As tough as this was to watch,, I appreciate it. These guys are so talented and have such wonderful voices naturally, they don't NEED this crap. Thanks Fil.
They are so amazing in person. I'm looking forward to seeing them again in April. Now I won't be able to listen to their recordings in the same way. So wrong to 'correct' something that is already beautiful.
those songs were made a decade before an AI. And then listeners ALREADY WERE TRAINED to hear only pitch corrected voices. That is why they use it on them at all. Their mixer literally told that.
I've been studying music theory for two years since Fil planted the seed and I bought a piano, and ukulele. There's some great channels... and now I'm seeing more and more DAW Digital Audio Workplaces. I'm avoiding them like the plague.
They are so great in the live performance. The pitch corrected junk is just junk. Whoever thought pitch correction was a good idea clearly hates the natural human voice.
It’s probably some tone deaf sound engineer who can’t hear that the original doesn’t need any correction. The dude wants to get paid, but instead of noticing that the original is fine, he makes every note warble. 😢
My theory is that we're being prepped to accept AI music. It could be cranked out continuously for a steady profit stream with no pesky humans to deal with, or pay.
They are neutering expression. When I was young I spent a ton of $$ on direct disk recordings because they where so much sharper and brighter than pressed records.
Oh, Fil! I'm SO glad you are championing the case against the "corporate goons" to change our music! I just can't listen to current stuff. And how horrible that this "sound" is forced upon an unknowing populace! I so appreciate your efforts!!
An Artist brings his painting into an Art Gallery. The owner of the Gallery frames it better than the artist had it and then after the artist is gone he looks at it and says to one of his workers "Joe, get my watercolors. I can make this better." So he makes it "better" and the artist comes back and is heartbroken because his contract with the gallery allowed this. Poor Home Free.
I just made a similar analogy to a friend, that for someone who can't paint, paint-by-numbers is OK, but what they are doing is the equivalent of superimposing paint-by-numbers over the artwork of talented artists with individuality, or even something like the Mona Lisa.
they do not have classical producers. Their mixer is Ed Boyer, who does most of the mixing and pitch correction for most Acapella. His interview in 2016 on Sound on Sound explained in details why.
"Future's made of virtual insanity Always seem to cover up this love we have For useless twisting of our new technology, Oh now there is no sound, for we all live underground." 'Virtual Insanity' - Jamiroquai, 1996.
Hi Fil, Great analysis and good to see the side by side comparison of the vocals. The keyboard “background voice” was exactly what we were hearing on the pitch corrected singing. I thought that was very interesting. Cool analysis to look at today! Thanks for bringing us this one! Debbie ☮️
What mystifies me is that we know these vocalists know how to sing - how can they not be appalled by the corrected versions of the voices they presumably have worked so hard to perfect? How do they let this be put out? It seems impossible that they can't hear it. It's like taking a paint roller to a work of art to even out all the brush strokes.
I don't think they have much choice; like Pentatonix, these guys are signed to a record company. They probably do hate listening to the pitch-corrected versions too, but the execs, who are all about the wonga rather than the art, will be telling them "this is how it has to sound to get commercial airplay these days - suck it up, buttercups!"
@@greggorsag9787, It costs the label more to hire the idiot who ruined this track. People who can hear the warble on every note are not going to buy the album. This one is so obvious, and annoying to my ears. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who can hear it.
I wasn't surprised at all. Can you tell if it's pitch corrected with just your ears? I can immediately hear the metallic mechanical coming through, disgusting with no life.
Wow. The difference between the the two versions is like night and day. The live version was fantastic. The pitch-corrected version sounds like the Smurfs! Before I ever knew what pitch-correction was, I didn't like modern music because all the singers sounded the same to me. I thought it was just the style of music nowadays. Thanks to Fil, I now know it's the pitch correction. I just can't comprehend why anyone would think PC is a good idea. It's killing music!
This analysis helped me to really hear the difference between the pitch-corrected version and the live singing. How sad that the natural voice is totally changed by this electronic trickery.
@@LaurelT1948If a group doesn't have final say on creative control of their recordings, shame on them for not having that in their contract. These guys aren't newcomers to the music scene---they've been around for years.
Their natural voices, in the second example, sound so warm and expressive. What a shame when those qualities are edited out with pitch "correction". It is confounding as to why producers want keyboard-like voices on recordings. Thank you for another interesting video, Fil.
My husband and daughter loved them so much I had 3 of their songs and Austin’s “If I see you in Heaven “ at their funerals in January. My husband had his alarm set on his phone that went off the day after he died saying “HomeFree on sale 10am” I have second row center. I wish he was going to be with me but my best friend will be. I love these guys and I don’t even care. I know they have to dub voice overs when they lay tracks, but they sound incredible in person too.
