the upper register. However, Bass I hear VERY well, and there is a difference in the bass resonance between the two examples. The intonation has more of a "flowing" WAH WAH to it, while the other feels stiff and without a bottom. Again, this was a great explanation into Autotune and Tuning! If you haven't put this on other Social Media...PLEASE DO SO!! Many could benefit from this discussion! :D Keep up the wonderful work and I'll look forward to your next videos! (From both channels!) :D
Wow what a nice video! The way you talk about music theory and tunning is great and shows that you really know the subject you're talking about. I feel like any subject related to music and singing and playing you could choose to talk about would certainly give us a good video.
How do you have less than even 100k subscribers. Honestly you should be in the list of top 50 youtubers with both channels because you have a beautiful voice. Whether you use auto tune/tuning or not
I am someone who knows literally nothing when it comes to the theory of music. I just listen and enjoy. BUT! I find it so interesting when it is actually explained to me with the amount of passion that you provide! I'd love to see more videos like this! #LearningIsLove
Thank you for the video! I really love learning about music theory/music production. I didn’t know manually tuning things existed until I took music production, and that’s because it just makes things sound natural. Autotune is really obvious in music but small refinement through manual tuning and subtle reverb just makes things sound right and it’s used in pretty much every song that isn’t sung live. In my opinion, RECORDED voices without tuning and editing often sound worse than those same exact voices singing LIVE. I’m glad you pointed out that there isn’t one exact tuning that is “correct,” as I have experienced moments in orchestra where I have to make a certain note “extra sharp/extra flat” because of the key I’m in or because of what notes come before/after. Sometimes things have to be a few cents off in order for it to sound in tune, which sounds like an oxymoron but it’s true. The last thing I want to mention: if someone who is wayyy out of tune is manually changing their pitch, you can tell something is a little off, because voices have different timbre at different pitches and software can’t easily distinguish between that (it’s the same with instruments, when sampling you have to use many samples or it doesn’t sound natural, you can’t take one sample and tune it to every pitch and have it still sound like the instrument originally sounded). The reason why it sounds natural for Malinda is because the pitch only barely/rarely has to be adjusted. Thanks again for the video!
Spent many months in Music Theory trying very hard, to assimilate what you’ve just explained (& I understood) in 10.5 mins. As my own worst enemy, the Math calculations I endured, what you call Physics (same animal) overwhelms the concepts of Melodic Consoance. But it’s a beautiful thing when you consider, this ethereal thing we call sound is just so darned measureable. You should maybe do a few more videos explaining these concepts. I realise it’s not an appealing topic for most but wow, I was riveted. Also, have you ever measured your cervical vertebral length & neck circumference? The 1st time I watched you perform, it was intriguing how much your physiology blesses your amazing vocal strengths. Just stunning!
This is an amazing video regarding the subject of "auto-tune" on TH-cam videos and Malinda I love it so much, I have a new appreciation and greater respect for you
That was actually very interesting and informative. You asked what we would like to see, and I was thinking as you were talking about how the production of popular music has changed (or differs depending on context) that it would have been nice to have had some examples of that. (I thought the examples of equal temperament versus ideal harmonic resonance later on were great and really helpful.) So maybe you could talk a little more about things like that in the future.
I LOVE THIS NERDY VIDEO!!! I actually wrote a paper on wavelengths and pitch for a chemistry class (surprisingly not a physics class) and so this makes me really excited!! Please make MORE VIDEOS LIKE THESE!!!
I have learned so much today. Answered a lot of questions. In both my radio and tv careers we certainly "tweaked" voices but we didnt have any programs to tune like what you spoke about, it was all done through a mixer. Old school.
She spends a significant portion of the video mentioning that she uses actual autotune as a stylistic flourish when she is making pop videos. Then with her other songs, she mentions that though she technically does not use "autotune", she does use another type of pitch-altering software for more subtle fixes. I appreciate her honesty in disclosing these things to us, and I think it's a good practice.
Your way of explaining this is so incredibly helpful. I've heard many of these things before but for some reason the way you approached it made it come to life. Thank you for taking the time to make this!
I found this pretty interesting. I have a pretty wide range when singing, but I can't sing super low, and if I sing too high my voice cracks. So I guess I'm sort of in the middle?? I have been classed as a soprano the couple times I've been in choirs though. The thing about emotion vs accuracy....I struggle with that. If I try to perform a song on pitch and stuff, I lose the emotion, while if I try to sing it emotionally I'm often out of tune. For instance, I started a song cover channel about a year ago, and on the songs where I was worried about being on tune, someone commented I lacked passion, but then on songs where I tried to be less polished, I was complimented for having passion. It's weird. I mean, I don't have perfect pitch either, though apparently I have good relative pitch (like I can tell if I or others are off tune really well). I'm also not formally trained, so that probably makes a difference too.
"The thing about emotion vs accuracy....I struggle with that." No need to struggle with that. That's just what one would expect. What do you think makes us able pick up "emotion" from singing? we are (mostly subconsciously) detecting slight imperfections in the pitch and interpreting those (by imagining how _we_ would feel if what we are hearing was _our own_ voice -- very simplified). so it's physically impossible to do both at the same time!
Not only was this very educational for me, but now that you've talked about it, I'm thinking back to live performances I've been to and it's suddenly opening my eyes (well... ears) to why they sounded so much better in person than on my phone recordings of the same concert! If they're slightly off while singing live, the instruments and backing tracks are also playing at the same time, so overall it sounds fine. But when I listen back to it on my phone later on, I would imagine some of that gets cut out due to mic/processing capabilities on the phone and they don't sound as good as I remember them sounding in person. I never really understood why that happens until watching this video. So, thank you!!! :)
6:30 "DOESN'T THAT FEEL WEIRD NOW?" actually, for me, it doesn't (and yes, I _do_ hear the difference). quite the opposite, to me the other one ("just intonation") is the one that sounds weird. (remember cassette recorders? when the tape is slightly wrinkly? it sounds a bit like that to me)
I'm curious, do you mainly learn or play music with a Piano or some other fixed-pitch instrument involved? I learned Piano first, but now I mainly play Viola and Violin player as well as singing. On a Viola or Violin, I can adjust the pitch up or down slightly to make it sound better, and vibrato and stuff. A couple orchestra directors I've had have told us how to adjust to be closer to Just intonation on certain chords. And especially when I'm singing in a small group A Capella, usually renaissance or early-baroque style music, we very often adjust out pitches to make the chord sound better with harmonics. However, whenever we're playing with a piano or harpsichord or something we don't do that very much, and instead tune based on the Piano's equal temperament. It's like two different modes of thinking.
