Have you ever heard some robotic and strange but melodic sound from singers or rappers that you know isn’t natural at all and think what is that? Well, that is called autotune. Some people find it beautiful while others may think otherwise. Many singers nowadays used autotune which helps them in their pitch correction and it is now the new normal among artists.
But why do rappers use autotune?
Rappers used autotune because it can give out a melodious, robotic effect in the voice. This makes the rapping sound more melodious, and the rappers sound’s like they are singing and rapping at the same time, blending more with the music and creating a better harmony in the song.
What autotune software do rappers use?
There are many autotune software nowadays but some of the most popular autotune used by rappers today are:
- Antares Auto-Tune:
Antares Auto-Tune is the most common autotune software used by hip-hop artists today. The biggest rappers today like Chane the rapper, Kayne West, T-Pain used auto-tune in many of their music. Antares actually own the trademark of Auto-Tune itself making them the king in the autotune industry.
There are many versions of Auto-Tune like Auto-Tune Pro, Auto-Tune Artist, Auto-Tune EFX+, Auto-Tune Access but the most popular one is Auto-Tune Pro which costs $24.99 per month or $249.90 annually.
If you want to try it out first there is a 14 days trial and see if Auto-tune is for you.
- Newtone:
Newtone in FL Studio is one of the most popular manual pitch correction plugins which rappers used constantly during recordings. If you like FL Studio and wanted to use pitch correction then do try out the inbuilt Newtone.
- Melodyne :
Melodyne is one of the most popular autotunes among rappers. It is produced by a German musical software company called Celemony Software GmbH in 2000. Many hip-hop artists like Travis Scott used Melodyne. Melodyne has a trial version which you can test the features
Who was the first rapper to use autotune?
The first rapper recorded in history who used autotune is Faheem Rasheed Najm, popularly known as T-Pain. In 2003, T-Pain started using Autotune and in 2005 he released his debut “Rappa Ternt Sanga”, he used heavy autotune effect in songs like “I’m sprung” and “Studio luv” and that sparks a new wave among rappers.
Before T-Pain, there are others who used autotune secretly and with minimal settings, but T-Pain publicly began to use autotune and transform the whole industry with the robotic and melodious autotune. He is now known as the king of Autotune and inspired many other rappers to use autotune.
Rappers that don’t use autotune
Even though we have said that autotune is like a studio standard for rappers. Many rappers feel the opposite and think that autotune is somewhat like cheating software.
Famous rappers like Jay Z claim that autotune is a piece of fake music which do not deserve respect in the music industry. Rappers like A$AP Rocky, French Montana, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha ™ Flatbush Zombies, YG, and many others don’t use Auto-tune and still become famous without it.
What effect do rappers use on their voice?
Many rappers used different voice effects other than the famous autotune. They want to stand out among the other rappers and try to mix their voice in a unique tone. The most common effects among them are effects like vocoders, vocal chops, reverb, delay, filters, compression, and pitch changer.
Do rappers double their vocals?
Many singers are using vocal doubles nowadays and are very common among them. Vocal doubles in simple terms mean recording a vocal track and then recording a second vocal track just like the first one usually to make the sound more fuller.
Just like singers, many rappers also double their vocals mostly on the last verse or on which they want to emphasize key parts in the verse. But for rappers recording double track can be hard as it is very difficult to perform the exact same phrase which results in a muddy and outdated sound.
Conclusion
By reading this article, we hope that your question as to why rappers use autotune is answered. And if you are a rapper and want to use autotune, we hope you understand the basics of how autotune works and to find what’s best for you among the various autotune out in the market.