Thank you for showing this. I am so disappointed that the singers (or the producers) cannot have enough confidence in the natural talent. The live version is so much better. You are right that they CAN sing. Don't mess with it if it isn't broken.
I'm pretty sure the artists have full confidence in their abilities. Rob is classically trained, & Austin has taken serious lessons too. Unless they had scratchy throats or something on recording day, I'm sure they'd never even consider using the "system".
I meant no offense to the singers.,@@umarae27 I am sure they are aware of their great talent or they would not perform live. I just wish the people in charge of their recordings would allow us to hear their real voices because they are so much better without the interference of pitch correction.
We got eye rolls, head shakes of incredulity, thrown up hands of despair, and some expressions I've never seen you make before. Yes, this was bad!! And once again, when I hear the natural voices, my only question is, how is this pitch corrected "monstrosity" (you absolutely chose the right word) supposed to be better?
Fil, what a disaster with the pitch correction! I know these guys have beautiful natural voices ! I really like Home Free ! The lyrics are great also ! Once again, technology has murdered music ! This has to be stopped before it is too late ! I could just cry 😢 Thanks for this , great job !
Fil, I hope you know what an absolute hero you are for the artists who spend years perfecting their art and those of us who appreciate vocals. That was sad to hear how beautiful, warm, and emotive the singer’s natural voice is and then the watered down pitch corrected version. I would never listen to them if all I heard was the pitch corrected version, but will listen to their natural voices. Rock on!!
Thanks for covering Home Free. It seems extremely obvious now that all three major a cappella groups (Voice Play, Home Free & Pentatonics) use pitch correction and auto tuning with their studio releases. I enjoy Voice Play overall due to their theatrical presentation with their songs making them entertaining. That is the point really, isn’t it? To be entertained? I do thank you for helping me better understand the differences between natural and manipulated vocals.
Truthlfully they sound way better without pitch correction. It would be interesting to find out whose idea it was to use pitch correction? I believe this is destroying the performances. Sometimes "imperfection" sounds better and brings humanity to the songs... Thank you Fil...
Just criminal that this is so prevalent in the industry without hardly any pushback. These guys are just incredibly good and pitch correction just cheapens the whole experience…. Save the pitch correction for the awful pop/hip hop performers that can’t sing.
Austin Brown is leaving Home Free soon. I listen to the official versions and knew they were pitxch corrected because I leaned what to listen for from you Fil. Love them live. I'm going in April to see them before Austin leaves. I still listen to the official drops because I really like them but it's sad all of this has to happen. 💖🤗👏👏👏
Well, I have heard them live and they are very talented and they sound great. They’re popular on RU-vid but not super famous so some of the members still do things like sing for small groups of fans in their backyards so I know they 100% can sing and sing well. I’m not a pro at all this pitch corrected crap but I believe their latest album which is a remake or revisiting or whatever of songs from their first album after The Sing Off, sounds way more modified or messed with than things from years past. They’re going through a major transition right now while losing a member of the group so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it or if someone different is mixing or producing some of the material or what. It’s a shame though that some of these people that are actually very talented get a bad wrap for production that may be added to their perfectly fine vocals after the fact.
Oh, no! I am so disappointed! I wish we could launch a protest to insist that they NOT use pitch correction on Home Free’s recordings. I was going to buy another, but now I’m having second thoughts. These guys are really talented and do not need to be robotized. thanks, Fil.
I've never heard anything by them, and if I had to judge them based solely on the first version of the song, I wouldn't be interested in listening to anything else. But the "real" live version? It was like I was listening to an entirely different song, and I loved it!! Their 2 voices at the end? Amazing!!
did you notice that they were "robotized" before? did you enjoy the music they put out without any care for the "edits" they made? if so, don't ruin your pleasure by the semantics purists do. or we will have them record their vocals 500 times in order to get each note on pitch for their studio versions.
I don't mean to be dramatic (I mean, it's a song, and I do think musicians have the right to shape and share their music as they feel right, and if I don't like it, then I'll listen to something else) but honestly, it's a bit heartbreaking.
I was aware that HF uses pitch correction on many of their releases. It is quite natural, as tons of groups/bands do it. It is not done to "fool" anyone, but is a decision made to "clean up" slight imperfections, to make the overall song sound better. I happen to think it doesn't. These guys can all sing very well, but no one is perfect! I do not know if it is the record label, or the guys, or both, that decide to throw in pitch correction, but I surely wish whoever it is to stop! It's not needed.