@@silkwesir1444 actually, piano isn't generally tuned "correctly". It is usually on stretched tuning where the left end is slightly flat and the right end is slightly sharp Edit: also, the individual strings that make up a note are slightly detuned from each other
8:39 "I'm not secretly a man." I literally lol'd. Also, I subscribed. :D And as a guy with a physics background, the breakdown on harmonics was super nerdy and I loved it.
Thank you so much. I have known this stuff for awhile and it has bothered me su much when people would harrass singingers about auto tune. There is nothing automatic about the way most singiners tune their voice. Thanks for bringing this knowledge to the masses.
My dislike of autotune would depend on how much the artist leans on it. I've seen enough singers over the years who sound great in a studio but are completely found out when they try to do it live in front of an audience. Those who can do it live (Freddie Mercury's performance with Queen at Live Aid 1985 is still the greatest live performance I've ever seen) or TH-camrs like the Peter/Evynne Hollens, Malukah, Bailey Rushlow etc.those are people who tend to interest me more on a personal level.
What really bugs me is when voices of good singers are smoothed over too much. It's like substituting a pristine sheet of paper with a sheet of plastic of the same colour and measurements - sure, the result is really smooth, but way too artificial.
I know this is an old video. Buuuuut... I’d like to see a video where you sing a song that requires the touches of tuning twice: once without the tuning, and once with, so we can compare and get a better idea of all the complexities you’re covering here. Just an idea. Love your content!!
You make my heart really happy. I guess this is a weird comment to make, but you have such a peaceful, bright energy, and you talk so clearly, it's wonderful to see. Keep being awesome
Tuning schemes, oh boy. Things without "quantized" pitch - voiced, violins, anything that can "bend" tend to be "just" tuning if left to their own devices (and the ears of the performer). Things where that would just create too many keys - like piano - have to be even 12th root of two tuned. The guy who did the measurements of this stuff was Carl Seashore in his groundbreaking work "The Psychology of Music" in terms of who does what. Differences in tempering go back much further into the mists of time (EX - The Well Tempered Clavier - Bach"). Think how hard it would be to play the piano if you needed to split all the black keys into two and use one combination when the base key was C, but another if it was E or F#....that's what it would take to approximate just tuning on a piano. This is covered in a piano tuning book I have from the 1930s - and it's right. I easily hear the beat note in your equal tempered 3rd for example. However, voice has no excuse, since there are no "frets". Which is also why it takes more guts to use less vibrato - people can hear the errors better without it. Just funnin' ya, Malinda, keep it all up - whatever you're doing it sounds really good to my extremely picky musician ears. I find it really easy to dislike a vocal due to those ears, but I like your work.
Gosh, Malinda…the more animated you get, the cuter you look! Sing, Sing, Sing…just sing, I like to hear you sing, you’ve got such a lovely voice! Let your voice speak for you!
Thanks, Malinda. Great explanation. I agree 100% about using manual tuning selectively depending on the style. I also appreciate the example of the two versions of "thirds" - I knew they were different but I never actually heard it before.
You used the word "intonation" there a few times and my incredibly musical brother has tried and tried and tried to teach me what intonation is but still I can't snap it (to the point of not believing in its existence) so maybe you could take a swing at trying to get it in my head? I would really appreciate that and I have a feeling you might be able to explain without getting angry at the distracting blank look on my face while you're talking unlike my brother haha ha ha help
Coreen Benadie from my experience as a musician/orchestra student, intonation is a combination of pitch and playing style. When you have a good intonation, you hit the right notes and you have a good decent sound/style. Does that make sense?
Just intonation just mean the music is based on the ratios and not just an equal division of the octave (or whatever you are dividing it up by) like a major third is 5/4, that means when justly intoned for every 5 of waves of the higher pitched sound there's 4 of the lower. That's (checks the xen wiki) 386.3 cents. The equal temperament major 3rd is 400 cents exact. So it's about 13.7 cents off.
Um, if you found any of the other descriptions weird, I’m gonna try to make it clear for a non-musician. Intonation is (for me, this may not be entirely correct) if the note is in tune or out of tune. When one is singing, or playing something like a violin where you can get notes that aren’t real notes, if its not the correct note, the intonation is off. If it is the correct note, the intonation is right. Does that make sense? If you don’t really get it, try downloading a tuner app for a few minutes and singing at it. Usually, there’s a needle on the screen, and when its in the middle/green its the ‘correct intonation’. If its basically anywhere else, its the ‘incorrect intonation.’ That was long-winded, but I hope it makes sense. If it doesn’t, then I’m sorry.
Whoa, this was really interesting! And it really changed the way I look at what tuning is and how it's used. Thanks for getting super technical and talking about this. Very cool
I love how dramatic you are with your facial expressions! My friends call me weird when I act like that, so it makes me so happy to see other people doing it especially subconsciously. Edit: dramatic isn't quite the right word... Maybe expressive?
Me, too. I moved to a city where apparently if you are, uh, _enthusiastic_ and expressive, people think you are "extra"...or bipolar. smh. I have learned to own it and if it is mentioned, I usually explain it as a cultural thing--my immediate family are all a specific NYC ethnic group sometimes known for being smart, "pushy", opinionated, articulate, and more. I never felt I stood out though when I lived in LA, where a lot of those folks moved like my family did. (It is possible, however, that I am a bit _more_ expressive and responsive than the rest of my family. ;) ) Personally, I think many of the people who are bothered by it are passive-aggressive, white-bread, provincial, judgmental, and boring.
I so agree with every single thing you say here. I use Melodyne all the time, because it's on material that needs it, or a vocalist that records for himself and his friends only and wants it to sound good, I use it on my own voice sparingly, because it just sounds a little better. We're used to it now, there's no shame in it. There was a time when there was no compression, or eq, and people may have called using them "cheating". Tuning is just the next step in perfecting the recordings.
I don't know if you wanna hear her voice tuned, but if you just search for examples: Here you go. (Sorry. It's german. ) th-cam.com/video/ldNMWWIt1nw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for talking about just intonation! We had a really good director in high school who had us focus on this a lot, and I feel like more people need to know about it. :)
This is the second video I’ve seen from you. You are very good at this. The one I saw previously was your very sweet video comparing 15years of change.
