The Cher Effect
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The Cher Effect
Auto-Tune is a trademarked product of Antares. However, it was originally created Exxon engineer Andy Hildebrand, who was researching methods of interpreting seismic data. He realized that this same technology could be adapted for audio recording to detect, analyze, and retune a musical addition to subtle pitch correction, much of what people associate with Auto-Tune today is an effect that was used on “Believe”, a 1998 recording by Cher, and is now widely known as “The Cher Effect”.When Auto-Tune is used this way it turns vocal scoops and bends into discrete steps, and also allows only certain pitches to be reproduced. This transposes singers’ voices to these pre-determined pitches and frequency shifts those harmonics in the process, producing a mechanical, robotic-sounding vocal track. Since 1998, many rock, pop, R&B, and hip-hop artists have used this effect in their recordings.