Those imperfections are what makes a singer different and gives their voice personality. This goes WAY beyond just cleaning up.... it makes their voices sterile.
Despite not really liking Home Free (sorry LadyDragonsblood ...!) I am rather sad to see/hear that their vocals have been mechanized by pitch correction. I may not like them (not a fan of their songs, not much a fan of their vocal styles), but I can appreciate the talent that they have, and doing this to their music is taking away their talent, skill, and artistry.
I still maintain that the music industry is getting us used to hearing synthesized voices so that they can create AI "singers" or cast someone into the role of a singer (they fit the part but are not fantastic singers) in order to just cut out the money that singers get. They can create all kinds of "internet" singer stars who never tour.
I love Home Free and have seen them live. They are amazing. and their tight harmony can not be denied. I am not disappointed in this finding, The music business does this all the time. Music artists want the best sound with no errors. They have always tried to improve on the released song for radio or album. When these guys recorded during and after covid they record from their homes and send to the producer or mixer to put it all together. Maybe that is why they have to do the auto tune. They don't record together. The amazing part is when they sing together it is just as beautiful. as if they recorded together.
I saw them twice in concert and enjoyed their songs. I began to notice in the songs they released in/after 2018 that they "lost" their tight, natural vocals. Not much interested in them now. They've fallen in with the current music trend and no longer have that fresh appeal. Thanks for the analysis, Fil.
The strange thing, at least to me, is that its not just the bad singers being pitch-corrected. Some fantastic singers are being pitch corrected as well. Home Free, Pentatonix, Morrissette, Dimash, and many other great performers are having this done. With or without their knowledge?
I was wondering about Pentatonix. I hadn’t heard any of their songs, until their cover of “The Sound of Silence” today, and I immediately heard the weird sound of auto tune or pitch correction. I stopped listening after a few seconds. It hurts my ears.
@@SuziQ.Most of Acapella has the same mixer who uses melodyne. He has explained that in modern days the industry expects everything to have "pitch corrected" mechanical sound. Otherwise there is no chance of getting the airplay.
@@minaolenella869 , That makes no sense. He just thinks his job is more important than the art of the music that doesn’t need Melodyne or auto tune. I’ve listened to some tracks that have not been ruined by an engineer using Melodyne, and they sound good. The studio versions sound robotic, and echoey.
@@SuziQ. " Not so long ago, ‘tuning vocals’ was a bit of a dirty phrase, implying a lack of skill on the part of the singer. But it now has become widely accepted that pop vocals have to be perfectly in tune, and post-production tuning is the only way to achieve this. Boyer explains that his tool of choice is the stand-alone version of Celemony’s Melodyne. “I use Melodyne for both pitch and rhythm. I do that before I start the mix, even though I may finesse things later on during the actual mix. I can bring the entire session into Melodyne, so I can see and hear everything at the same time. I don’t like other pitch-correction plug-ins because you just hear the track that you are correcting. The important thing is not whether one track is pitch perfect, but how it sounds in the context of the entire arrangement. So I treat all vocals at the same time, and Melodyne then renders the changes for me and prints out the files, which I then import in a ‘Save As’ copy of the original Pro Tools session. “The degree to which I tune depends on the a cappella genre. If you are dealing with a more classically orientated group, you may be more inclined to leave the tuning looser. But with pop music, even if people don’t know the difference between tempered and true tuning, they subconsciously expect tempered tuning. Some people have a purist attitude and don’t agree with tuning, but Pentatonix is a pop group, and not only do you want it perfectly in tune, you also want to hear some of the timbre of pitch correction, because it is part of the sound of modern pop music. “Pentatonix are not sloppy or far off, so it’s not like I have to clean up a mess. They occasionally release videos of them singing together in a room, recorded without multitracking and hence pitch correction, and they do that to show that any production choices that they make are not used as a crutch, but because they are choosing to make pop music. Melodyne is used to get their vocals to sound a little tighter and right in the pocket, so it feels and sounds a bit more like EDM and pop music."
@@SuziQ. and the studio versions are supposed to sound robotic. That is the sound which pop music wants. I do not like it and prefer them live, but it is what it is, and many like it. Boyer is literally the best mixer in Acapella. Studio versions that are not pitch corrected are a proof of that.
Great analysis Fil. I much prefer the real voices. The music industry has much to answer for and they should leave the pitch correction in the dust bin.
Can’t help but feel we’re bring conditioned to accept altered pitch so human performance can basically be replaced by machine reproduction to drive profits.