Wow! Amazing explanation! So open, honest, concise and informative. I feel like I learned something about you and music production in general. Really interesting, thamk you!
I would love to see you translate a nicki minaj song! I think it would be super funny! As for this channel it would be awesome to see a bts of you recording a song! Love you💕❤
Malinda you are an incredible singer and your energy is awesome. I love the comedic element you add to your videos outside of your parodies. Keep up the awesome work! Thank you for everything you put out!!!
I think the problem is way too many modern Mainstream musicians, ie. What you hear on the radio, use it as a crutch to try to make themselves sound like a good singer. And it isn't even hidden. I remember a time when everyone sounded like tpain or the fireflies guy. But when used correctly. Used what it was meant for, minor adjustments, it's fine.
@@SuperHothead14 First of all, Adam Young (the man behind Owl City (and Sky Sailing, Port Blue, etc.)) doesn't use autotune, but melodyne. That alone is a very important distinction between him and T-Pain (who does go for the lazy route of slapping autotune over his vocals) Another distinction between the two is that Adam Young doesn't use nearly as much tuning in live performances (and that sounds kinda weird when you're used to the finely tuned studio version) On top of that, the way Adam Young handles tuning is a matter of style. He is striving for (and succesfully creating) a sound that is practically impossible to create without tuning, no matter how well one can sing. (The same can be said about T-Pain, but the difference is the amount of effort put into the tuning) And in defense of both T-Pain and Adam Young, they're both great singers even without tuning anything. And yes, that means that T-Pain has to purposefully sing off-key to get autotune to mess with his voice, since it doesn't do anything if you're already singing in tune. Not to say you're wrong for disliking their respective sounds, but please don't talk about T-Pain's tuning and Adam Young's tuning as if it's the same thing. If you're looking for another artist to mention when complaining about the use of autotune, who does hold up to the comparison with T-Pain, perhaps consider Ke$ha.
I feel like using AutoTune as an extension of your voice for effect (via T-Pain, Cher in the 2000s) is a pretty interesting choice - it’s like they’re almost detaching themselves from their voice! But yeah, autotune can become a crutch SO EASILY
@Maiga Vidal Cher never used Autotune to correct bad singing; it was a vocal effect added to some lines of "Believe" initially only to make her voice sound purposefully robotic and be a bit clubby. When it took off the producers even lied to others to try to keep their software use a trade secret before it was eventually found out. Cher has used it since, but not all the time, and not in every live performance (also, check out Cher's live vocals from the 60s-80s; she doesn't generally need it). Also, as I said before, T-Pain has a natural soulful voice that won him "The Masked Singer" for a reason. It's got a great range and wonderful tone. He just likes the way autotune makes him sound, and he even needs to sing a bit sharp or flat to make the autotune software work. He's performed live with and without it. :)
As a person who also totally nerds out over music and all the little nuances, thank you. That was very informative. I teach music to elementary school students and I always find myself geeking out when I'm teaching them the basics. I always try to explain to them how music can be not only entertaining and a great way to relieve stress, but can also be used to help them in other subjects. A bit off subject, but thought I'd just throw that out there. :)
I sang lead in bands for 50+ years, and you just taught me things I didn't know after all that time. You are a wonder, and my respect for you grows daily.
Can it be a crutch? Absolutely. Have I had a learning curve with it? Yep! And still do! But it's not a tool to be scared of. It's just physics!
If you'd like to support the videos I do then check out my Patreon page :D www.patreon.com/malinda
MALINDA ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I stan a queen regardless!
❤️
Very interesting video - thank you! PS I hope you are feeling much better now!
I love you and your videos so much 💜💜 xxxxxx
It's the same with Photoshop, everyone thinks it's bad and people only use it to appear thinner when photographers just need to use it for colour grading and stuff
Underrated comment.
Yep,!"serious" photographer's use Photoshop (or Gimp and others...) as a tool to do what we used to do in the darkroom.
Unless if you are a fitness model . You are showing of your ability to overcome body imperfections. Using Photoshop is kind of lying
And digital artists use/used it.
Which is why I stopped being impressed with most photos that are taking nowadays they are
I learned three things today:
1. You use tuning software
2. Autotune is not a bad thing
3. I am not as strong in my musical knowledge as I thought I was...
Basically any singer that records in a studio uses tuning
Pride?
exactly same thing here
@@alexdiduk4611 Say that to classical signer. ;) they don't, if you don't trust me look at a classical music signer concour, and know that they don't do any tuning. They'll always sing exactly in tune.
You've also metal bands like Maiden etc who don't use it at all. You've a nice story about Bruce Dickinson who recorded one sentence from the song "The Number of The Beast" (Iron Maiden for those who don't know who Dickinson is), the sentence was "the evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair ", the producer was never conviced by it, so he make him do it again and again for more than an hour. The scream you hear just after, wasn't written at all in the lyrics, it's just Bruce screaming '"YHEAAAA" when the producer told him that the take was good.
RmDIr Sudo Su there are obviously exceptions, but basically any music you hear on the radio (which basically rules out heavy rock and classical) will have tuning
heck yeeeeaaaah EDUCATION
Omg hey Dodie!
underrated comment
DODEH
Congrats on the debute album girl 😌💕
EDUCATION
I watched the entire video with a cat hair on my screen... It gave Malinda a very interesting moustache.
The mental image conjured from that is FABULOUS, my friend.
Happens to me all the time with dog hair but we prefer to call it "puppy glitter"
@@danniemclendon1182 That's fantastic!!! Unfortunately I don't think I will get away with calling cat hair "pussy glitter"
@@KittiRain i laughed too hard😂😂😂😂
@@KittiRain Oml that is amazing, it made me laugh
As a choir singer, I can also say that you should never underestimate the power of those lower notes. I'm a soprano and we can be quite a loud bunch... (sorry to all altos out there) But if there is no altos, the whole thing would be kinda hard to listen to. And when it comes to bases... at least in my choir it's like you can't always hear them, but you still hear if they're not there...
Conclusion: Dropping notes via tuning is 100% okay. You sometimes need those lower notes or it'll all sound weird... XD
I accept ur apology - me, an alto
OwO wow, oh and i'm not sad, it's tottaly fine for me (a girl) to be an alto except i got bullied for no reason because of that (what's wrong with an alto girl) but it's fine :v
Forgiven-an Alto myself. You are not wrong, Sopranos can be pretty loud.
It’s okay! I’m a mix between alto and soprano (depending on time and day) so I get it! My boy classmates can’t sing a high note without shouting, and it does suck but it’s something I’ve done before.
