Wow. Just wow. We have a NEW 'WINNER'! 

Imperfection has been proved to be perfection for almost every hit song with a singer in history. That is why they were a hit, no acoustic instrument is perfectly tuned, no human drummer is in perfect time and usually it's the singer that is the most distinctly off tune/beat/melody of them all. Mistakes and imperfection are what make us human they can express emotion, set scenes, cause tension. For example, we all know what it is to take a breath when we hear it or growl or sigh or have our voice break/falter with emotion as we talk about the people we have lost. To "clean this up" to this extent is to rob the listener of why we sing in the 1st place.

"No longer a human voice." That's it exactly. Pitch correction takes emotion out of singing.

The vocals that lie right on the note line are vocals that sound like an ambulance siren that is stuck.

Fil, thank you for this analysis. Almost from the first 10 seconds, it was clear that this was a machine voice. It is not alive. It is a travesty.

Thank you, Fil, for helping me to “tune” my listening. There is a reason I didn’t respond the same way to more contemporary vocalists and now I know why. When you know, you know.

Please keep in mind that a lot of tv networks autotune everything without letting the artist know. This happened to Dave Draiman of Disturbed when they performed The Sound of Silence on Conan. He was furious when he found out.

Man, if ever there was a song that DIDN'T need to be belted, this one takes the cake.

Pitch correcting a good singer is like painting over antique hardwood floors. Sand it down a little, then seal it in with a clear coat. That goes for singers as well.

I hear so many people denying the effects of auto tuning and pitch correction on music, saying it's just the new phase of music. However, we need to think about what the legacy of music from this era will be. With all our cameras adjusting our images, art being made "better" by AI, and songs no longer sounding like the singers...

She has a very good voice on real life. I've said it many times that pitch correction is not progress. Thanks, Fil for this analysis. Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

I never wanted to see Celine Dion, but my wife dragged me to Las Vegas, and I was blown away! Her voice was amazing, better than any of her recordings that I had ever heard. I would think that all possible tricks to make her sound better could have been implemented in the studio, or post production. So I think why she sounded so great live was, that no recording can capture the nuances of her vocals.

Scooching a wee bit off topic although not totally, but while he didn't have the best set of pure pipes, Nat King Cole sings the most beautiful and reverent version of O Holy Night I've ever heard. And I say "reverent" without even being religious.. Instead of showing off and seeing how many runs and how much vibrato singers today do, it's like Cole is describing the birth of Christ as he's seeing it first hand.

You're explaining why Carrie's voice sounds "metallic" or harsh on her recordings. Thank you. The technician does her no favours!

This is criminal. I got to see Carrie perform last spring. Her voice is incredible and doesn't need pitch correction/autotune.

What a sad and shameful thing to do to Carrie Underwoods voice. I have seen her perform live , and she has a beautiful and powerful voice ! I have a question, does an artist have any say in whether their voices can be pitch corrected ?

The "computer alarm" comparison was spot-on...grates on my nerves! lol Auto-tune/pitch correction hurts my head. Some of the music they play at work drives me crazy, while my coworkers never even seem to notice. Natural voices are unique and beautiful...leave them alone! ❤🎶

"Wow. Just wow. We have a NEW 'WINNER'!" Got that right Fil! This is shameful. Does anyone know of any song she's sung that hasn't been pitch corrected? I'd really like to hear HER voice, her natural singing voice.

It’s so sad because she has an incredible voice.

Try the opera singer Jussi Björlings version of the same song but in swedish "O Helga Natt". Recorded way before pitch correction. He was Pavarottis favorite.

Thank you for the analysis. As ever, really illuminating . I really cannot understand this level of pitch correction, it’s sad. I found some of it this painful, robotic even. I want to hear a ‘real’ voice.

Thank you Fil for educating those of us who enjoy music but didn't have a clue what autotune and pitch correction are actually doing. You have opened my eyes to how the industry is doing a disservice to the artist and conning the end listener.

Hey @Carrie Underwood. I genuinely hope this comes onto your radar… this should be in any performance/recording contract you sign. She has an awesome natural voice. The vibrato actually hurts my ears.