There's a sort of twang to pitch-corrected voices which is so distinctive, and whenever I hear it I wonder why so many good singers need this added to their recordings. It really spoils it for me, and I'm so glad you're trying to help us understand what's going on. I listened to a couple of old live recordings of Cilla Black singing yesterday and her voice was amazing--so distinctive, and her techniques were unique. I hate to think what would have happened to her songs with pitch correction.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that all produced music is pitch corrected. I reserve judgement of talent on live performances, even impromptu ones caught on camera by fans. Those, at least with Home Free, are so very good and filled with emotion.
It is. Almost everything since at least the late 90s, every genre. We just don't notice because it's not over the top and it's usually harder to hear in a full mix
Nice Fil! It would be interesting to see an analysis of Voiceplay, how much they edit, because they are the producers themself. Layne Stein, the beat-boxer and main editor is quite open that he adjusts the pitch (somewhat). The question is whether he run all the voices through, or if he "just adjust" some notes that doesn't sound good. There are several examples on YT. As with all these acapella groups, they are fantastic singers, but why remove their soul?
Yes, I would like to know this too - VP often do many many takes to get something that sounds good enough to them, and why do that if it's going to be "fixed in post" anyway? So how much fixing is there? _Valhalla_ _Calling_ might be a good example to test, because that's definitely one where Geoff did a lot of retakes and it is highly produced.
Two of the singers from Home Free released a rendition of the Puccini aria "Nessun Dorma." The lead singer at the beginning of this track has a shockingly large and resonant operatic voice.
hi Fil this is like comparing a human voice to a robot voice this is what is pitch corrected is I strongly prefer to hear human voice than a robot pitch correcting is trying to steal something a human is doing this is hell. Much love and \m/Pitch correction is eliminating the human feeling completely this is totally insane ...
These musicians are turning into 440 hz robot voices . What's worse is they aren't standing up to the music meddlers trying to ruin their vouces. Apparently the people behind the scenes are more in control than the performers. Scary trend Fil.
Fil, where do you see pitch corrected material heading? Will it continue as is, will it get even more use, or will there be a wreckening coming? This just cheapens the vocal ability of the artist, IMHO. Another good episode! 👍
So sad. Let corporate greed make robots out of anyone with talent. And - making someone sound talented when they aren’t because they have the right “look”.
Pitch correction this heavy is so obvious to me, reminds me of sampling our voice with our first sampling Roland keyboard back in the early 90s and doing max headroom type sounds for effect.
You're correct that the pitch correction and compression and the studio editing doesn't do them justice, but some of the videos like this one are captured on a cell phone and they might loose their pitch because of the background cheering. There is a really good video with good audio called "The Sea Shanty Medley - Live"
I am 100% with you about pitch correction and the loss of feeling. I do wonder, how much of the improvement between a pitch corrected studio version and an unedited live version is just due to it being preformed live. I would love to hear someone like Elton singing live compared to his studio recording. Live is always going to add feeling, emotion, and inaccuracies.
Wow, that's a pretty dramatic difference---the first one doesn't sound like them at all. I don't care for either version honestly, but it is clear that they do have a lot of vocal ability and expression, totally lost in the version you were asked to look at.
This kind of makes me sad because I really like Home Free. I have seen them live and they sound great. It's too bad studios are ruining music. Great video!
Makes me wonder how the people who do this pitch correction can live with themselves...truly ruining vocals. One of the reason I can't listen to most singers. I hear PC every time and it grates on me.
Home Free is independent.. They produce their own stuff with the help of producers they pay. So I would think they have a lot of input in how they sound....
Another one of those situations where the pitch corrected vocals sound so much more nasal! I've never heard of them before, and honestly not that crazy about this particular style, but it's very difficult to understand why anyone would prefer to listen to the first version rather than the second.
The studio: "That's how we do it." That explains everything. Thank you. Btw, I've heard them live twice. They sound great. A sour note a couple times per concert.
This was a sad day for the person learning their group was pitched corrected. I just do not listen to anything much expect when in video. Not that I really pay attention to the sound I enjoy watching what is on the video. Most time better to have something to hear than watching a film that is silent like back with the home movies with no sound. Thanks, Fil, for the bearer of sad news but true to your word.
This was done during the TV show The Sing Off. I can still pick out each individual voice regardless. I have seen live a couple times and seen individual performances from paying requests, all on You Tube. I don’t know why they would bother with pitch correction.
I love all their videos but especially the live ones. I think this one is layered but since they sound just as good in live videos, I don't think autotune plays into it (no pun intended).There are loads of live ones, most recently "Sea Shanty Medley Live", I think you'd also like a couple of old ones "9-5 beatboxing breakdown" & "Joy to the World Hosannah".