What are this power rangers? Soprano and Alto. Jkk
As an audio engineer, I can hear the difference :)
It's also super frustrating because many people equate any vocal effects (reverb, delay, compression, etc.) to autotune. So even if it doesn't sound like you use "autotune" to those of us who know the difference, people just hear any effects they don't like and automatically think you're using autotune. It's more likely their way of saying "I don't like the amount of reverb you used".
This. As an audio engineer myself, uninformed comments are the worst.
Any effect (even autotune) can work if used properly. As someone who falls into the anti camp a lot, i would say it's just about when and how much they're used. Worse than auto-tune for me is hearing too much breath.
@@some_Phreak I'm not here to debate effect usage. The point is that most people just hear an effect they don't like and think it's autotune because of the stigma caused (mainly) by T-Pain.
I'm not an audio engineer, but I can also hear the pitch correction in some of Melinda's songs. I have nothing against pitch correction but I think Melinda's producer could have tried just a little harder in some parts of some specific songs
@@Ignacio.Romero you don't understand how music production works.
Autotune is like makeup for singing.
Omg why does that make so much sense
A good analogy, because you can use Auto-tune to make a little touch-up, and you can use Auto-tune to make the entire performance into a clown-face.
Exacly but in music there more of thos epeople who have classical paintings at their home, see your Photoshop picture and say a real artist does not need Photoshop to create images. Only those who can't draw or photoshoot right"
But I actual would be with that when we gonna talk about actual own serious music and not this here which has to come weekly. I would produce it like the singer has to sing only every verse. So when something inside that is wrong the singer only have to sing the line over and over again till its perfect and not the whole verse or song.
Makes sense
Finicky Flutist super random, but hello. I am also a flute player! And a bit of a piccolo player, too.
9:03 anyone else notice she said "you're asking for treble" instead of "trouble"? I love a good wordplay :)
Let's talk about that!
*plays Good Mythical Morning theme*
Alice Roland That's exactly what I thought😂
hahaha 😂😂
I heard of them. They did a flat earth video.
Mostly watch their old channel to listen to da music.
You sound amazing with or without the voice tuning ❤️
Im actually super curious now to hear a version of a song without tuning, and then the version with tuning, just to see the difference that a little bit of tuning could make! I feel as though that would further my understanding! With or without tuning you are a beautiful person and an amazing singer! And either way, as long as the meaning and emotion is still left in the song, then I'm fine! Love you Malinda! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Ikm mostly deaf so dont matter
I agree very much.
Spill the tea sister, i'm gonna sip and dip my face on that tea
Iconic your profile picture of Shane fits the comment well
Oh, this reminds me that I haven’t had tea yet. Cheers, mate!
Iconic this comment is my favorite thing
You're everywhere!!!÷
Iconic why do I always see you
7:42 Perfect pitch is a blessing and a curse. It drives me insane.
I feel like I learned so much in this video lol
Malinda please be our music teacher-
My Life Fast Forward true!
clicking the like button at 999 likes was kinda satisfying when it turned to 1K
THIS! THANK YOU!! As a music production geek it drives me crazy when people talk about how a song is bad because you can "hear the autotune" (which a lot of times is just reverb lol, software like melodyne doesn't sound robotic if used sparingly and skillfully). Tuning vocals is so necessary to get a good, modern sound. Thank you for educating people on this!!
The thing is that she has entertaining videos without the singing
I came for the memes and I stay for the themes
This was the first time I have heard a side by side comparison of conventional tuning versus ideal harmonic resonance and although I was familiar with the terms, hearing the difference was really cool. Just intonation adds so much more depth to the harmony, I'm guessing this is because of the ideal ratio of canceled to elevated frequencies. Thank you for this truly informative video. I love how you explain these things with so much confidence and humor while at the same time being so humble and genuine.
Please do more of this "musician talk" stuff :)
For some strange I mainly see absurd hate comments accusing pop artists of using autotune to make their songs in the first place, as if they think autotune is a composing software rather than a tuning software. It's eerie, really. I hope those people find and pay attention to this video. And I enjoyed the music theory lesson.
She makes explaining videos look so easily. When I try, I ramble on and on
It’s called planning out the video before you record it
same 😂
@@rubywojcik true but it's so easy to go off topic
@@Fun4u5678123 she refilms certain parts, don't you notice the "cuts" in the video.
With editing you can make anything at least ok.
Paytron B. I know how a TH-cam video works (I didn’t mean for that to come off as rude as it sounds). For me lol, it would probably be a cut every few seconds
It's great that someone has finally addressed this! I also think it's great that you have succeeded in addressing this without being slightly evil to other artists, as I have seen other people make a video similar to this while destroying other youtubers.
Keep being my favorite TH-camr!
You're just as talented, with or without autotune ❤️
Yeah, but, if you watched the video, you'll know she doesn't use autotune...
Lennart Petersen 1:28
Lennart Petersen She has written underneath that her producers use that software on her? next to the photo of the software
@@maxeales4272 Yes, but then she explains the difference between "Autotune" and "tuning software," and that she tunes but doesn't autotune.
Bob Buethe Yes I know, the points i made were to prove wrong other comments which now have been deleted! She makes it very clear that she uses tuning 😅
“You’re asking for treble.” I C what you did there.
stop tryna be cool, just say "see"
@@MK-hj9de it's a musical pun, dummy
@@mariaguevara4943 it's actually a musical pun, dude
@@bojidarabatanova4312 you said "actually" twice and you forgot to say "a" after those 2 actually's...
@@mariaguevara4943 Ever heard of autocorrect? I was typing the "a" when it automatically spelled "actually" for me. I'm still right though
It must be so annoying to have this misunderstood so often. But this was really educational so I hope you don't have to so it again!♥️
You've heard of Ihop, prepare for Ihope
@@alaineneuburger2830 it was supposed to be I hope
Your pic is kawaii
Those “few cents off” is what gives music it’s soul. The record label that owns Queen’s music is now auto tuning Freddy Mercury. This is why modern pop music is so robotic and sterile and sounds the same. Auto tune also “snaps” the note to the pitch and sometimes when a person is sliding up the scale or has great vibrato then program snaps it to a pitch it thinks it needs to go to. Malinda you have a phenomenal voice and know how to use it. Auto tuning is not necessary for any one. I like honest performances. Nobody is flawless and that makes us human and brings out the soul of the music.
