(Deep Breath....
)
Autotuner should be viewed for what it is. An effect.
If used as such, it can be great. In dance music like Basement Jaxx/Daft punk the robotic edge fits the general aesthetic and can enhance the general electronic nature. In some pop it can provide a wonderful clash of human vs machine, when autotuned and natural vocals are run alongside one another.
When used as an aide to correct bad vocals, I almost always dislike it.
Note: If, like on a site like this, it is because the vocalist is weak and wants to "show" the melody more correctly, then fine. If he/she is aware their strength is in writing and not performing, its a useful tool to help them out. But a SINGER songwriter should be able to do both, lets me fair here! Commercial releases or those aiming to be so should not rely on autotuning effects to do the hard work.Pop music has recently swung into this odd place, where R&B/Pop Music/Boy/Girl-Bands
HAVE to be tuned to the nth degree. It is aurally exhausting and people either hear it and hate or, or cannot quite understand what is going on but still feel a disconnect. Its prevalence is bewildering. Or perhaps, at 28, I am just far too old for chart music! An argument can also be made that pop stars are spending less time in the vocal booth and more time on TV/magazine shoots... the money is more and more in the promotion with "pop" music than in sales (but that is a WHOLE other conversation!)
Equally, the use of autotuner is sneaking into other styles of music.... Autotuner has two main edit buttons. SPEED and CHOOSINESS. Speed is how fast the note is bent into pitch from the incorrect pitch, and choosiness is how much leniency the tuner allows (i.e. if aiming for middle A at 440hz, allow a +/- of a few hertz.). Using it at a reduced level on both will tidy up a ropey vocal without sounding too robotic. However, producers ears and general music ficionados are rarely fooled. And again the "something is not quite right" here effect will hit even the layman...
As such long live the neo-folk movement. Laura Marling/Mumford and Sons/Noah and the whale and their ilk are showing the British market that naturally playing will always be around. And of course all other styles that let music stay "real"!
Vocoding is another effect entirely and far less easily abused (partly as it is far more difficult to employ!). The confusion in day to day usage stems from the "Voco" part, so people often say vocoder when talking about pitch-edited-vocals.
Hope that gets my view across neatly
