Justin Bieber is known for his five top albums and many concert films released throughout his career which began when he was just 13 years old. But does this fan-favorite singer and songwriter also use Auto-Tune?
Justin Bieber, like many music artists, uses voice editing software like Auto-Tune to correct bad notes or off-pitch tunes during both live performances and in the studio.
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- Oct 08, 2020 There’s no sound more prominent in rap right now than that of Auto-Tune. Since the mid 2000s, seasoned OGs like T-Pain and Lil Wayne have finessed the vocal effect into a hit-making cheat code.
Read more below to find out about how Bieber uses Auto-Tune, what Auto-Tune is and how it works, and which other artists use the software.
Dec 07, 2018 I wanted to debunk this first, as some people come to me asking about the 'the Lil Durk Auto-Tune,' or perhaps that classic 'T-Pain Auto-Tune.' That effect is made from the same plugin—the outcome of the sound that you hear depends on how you set the settings within the program and the pitch of the incoming signal. Apr 25, 2014 Not that everything Lil Wayne did with Auto-Tune was totally weird: He scored his biggest-ever hit with “Lollipop,” which used Auto-Tune, and a collaboration album with T-Pain was promised. Aug 25, 2020 “Lil Baby and I have a great relationship, so he sort of trusts me. His thing is telling me, ‘Just do what you do.’” Tillie has known Lil Baby since the artist was just 17-year-old Dominique Armani Jones, who hung around the Quality Control studio in 2013 and a rapping career was the furthest thing from his mind.
Bieber’s Use of Auto-Tune
A common misconception about Auto-Tune and other voice tuning software is that it allows anyone to sing, even if they don’t have a good voice. Auto-Tune is used to correct small issues of pitch or incorrect notes and is not able to completely change how someone’s voice sounds.
Bieber uses Auto-Tune in both live performances and recorded songs, like many other music artists of all genres. While it can be used to create the robotic singing voice and other effects that some artists use, heavily edited voices always sound robotic.
Bieber keeps his voice very close to his own, using Auto-Tune only to correct the small errors he can make during his performances. The editing software does not change his overall voice or sound, just the little mistakes that naturally occur when singing.
Marco Alpert, the vice president of the company with the trademark for Auto-Tune, Antares Audio Technologies, described that use of Auto-Tune “happens on almost all vocal performances you hear on the radio.”
“It used to be that singers would have to sing a song over and over, and by that time you’ve lost the emotional content of the performance. Auto-Tune is used most often for an artist who has delivered a fabulous performance emotionally and there may be a few pitch problems here and there… [the software] can save a once-in-a-lifetime performance,” Alpert said.
The use of Auto-Tune helps to take the pressure off of artists to deliver perfect performance after perfect performance, especially when they go on tour or when recording songs. Bieber has been able to give performances like this one and this one, both posted on Twitter by fans who claim that no Auto-Tune or lip-syncing was used.
Whether the software was used or not in those performances, it’s still Bieber’s natural voice in the end.
Watch the YouTube video below to see a fan-made compilation video of Justin Bieber’s voice without any Auto-Tune used.
Auto-Tune Software
The first song credited with introducing Auto-Tune to the music field is Cher’s song “Believe” from 1998 on the 22nd album of her career. The result created was called the “Cher effect,” which distorted her vocals.
What Autotune Do Rappers Use
Auto-Tune was still largely unused until T-Pain discovered the many effects possible with its use in 2003. The successful rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer is who made Auto-Tune’s use popular by creatively using it in many of his songs for a new, metallic-sounding result.
T-Pain was interviewed after his time on the show Masked Singer, on which various celebrities go on the show in costumes and others try to guess the singer’s identity. His voice was completely free of his usual Auto-Tune effects on the show, and none of the judges had figured out his real identity.
Due to his use of Auto-Tune, many people thought that his singing voice wasn’t good. “[E]ach album of mine always has two or three songs without Auto-Tune. They’re usually not the singles. My whole first album was very minimal Auto-Tune,” T-Pain explained.
“People ask if I’m going to stop using Auto-Tune, but Auto-Tune made me who I am. I’m not going to stop doing something I started,” he finished.
Lil Durk Presets
While many people believed that Auto-Tune completely changes someone’s voice, T-Pain’s music, as well as other artists like Lady Gaga and Chris Brown, prove this false.