This was fascinating. I've been singing for a long time (mostly live, not usually recorded so far), but I never really knew about any of this, so it's really helpful. (And entertaining, as always.) The thing about your singing is that it's obvious you don't need to use tuning as a crutch, and as a result, your discreet use of tuning when the context calls for it isn't even noticeable. I think there's always a clear difference between people who use tuning to actually fake singing talent and those who don't. Granted, you did a terrific job phrasing your comments here so as not to actually diss any other singers, which is admirable.
At 9:04 it sounds like she's saying "you're asking for treble." Without puns, life would B flat. Okay, why am I still doing this? This comment is so long i'ts like someone wrote a fermata over it or something. Okay I'll stop now. Or, for all you fellow nerds, I'll "add a double bar line now." lol sorry it's my third year being in my school choir so I gotta hit y'all up with the music puns.
At 9:04 it sounds like she's saying "you're asking for treble." Without puns, life would B flat. Okay, why am I still doing this? This comment is so long i'ts like someone wrote a fermata over it or something. Okay I'll stop now. Or, for all you fellow nerds, I'll "add a double bar line now." lol sorry it's my third year being in my school choir so I gotta hit y'all up with the music puns.
Oh, sorry, I thought I saw two dots next to that double bar line. My fault!
@@Felixr2 lollllll
Grace Wilbourn Whaah whaah whaah whaaaaaaaaah!
Only music kids will understand lmaoooo
I love this lol
I couldn't care less about whether you use auto tuning or not
The content you make are very creative and unique and that's what makes you special!
NorthernStal CPR y'all She doesn’t use Autotune. She used tuning software which is different. That was the first topic she explained.
That's why I said I couldn't care less
Agreed
Honestly, this was a total slap to the face to anyone who hate-comments on music related TH-cam videos that they are using auto tune and that it would be better if they didn't. I appreciate how informative and well-explained this video was. Totally disproved a lot of people's beliefs about what autotune is.
You and Physics Girl should collab to talk about this more in depth. This is awesome!!!
this pls
I approve.
They actually collabed a few years back ... th-cam.com/video/yTQyFzTl5GA/w-d-xo.html
TH-cam recommended this video in my feed and boy am I glad it did! I am so amazed by your videos, your singing and your thoughtfulness (love the video about mirror and self-perception). Happy to be a new subscriber!
If you can't sing it live don't make it sound like you can is a great way to go about autotune
That's the big takeaway isn't it. Use it as an aide, but not as a replacement for you actual singing voice
But it doesn't work like that. The song must sound nice to sell and be heard. Only real fans go to concert and not casual listeners. Then again there are major differences Everytime every artist sings the same song live. There are bad voice days, poorly trained voices that are capable of reaching high notes but not trained enough, there are song that are not simply made to be heard live, even Adele can't sing live sometimes, or Sia... It's normal to touch up the voice a little especially in pop since it needs that smooth sound to sell...
@Hana Rose stuff like voice cracks and harshness, dry vocals etc... Are really not apart of pop music. The touch ups smooth the sound so it sounds more natural and less forced. I for one love voice cracks, Sia and Demi's voices for instance crack a lot singing live but in the studio versions they avoid that so it sounds like less of an effort. Pop is supposed to be this casual music that can be applied anywhere from fast food restaurants, to bars, to car trips... So it needs to sound as pleasing as possible. Therefore pop is smoother while rock is more rough and natural (but not pleasing to everyone's ears)
@Hana Rose with rock I just meant that strained voices, voice cracks, screams and growls are common because they stylize and reenforce certain feelings. Of course there are really smooth rock songs, even from hardcore bands. But pop unfortunately evolved into this "safe" sound. And I honestly find it too safe, its the same chorus repeated (literally) like three times and it gets old really fast. It's all so controlled it feels like more of a product than art. But actually hearing it live is so refreshing. Even when high notes are not done like studio versions (Demi and that "Fall in Line" bb5) it feels so great the listen to her trying to go around and sometimes hitiing the note briefly various times to try and make it up for the fans. It's great
maybe. lana del rey can't sing shit live, i still like some of her studio versions tho. marina (from marina and the diamonds), same. i love her songs but would i pay to see her live? nope. i don't care if someone changes their voice when they wanna be superstars, there are tons of other great singers out there who can actually sing and we can appreciate live, i went to a jake bugg concert and it was very pleasing. i think there's enough room for everyone in the industry.
I understood the part at 6:08 because my band director explains this to us ALL the time. Sometimes when playing/singing chords, it sounds better to have one or two notes be slightly off pitch than to have everyone be right on pitch. Music is weird lol
I really don't care when or why anyone uses tuning. If it makes the song sound nice, I like it.
Sort of like how I don't care if a painting was made by hand or by press. If it looks nice, I like it.
@Malinda, you give a lot of information and no matter how long the videos are, I found I don’t even check how much time is left while they play because I’m not tired of listening. You could describe more and keep us all captivated. Thank you, I love what you’re doing and hope a billion people find and appreciate your work too!
When you are tone deaf but still try so hard to listen and understand what is Malinda talking about.
I am crying cause music is such a huge part of my life that being gone deaf would be like being dead.
I'm pitch deaf....bass and soprano don't reach my ears. But I sing fairly well.
I don’t think anyone is truly tone deaf, they just don’t have the training or practice to distinguish pitches. I used thought I used to be tone deaf until third year of orchestra
@@sunchasericeserawings7166 Thnak you becuase I didnt really know much about tone-deafness until your comment!!
Chiara Scarano of course!
I was watching a video on production and continuity errors, and how people routinely sacrifice continuity for the sake of getting the better performance with more emotion, so this is a timely video. It’s like establishing... aural continuity. I love that you’re being so open and honest about this. It’s a great way to start the year off!
Well said!
*cues applause*
Oh my god hi The Noteblock Lizard, you are my fav minecraft youtuber!
Hi *applause*
Thank you. I am just SICK of seeing people go "stop with the auto-tune it sucks" and all that jazz all the time. IT IS LITERALLY JUST- AGH-
But seriously. Malinda is a GOOD SINGER, people. A GOOD SINGER. Even if she fixes up a bit of stuff, it doesn't mean it's completely changing the song!
I feel that you have better explained the physics--and sometimes physical--behind music and tuning! Your analysis is by far better than the one I received in my college classes! I'm partially deaf--not enough to warrant a hearing device, but definitely noticeable--and can't really hear the difference in the "highs;" so when you did the whole intonation part, I couldn't really hear a difference in the upper register. However, Bass I hear VERY well, and there is a difference in the bass resonance between the two examples. The intonation has more of a "flowing" WAH WAH to it, while the other feels stiff and without a bottom.