Celine Dion in 1998 sang her version of O Holy Night live. It's here on YT. It was as near perfect as a human can get. Nana Mouskouri's 1970's version of Ave Maria is chilling to the bone it's so pure. Both women sang live just as exquisitely. It is possible for today's professional singers to be, well, professional. I always learn something new on your channel. I know nothing about the modern technology used in performances these days. Thanks for your hard work! I'm late again as I don't use notifications.❤

I come from a very musical family. Four women and five men. My next-elder sister basically owned this song while we were in school. Year after year, choir directors kept having her solo on it, so I got awfully used to hearing it perfectly done by an amazing mezzo soprano voice. In the 1990's, Rickie Lee Jones did it with The Chieftains and her voice was perfectly broken. I think it's the very best rendition available, because the whole reason Jesus came to Earth was to redeem the broken. I'm not even religious, but I can recognize perfection when it slaps me in the face.

Johnny Mathis Christmas Songs is the definitive xmas album from an old guy's pov. It's one you should review.

Sometime get a listen to Gary Puckett (Union Gap) doing this song. Always loved his voice. This song was on a one time only Christmas collection. He was qoted to have said that "This is my favorite song".

Wow. I did not see this coming for Carrie Underwood. Her singing voice seems to be held in such high regard, but this is very surprising and disappointing for me. On a lighter note, Fil’s eye rolling @ 13:11 is priceless! 👁️ 👁️

Breaks my heart when I hear remastered versions of the music of my youth (70's) that just don't sound right. The pitch correction, added compression, rebalancing done post production absolutely removes the humanity from the music.

This is such a shame - my partner's sister sang backup for Carrie, and Carrie's voice is so awesome she doesn't need pitch-correction at all.

Merry Christmas to you and the rest of the Wingers Fil!

Merry Christmas, Fil. Thank you for gifting all of us way over here with your delightful insights. You're my weekly Music Appreciation class.

I'm pretty sure that no one is going to be following the link to listen to this performance uninterrupted...your "interruptions" were the only thing that made it bearable. I think you're right, this has got to be the new winner for most overly pitch corrected performance. Judging by your 8 eye rolls, several winces, and one actual groan of dispair, I could see how very painful this one was for you, and understandably so. 🤦‍♀️🙉🙄 And surely 8 eye rolls during one video has got to be a record!!

"Now a human voice is a piano" - I think this sums it all perfectly. I miss the old times and old performances

Well done Fil. The eye roll at 14:34 cracked me up … followed by the exasperated, “ohhhhh …” … both of which sum things up perfectly. Cheers!

The combination of your expert analysis and your actual reaction IRL is fantastic. Thank you, Fil... great, as always! Stay safe and sane, etc. Rosemarie ❤

I absolutely love your channel Fil….keep em coming :)

Always a pleasure to view a well-presented video from a knowledgeable person. Thank you.

That is one of my favorite songs but when I first heard her singing this I thought immediately it didn't sound right.I heard it a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for covering this. I love your videos.

Carrie Underwood & Vince Gill - "How Great Thou Art" Live performance. Imperfectly perfect maybe they use pitch correction I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like it to me. She’s flat a few times. but it doesn’t matter. It’s so beautiful I mean having Vince Gill play guitar and sing back up is a pretty good idea as well, but I’m just saying this woman is capable of delivering a fabulous performance without this.

Thanks Fil. I didn't need to watch, or hear the voice, to know what was happening the expressions on your face spoke volumes. Very entertaining, and fun, just watching you.

Compare and contrast: just listened to Aled Jones singing this in 1985. I am not a fan of church choirs or solo choir boys but it is a breath of fresh air after the 'android' version.

You are so gracious in your analysis. Sometimes, i would like to hear your first reaction without your normal restraint. 🙂 Wish I had your ability to hears the notes as you do..

ANOTHER GREAT ANALYSIS FIL! You are obviously an expert at this topic. Glad I found your channel.

Another great video. Thank you for doing these - it’s really fascinating!

Thanks Fil. I'm not sure if I had heard this one from Carrie, or if I had I wanted to forget it. I normally enjoy Carrie's singing and would of been excited to hear her sing this beautiful song. Loved the analysis!

@ 7:50, I like your discussion on controlled vibrato vs natural vibrato. I have never thought of this aspect of vibrato.