Again, this was a great explanation into Autotune and Tuning! If you haven't put this on other Social Media...PLEASE DO SO!! Many could benefit from this discussion! :D
Keep up the wonderful work and I'll look forward to your next videos! (From both channels!) :D
Wow what a nice video! The way you talk about music theory and tunning is great and shows that you really know the subject you're talking about. I feel like any subject related to music and singing and playing you could choose to talk about would certainly give us a good video.
How do you have less than even 100k subscribers. Honestly you should be in the list of top 50 youtubers with both channels because you have a beautiful voice. Whether you use auto tune/tuning or not
I am someone who knows literally nothing when it comes to the theory of music. I just listen and enjoy. BUT! I find it so interesting when it is actually explained to me with the amount of passion that you provide! I'd love to see more videos like this! #LearningIsLove
Thank you for the video! I really love learning about music theory/music production. I didn’t know manually tuning things existed until I took music production, and that’s because it just makes things sound natural. Autotune is really obvious in music but small refinement through manual tuning and subtle reverb just makes things sound right and it’s used in pretty much every song that isn’t sung live. In my opinion, RECORDED voices without tuning and editing often sound worse than those same exact voices singing LIVE. I’m glad you pointed out that there isn’t one exact tuning that is “correct,” as I have experienced moments in orchestra where I have to make a certain note “extra sharp/extra flat” because of the key I’m in or because of what notes come before/after. Sometimes things have to be a few cents off in order for it to sound in tune, which sounds like an oxymoron but it’s true. The last thing I want to mention: if someone who is wayyy out of tune is manually changing their pitch, you can tell something is a little off, because voices have different timbre at different pitches and software can’t easily distinguish between that (it’s the same with instruments, when sampling you have to use many samples or it doesn’t sound natural, you can’t take one sample and tune it to every pitch and have it still sound like the instrument originally sounded). The reason why it sounds natural for Malinda is because the pitch only barely/rarely has to be adjusted. Thanks again for the video!
Spent many months in Music Theory trying very hard, to assimilate what you’ve just explained (& I understood) in 10.5 mins. As my own worst enemy, the Math calculations I endured, what you call Physics (same animal) overwhelms the concepts of Melodic Consoance. But it’s a beautiful thing when you consider, this ethereal thing we call sound is just so darned measureable. You should maybe do a few more videos explaining these concepts. I realise it’s not an appealing topic for most but wow, I was riveted. Also, have you ever measured your cervical vertebral length & neck circumference? The 1st time I watched you perform, it was intriguing how much your physiology blesses your amazing vocal strengths. Just stunning!
This is an amazing video regarding the subject of "auto-tune" on TH-cam videos and Malinda I love it so much, I have a new appreciation and greater respect for you
That was actually very interesting and informative. You asked what we would like to see, and I was thinking as you were talking about how the production of popular music has changed (or differs depending on context) that it would have been nice to have had some examples of that. (I thought the examples of equal temperament versus ideal harmonic resonance later on were great and really helpful.) So maybe you could talk a little more about things like that in the future.
I LOVE THIS NERDY VIDEO!!! I actually wrote a paper on wavelengths and pitch for a chemistry class (surprisingly not a physics class) and so this makes me really excited!! Please make MORE VIDEOS LIKE THESE!!!
I have learned so much today. Answered a lot of questions. In both my radio and tv careers we certainly "tweaked" voices but we didnt have any programs to tune like what you spoke about, it was all done through a mixer. Old school.
Title: "Why I use autotune"
Malinda: *proceeds to explain that she technically doesn't use autotune*
Yep. That's exactly what I thought.
She spends a significant portion of the video mentioning that she uses actual autotune as a stylistic flourish when she is making pop videos. Then with her other songs, she mentions that though she technically does not use "autotune", she does use another type of pitch-altering software for more subtle fixes. I appreciate her honesty in disclosing these things to us, and I think it's a good practice.
@@perforongo9078 Exactly. AutoTune and Melodyne are very different types of software.
SO cool to hear the comparison between traditional tuning + just tuning!!! so fun :) thanks for a cool video!
It's understandable, you want to make it as perfect as possible.
Your way of explaining this is so incredibly helpful. I've heard many of these things before but for some reason the way you approached it made it come to life. Thank you for taking the time to make this!
I found this pretty interesting. I have a pretty wide range when singing, but I can't sing super low, and if I sing too high my voice cracks. So I guess I'm sort of in the middle?? I have been classed as a soprano the couple times I've been in choirs though.
The thing about emotion vs accuracy....I struggle with that. If I try to perform a song on pitch and stuff, I lose the emotion, while if I try to sing it emotionally I'm often out of tune. For instance, I started a song cover channel about a year ago, and on the songs where I was worried about being on tune, someone commented I lacked passion, but then on songs where I tried to be less polished, I was complimented for having passion. It's weird.
I mean, I don't have perfect pitch either, though apparently I have good relative pitch (like I can tell if I or others are off tune really well). I'm also not formally trained, so that probably makes a difference too.
"The thing about emotion vs accuracy....I struggle with that."
No need to struggle with that. That's just what one would expect.
What do you think makes us able pick up "emotion" from singing?
we are (mostly subconsciously) detecting slight imperfections in the pitch and interpreting those
(by imagining how _we_ would feel if what we are hearing was _our own_ voice -- very simplified).
so it's physically impossible to do both at the same time!
@@silkwesir1444 Hm, I never thought about that, that's interesting!
@@silkwesir1444 Huh. I guess that's true. Thanks for pointing that out.
As someone who plays with audio editing, I can appreciate this video. Really speaks to your talent that you understand this stuff.
I like the ball in the siiiiinnnnkkk!!
Not only was this very educational for me, but now that you've talked about it, I'm thinking back to live performances I've been to and it's suddenly opening my eyes (well... ears) to why they sounded so much better in person than on my phone recordings of the same concert! If they're slightly off while singing live, the instruments and backing tracks are also playing at the same time, so overall it sounds fine. But when I listen back to it on my phone later on, I would imagine some of that gets cut out due to mic/processing capabilities on the phone and they don't sound as good as I remember them sounding in person. I never really understood why that happens until watching this video. So, thank you!!! :)
You should make a series explaining things like this cuz that would be really cool
Your delivery of insight is both vibrant and colourful, your style is just perfect!
My phone has a rubbish speaker but I could just about hear the difference. Good video!
I'm tone deaf as can be, I barely heard a difference, in fact I don't think I actually did
RQK1996 Maybe it's the placebo effect
Your personality is my favorite. I can't explain it. But how you act, speak, etc. is just really great to me. Hope you never lose it!
6:30 "DOESN'T THAT FEEL WEIRD NOW?"
actually, for me, it doesn't (and yes, I _do_ hear the difference).
quite the opposite, to me the other one ("just intonation") is the one that sounds weird.
(remember cassette recorders? when the tape is slightly wrinkly? it sounds a bit like that to me)
I'm curious, do you mainly learn or play music with a Piano or some other fixed-pitch instrument involved? I learned Piano first, but now I mainly play Viola and Violin player as well as singing. On a Viola or Violin, I can adjust the pitch up or down slightly to make it sound better, and vibrato and stuff. A couple orchestra directors I've had have told us how to adjust to be closer to Just intonation on certain chords. And especially when I'm singing in a small group A Capella, usually renaissance or early-baroque style music, we very often adjust out pitches to make the chord sound better with harmonics.
However, whenever we're playing with a piano or harpsichord or something we don't do that very much, and instead tune based on the Piano's equal temperament. It's like two different modes of thinking.
yes indeed, Piano it was!
interesting thought you have there.
@@silkwesir1444 actually, piano isn't generally tuned "correctly". It is usually on stretched tuning where the left end is slightly flat and the right end is slightly sharp
Edit: also, the individual strings that make up a note are slightly detuned from each other
8:39 "I'm not secretly a man."
I literally lol'd. Also, I subscribed. :D And as a guy with a physics background, the breakdown on harmonics was super nerdy and I loved it.
Honestly you're really inspirational to me, I really want to be a singer in the future, and this is so interesting 💕
Thank you so much. I have known this stuff for awhile and it has bothered me su much when people would harrass singingers about auto tune. There is nothing automatic about the way most singiners tune their voice. Thanks for bringing this knowledge to the masses.
My dislike of autotune would depend on how much the artist leans on it. I've seen enough singers over the years who sound great in a studio but are completely found out when they try to do it live in front of an audience. Those who can do it live (Freddie Mercury's performance with Queen at Live Aid 1985 is still the greatest live performance I've ever seen) or TH-camrs like the Peter/Evynne Hollens, Malukah, Bailey Rushlow etc.those are people who tend to interest me more on a personal level.
Right!
Ah, Malukah, using so much echo effects she sounds like a competely different person with it off (still good though).
What really bugs me is when voices of good singers are smoothed over too much. It's like substituting a pristine sheet of paper with a sheet of plastic of the same colour and measurements - sure, the result is really smooth, but way too artificial.
LOVE this! Thank you so much!!!!
8:56 - "…you're asking for treble"? I thought you said earlier you were using it for bass.
I might be asking it for percussion… Ba dum, tss!
She was all about that bass ... no treble... then she realized she is better than Meghan Trainor... So screw logic 😂
You are a joy. I sing bass in a choir and I love the emotion that you present. Our director is exceptional at offering emotion...I'm learning.
This was so educational, never again will I use "autotune" as an insult
Thank you so much for this! I had no idea about the differences between the two and watching you nerd out is always a joy.
I know this is an old video. Buuuuut... I’d like to see a video where you sing a song that requires the touches of tuning twice: once without the tuning, and once with, so we can compare and get a better idea of all the complexities you’re covering here. Just an idea. Love your content!!
You make my heart really happy. I guess this is a weird comment to make, but you have such a peaceful, bright energy, and you talk so clearly, it's wonderful to see. Keep being awesome
Tuning schemes, oh boy. Things without "quantized" pitch - voiced, violins, anything that can "bend" tend to be "just" tuning if left to their own devices (and the ears of the performer). Things where that would just create too many keys - like piano - have to be even 12th root of two tuned. The guy who did the measurements of this stuff was Carl Seashore in his groundbreaking work "The Psychology of Music" in terms of who does what. Differences in tempering go back much further into the mists of time (EX - The Well Tempered Clavier - Bach"). Think how hard it would be to play the piano if you needed to split all the black keys into two and use one combination when the base key was C, but another if it was E or F#....that's what it would take to approximate just tuning on a piano. This is covered in a piano tuning book I have from the 1930s - and it's right. I easily hear the beat note in your equal tempered 3rd for example.
However, voice has no excuse, since there are no "frets". Which is also why it takes more guts to use less vibrato - people can hear the errors better without it. Just funnin' ya, Malinda, keep it all up - whatever you're doing it sounds really good to my extremely picky musician ears. I find it really easy to dislike a vocal due to those ears, but I like your work.
Gosh, Malinda…the more animated you get, the cuter you look! Sing, Sing, Sing…just sing, I like to hear you sing, you’ve got such a lovely voice! Let your voice speak for you!
I love this hairstyle!!
Thanks, Malinda. Great explanation. I agree 100% about using manual tuning selectively depending on the style. I also appreciate the example of the two versions of "thirds" - I knew they were different but I never actually heard it before.
You used the word "intonation" there a few times and my incredibly musical brother has tried and tried and tried to teach me what intonation is but still I can't snap it (to the point of not believing in its existence) so maybe you could take a swing at trying to get it in my head? I would really appreciate that and I have a feeling you might be able to explain without getting angry at the distracting blank look on my face while you're talking unlike my brother haha ha ha help
Coreen Benadie from my experience as a musician/orchestra student, intonation is a combination of pitch and playing style. When you have a good intonation, you hit the right notes and you have a good decent sound/style.
Does that make sense?
I’m assuming this is like tone in chorus, which is the overall sound or feel of your sound-for instance, having a nasal tone or having a throaty tone.
Just intonation just mean the music is based on the ratios and not just an equal division of the octave (or whatever you are dividing it up by)
like a major third is 5/4, that means when justly intoned for every 5 of waves of the higher pitched sound there's 4 of the lower. That's (checks the xen wiki) 386.3 cents. The equal temperament major 3rd is 400 cents exact. So it's about 13.7 cents off.
Chris Bradshaw Wow, you actually know what you’re talking about lol😂I’m very impressed!!
Um, if you found any of the other descriptions weird, I’m gonna try to make it clear for a non-musician.
Intonation is (for me, this may not be entirely correct) if the note is in tune or out of tune.