The explanation is really interesting. Thank you for all the details.

Another awesome analysis from you. Thanks for sharing your insights on this topic. And all of your topics

I love listening to you. It is so educational and you have such an adorable personality.

She is such a great singer. A person's normal tone is what brings life, emotion, realism. Perfection cannot bring that. Thanks Fil😊🎙🎼🕯🌜⭐️

Hey Phil, I appreciate your depth of understanding of the performance and production of of the artists you review. I tend to think along the same understanding, but you go beyond what I have been able to learn. 🗣

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! You are the best! You give us so much to think about when listening to music! I guess I am lucky because the ones I think are really good singers, according to you they really are! Like Karen Carpenter, Bobby Darrin, Jay Black!

My new motto - "I've been waiting all day for Fil to rant!" Sung to the tune of "Hate Myself for Loving You" which is used for the Sunday Night Football theme song by Carrie Underwood. 😊

Well, that was painful 😬. Only for you would I sit through that whole thing!

Thank you Fil. I love the way you defend the artists in your analysis. I can't imagine anyone who has a better handle on this subject. I love Carrie Underwood. I hope she sees this and is able to do something about this in the future. Your videos should be mandatory in music colleges.

I dont know why the label companies want to "perfect" an artists voice, all it does is take away the emotions that the singer is trying to portray in his/her song. This time I caught that this song was pitch corrected before you answered the question, and i saw it on the pitch monitor too. Again, I'd rather hear the singers natural voice, flaws and all because that's what makes the song beautiful. Thank you Fil, for this excellent analysis! 😉👍

Great analysis, yet again! Thanks Fil, been awhile Thanks especially for the update on auto tune v. pitch correction; Modern music is so disappointing...

Phil you are awesome. I have learned so much from your videos. Thank you.

Howdy again from across the pond. Hope you're having a fantastic holiday season. Happy New Year to you! I'm super-late catching up with videos, but I'm about to dive into this. As a sidenote, I always look forward to Sunday night NFL here in the states because she sings the opening kickoff song and it never fails to get me rockin'!

Bless you for these analyses.

I wish you would examine David Phelps version of O’Holy Night. One of the best versions I have ever heard.

have loved this song for many many years used to love to play in on the piano found a good sent of music that was in the key of C sadly that piece of music was lost with all my other music when we moved years ago thanks Fil

I love your cheeky grin while listening to those 'perfect' pitch corrections!

You give very understandable explanations of the nuanced examination of your perspective. Maybe I could have just said thanks for your channel !

A Fantastic view Fil and Spot on! This truly is eye opening as where is music heading like a Rock Band that just supposedly retired, then become Avatars? Where is creativity or artistry in it? Music naturally has some flaws & or Tone imperfections that's what I love about music. A great view and so well articulated. Ty Cheers! 🍻🤝🏼✌🏼💫

9:20 struck me it sounds limited/compressed too, feeling her vocal intensity that is. Great answers Fil. Merry Xmas to you and all of us. -Don't Bflat, Bsharp 'n 🤸‍♀️ Rock !

Facinating, as usual, Fil. I wonder how Martina's (martina mcbride o holy night) shakes out? Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Oh Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song.. Kenny Rogers did a great rendition of this song.. Merry Christmas Fil and a glorious new year..

My voice coach told me early on that I would develop a critical ear in two regards. First pitch correction becomes easier to detect and the performance sounds sterile, or mechanical. Second performers today may not sound as good as older performers because they just aren't as disciplined with the pitch correction safety net. I personally like live performances as they are always a bit different and remind me nobody is perfect but we can strive to be.

Thank you for your work!

You said it all Fil... another great video, thank you !

...OK, I had to go listen to the Andy Williams version just now. In addition to everything you mention about pitch, there are such differences in timbre, dynamics, use of melodic decoration (slides, twangs, fry), and especially lyrical interpretation. "Fall on your knees..." one sings it as an invitation with humility, while one sings it as a threat. And don't get me started on "O hear the angel voices..." Bravo again, Fil. Merry Christmas to you & yours.

I love that you ACTUALLY discuss why they might use pitch correction. It's just strange because you think she probably has great pitch naturally

You are brilliant. Thanks for doing this. So interesting.