When one is singing, or playing something like a violin where you can get notes that aren’t real notes, if its not the correct note, the intonation is off. If it is the correct note, the intonation is right.
Does that make sense? If you don’t really get it, try downloading a tuner app for a few minutes and singing at it. Usually, there’s a needle on the screen, and when its in the middle/green its the ‘correct intonation’. If its basically anywhere else, its the ‘incorrect intonation.’
That was long-winded, but I hope it makes sense. If it doesn’t, then I’m sorry.
Whoa, this was really interesting! And it really changed the way I look at what tuning is and how it's used. Thanks for getting super technical and talking about this. Very cool
I love how dramatic you are with your facial expressions! My friends call me weird when I act like that, so it makes me so happy to see other people doing it especially subconsciously.
Edit: dramatic isn't quite the right word... Maybe expressive?
Expressive is the right word. I'm the same way. Both her and I have expressive faces.
Me, too. I moved to a city where apparently if you are, uh, _enthusiastic_ and expressive, people think you are "extra"...or bipolar. smh. I have learned to own it and if it is mentioned, I usually explain it as a cultural thing--my immediate family are all a specific NYC ethnic group sometimes known for being smart, "pushy", opinionated, articulate, and more. I never felt I stood out though when I lived in LA, where a lot of those folks moved like my family did. (It is possible, however, that I am a bit _more_ expressive and responsive than the rest of my family. ;) ) Personally, I think many of the people who are bothered by it are passive-aggressive, white-bread, provincial, judgmental, and boring.
I so agree with every single thing you say here. I use Melodyne all the time, because it's on material that needs it, or a vocalist that records for himself and his friends only and wants it to sound good, I use it on my own voice sparingly, because it just sounds a little better. We're used to it now, there's no shame in it. There was a time when there was no compression, or eq, and people may have called using them "cheating". Tuning is just the next step in perfecting the recordings.
Hey can you make a before-after video of mixing and compression and stuff so we could hear the difference?
I don't know if you wanna hear her voice tuned, but if you just search for examples:
Here you go. (Sorry. It's german. )
th-cam.com/video/ldNMWWIt1nw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for talking about just intonation! We had a really good director in high school who had us focus on this a lot, and I feel like more people need to know about it. :)
Professor Malinda of musicology explains it all.
This is the second video I’ve seen from you. You are very good at this. The one I saw previously was your very sweet video comparing 15years of change.
Love you girl. Autotune will never change that.
Wow! Amazing explanation! So open, honest, concise and informative. I feel like I learned something about you and music production in general. Really interesting, thamk you!
I would love to see you translate a nicki minaj song! I think it would be super funny! As for this channel it would be awesome to see a bts of you recording a song! Love you💕❤
I’ve always wanted to see her translate "We Like To Party." Now that would also be likely funny.
Yes!
Malinda you are an incredible singer and your energy is awesome. I love the comedic element you add to your videos outside of your parodies. Keep up the awesome work! Thank you for everything you put out!!!
I think the problem is way too many modern Mainstream musicians, ie. What you hear on the radio, use it as a crutch to try to make themselves sound like a good singer. And it isn't even hidden. I remember a time when everyone sounded like tpain or the fireflies guy.
But when used correctly. Used what it was meant for, minor adjustments, it's fine.
SuperHothead14 do you mean Owl City?
Blazeheart 13 yes. Thank you
This is a bit random, but I LOVE Owl City! Just saying.
Imaginer 31415 good for you. Can't stand him. Would rather hammer nails into my ears.
@@SuperHothead14 First of all, Adam Young (the man behind Owl City (and Sky Sailing, Port Blue, etc.)) doesn't use autotune, but melodyne. That alone is a very important distinction between him and T-Pain (who does go for the lazy route of slapping autotune over his vocals)
Another distinction between the two is that Adam Young doesn't use nearly as much tuning in live performances (and that sounds kinda weird when you're used to the finely tuned studio version)
On top of that, the way Adam Young handles tuning is a matter of style. He is striving for (and succesfully creating) a sound that is practically impossible to create without tuning, no matter how well one can sing. (The same can be said about T-Pain, but the difference is the amount of effort put into the tuning)
And in defense of both T-Pain and Adam Young, they're both great singers even without tuning anything. And yes, that means that T-Pain has to purposefully sing off-key to get autotune to mess with his voice, since it doesn't do anything if you're already singing in tune.
Not to say you're wrong for disliking their respective sounds, but please don't talk about T-Pain's tuning and Adam Young's tuning as if it's the same thing.
If you're looking for another artist to mention when complaining about the use of autotune, who does hold up to the comparison with T-Pain, perhaps consider Ke$ha.
This is literally THE best video for singers to understand voice and pitch and how it relates on all levels!!! Loooove it!!!
I feel like using AutoTune as an extension of your voice for effect (via T-Pain, Cher in the 2000s) is a pretty interesting choice - it’s like they’re almost detaching themselves from their voice! But yeah, autotune can become a crutch SO EASILY
the problem is that most of time, they don't use it as such and just use it to correct bad singing.
@Maiga Vidal Cher never used Autotune to correct bad singing; it was a vocal effect added to some lines of "Believe" initially only to make her voice sound purposefully robotic and be a bit clubby. When it took off the producers even lied to others to try to keep their software use a trade secret before it was eventually found out. Cher has used it since, but not all the time, and not in every live performance (also, check out Cher's live vocals from the 60s-80s; she doesn't generally need it). Also, as I said before, T-Pain has a natural soulful voice that won him "The Masked Singer" for a reason. It's got a great range and wonderful tone. He just likes the way autotune makes him sound, and he even needs to sing a bit sharp or flat to make the autotune software work. He's performed live with and without it. :)
As a person who also totally nerds out over music and all the little nuances, thank you. That was very informative. I teach music to elementary school students and I always find myself geeking out when I'm teaching them the basics. I always try to explain to them how music can be not only entertaining and a great way to relieve stress, but can also be used to help them in other subjects. A bit off subject, but thought I'd just throw that out there. :)
The most important thing in this video: Malinda is not secretly a man 😂
Game girl cz ?
I sang lead in bands for 50+ years, and you just taught me things I didn't know after all that time. You are a wonder, and my respect for you grows daily.
That slow mo😂😂😂😂😂😄😄😄
I haven't been this excited for a video in soooo long. I learned so much and I'm sharing this to all my friends!
0:22 Queue Good Mythical Morning theme song XD
I love how passionate you are. Great video!!!