I can hear the processing in the timbre of the voice when corrected without needing to see the notes visualised in software. Thanks for the explanation about the mouth shape and consonants etc..

Wow is correct....actually very sad. The "sound engineers" have actually taken her personality out of her real voice. It is blatantly obvious as you have demonstrated in your video. I would rather hear a singer on an off day than a pitch corrected song. The human part of singing, whether flawed, or off key sometimes can actually be very pleasing in my humble opinion. I appreciated how you were still kind to Carrie. Thank you again for an excellent analysis. ROCK...

Loved the eye roll Phil.

Thank you Fil information very much appreciated

Thanks Fil, very well analysed! 😅😅😮

I love her ! Voice of an angel

I love the original music video / song that Carrie Underwood sings with John Legend called "Hallelujah." It's also sung in a church, so I wondered if that one was tampered with, especially with those acoustics. It's so mind-blowing to me that professional singers have no say about anyone messing with their songs. Excellent analysis. Nothing surprises me anymore , unfortunately.

Appreciate your hard work sir !! Cheers...

And Congrats on 335K!

I just went to the RU-vid performance of Carrie Underwood doing this same song on Jimmie Fallon's Tonight Show and the difference is astonishing! The other is obviously not auto tuned or pitch corrected and it's a million times better! Shame on whoever thought they were "fixing" her voice here.

Thanks for all you do Fil .My favorite version of this song is by the blind Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli. Also Andy Williams had an amazing voice. I saw him perform once in Branson, Missouri. * Maybe you could get Tommy Emmanuel on your channel sometime?

You just nailed it on the head. I feel like every time I try to get into music nowadays I get bored and eventually go back to “old school” singers/bands/etc. because there’s so much more emotion and sincerity and relatability in their vocals.

You are the best FIL thank you for doing what you do, the world needs more like FIL cheers😊

Your comment about a singer's natural vibrato "changing" (deteriorating?) over time was very true in the case of Jerry Vale (a pretty damn good singer!) whose voice really coarsened with time into an almost exaggerated version of his earlier work. It's interesting to me that it is a _natural_ progression.

Thanks for this, Fil. You're the boss. I heard her on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2014 for Linda Ronstadt and it stuck out that her vibrato was ear piercingly, ugh during "Different Drum." I also believe her mic was louder than the legends she was on stage with when they performed Linda's other hits. I don't want to leave a negative comment, but I take issue with that. Cheers, Fil.

You’re absolutely right! I hear what you are talking about. Very interesting video.

I thank you for your videos. They explain my experience with newer singers voices sounding very strange to me. I didn’t know what was wrong with the voices, just that something wasn’t right. The answer was that I was hearing the autotune and/or pitch correction in action. So, thank you for helping to keep me sane.

I would love you to do an analysis of this carol sung by Leontyne Price - no auto tune, no pitch correction, just sheer beauty.

I think that it would be interesting to what would happen if both the pitch corrected and uncorrected performances were released.

Your explanation on the vibrato in her voice when auto corrected is so interesting, and to my ear it creates a buzz due to that beautiful timber she carries, but it is so grating that I have to apologize, I can't listen to it anymore - awesome post - You rock!! 🤘

It's funny because I just found your channel yesterday and I've watched a bunch of your videos about pitch correction. I rarely watch live performances online so I didn't realize that they so often pitch correct them before posting them online. But I happened to find a recording of No Doubt doing a live acoustic performance in a studio, back in 2012, and Gwen went sharp and flat kind of a lot, but I personally like that because it sounds real and live. It doesn't mean she's a bad singer; she just doesn't hit every single note perfectly. And I really appreciate that they didn't try to pitch correct her to heck.

Wow I am shocked. I didn't think that country singers used auto tune and pitch correction as much. She has a beautiful voice and her voice doesn't need to be produced.

"It's so perfect that it's imperfect".. Perfect description.

Hey Fil Just Wanted to say Merry Christmas and Have a Safe Rockin New Year, Always Watch & 👍

Fil, please do a show on Judee Sill. I first heard her in the '70s but have recently been revisiting her great work. Her voice was unique and very beautiful.

Fil if you want to hear her real voice check out a video of her and Vince Gill sing How Great Thou Art it will give you chills