Taylor Swift writes her own songs. BUT... does she use auto tune?
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- Tonight we're taking a look at Taylor Swift and a video I was sent to see if she's using auto-tune or not. Let's find out!
Videos - • Taylor Swift - All Too...
Natural - • Taylor Swift: NPR Musi...
TIME STAMPS -
0:00 Start
0:24 Introduction
1:22 Taylor's 'Impromptu' Performance
2:10 Analysis Start
2:57 Mic Sound Transition
3:38 Suspicious Cheering!?!
4:16 Impromptu or Planned?
5:20 Constantly Changing Mix
5:55 Auto-Tune/Pitch Correction
12:05 Auto-Tuned Vocal/Natural Vocal Comparison
13:27 Performance 2
18:27 Freedom of Expression
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It's so criminal what autotune does to songs in removing the emotions. It's no surprise my collection is last century x
The only person I accept using auto tune is Melanie Martinez. You’d be surprised that it adds emotion to her songs, but that’s because it’s in the portals album, and she’s supposed to be a legit fairy lol
Years back, I recall reading a review of a Taylor Swift concert in the Los Angeles Times. The opening line read "Everyone knows that Taylor Swift can't sing... " The review actually ended up pretty favorably as far as her charisma, writing, stage presence, etc. I am glad to see/hear that her pitch issues have gotten better in the ensuing years.
As a musician that has done over a thousand live gigs (with none of them auto-tuned!), it bums me out to hear performers of most every genre lose that human-ness and emotion (due to over-processing) that makes a live show so intimate and memorable.
I commented here about how I ... ummm ... feel about Swift's singing, but I read that review!! I remember thinking _OMG someone else gets it_
As if Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan are pitch perfect. 😂😂 But please, let's all pick on Taylor. Misogyny demands it.
@@pandapeep1148good point…until you give it a moments thought beyond your gotcha headline! However, neither does Patti smith, Marianne faithful, and many other wonderful women singers, and we are not picking on them, because they sound real and fantastic. Taylor Swift however does not.
Pitch issues are almost always only live onstage pitch issues. Singing in a giant room with lots of things to bounce off of and people yelling or screaming, sometimes it’s the equipment as well and let’s not forget feedback. No one should be judgmental here. If you only knew how difficult this is to do and even more so whilst running around.
Bullshit comparison. Neither Dylan nor Jagger would have a chance in the modern music business.
Hello, I would like to say, as the one who edited the "autotuned" video, that I agree with you.
The official audio that was released of this performance, the one I ended up using on the video, is soooo manipulated it frustrated me to edit, because having heard she singing this on the videos people recorded, is obvious that crowd sound was manipulated (just like you said) and also her voice, which is a complete shame, because it misses the whole point of the "live audio".
Just to point out: the people criticising her songwriting and how she "co-writes" her songs, has clearly never listened to the lyrics or watched the bunch of videos, available here on CZcams, of her song writing sessions, everyone that has worked with her has said that she comes to the studio with basically 70-80% of the song already written.
You are correct.
Taylor swift is iconic.
It's because she is a woman. There is a recent wave of misogyny out there in the last decade, and unfortunately it has poisoned music as well. Lana Del Ray had males embarrasing themselves as they criticised her without knowing anything about her. Katy Perry has had to put up with it as well. If these women were men, then other men wouldn't question their methods, appearance or delivery.
Thanks for the comment! Yes it's a shame, I bet it sounded fine without all the post processing.
@@kdphotos4691 Nothing to do with her being a woman. Joni, Carol King, Laura Nyro, Carly Simon and many others, set an incredible standard. Swift is not even close to that level.
@@Fontsman Exactly! She's nowhere near that league.
When you're aware of it, auto-tune sure does sound robotic.
@@lisaayers1975If YOU have to use auto tune!then your not!a good!Singer!
I will stick to my Judas Priest, no auto tune needed😂
I'm sure this has been said many times, but the expression on your face and in your eyes as you listen is priceless! You are sometimes in awe of a person's artistry, sometimes tickled by their "use of technology". Genuine, dude. Love your vids!
Watching Fil smiling at Karen or Judy or Sarah is just marvelous. He at once validates, explains and expands my taste in music.
That smile is infectious. I have disease that, on days like these, I struggle with. Watching Fil helps me. 😊
I agree. Rick Beato is really animated in this way too.
I honestly don't know why or how she ever became popular. That's the nicest thing I can say about her, so I'll just leave it at that.
I agree! obviously i’m not hearing what other people are hearing!
Why and how: being a conventionally beautiful white woman who comes from money and occasionally writes an incredible song
I mean, everything isn’t for everyone, you couldn’t pay me to listen to DMB or STP back in the 90s, doesn’t mean they were bad, just that my ear didn’t like them, I probably only like 2-3 Taylor Swift songs, but it’s not hard to see how a pop artist like her with the catalog she has having mass appeal
@minigirl6379 - I agree!
So?
Im actually happy to see this….I’ve always thought without actually looking at a pitch analysis that she naturally sings flat. Tells my me ear is pretty decent! Thanks for the great videos!
Outstanding video. I think you're single-handily raising people's awareness of what a natural 'human' voice sounds like vs an edited auto-tuned performance ... and appreciating the, soulful, natural human voice. Your hard work, singular talents, and sincerity, are so very appreciated.
I completely agree with your assessment about Taylor...
Karen Carpenter and Roy Orbison were natural vocalists, God bless us for their mastery. Listening to Karen and Roy still sends shivers down my spine.
Tom Petty was amazed how the iso booth couldn't contain Roy's voice, it was so powerful for The Traveling Willburys...
9 songs in 9 days... the Willburys were an amazing example of everything gone right.
i totally agree with what you are saying ! AMEN to that ! lol
Taylor Swift is still an amazing singer and songwriter. You can clearly hear that in the second performence wich sound so much better and more genuin. This is not her fault. Its the stupid talentless producers. If Karen Carpenter and Roy Orbison were still alive those producers would have pitch corrected them to death too
I love, love, love The Traveling Willburys. So unknown. I miss them.
@taccamine8312 Karen Carpenter had perfect pitch and was known as one take Karen because her first takes were always perfect. Imo. Taylor is just a mediocre singer. To me, she comes across as whiney. Nasal and has a chsnty sound. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, so she's certainly better than I could ever do. I think it's a matter of taste. I prefer the strong mature vocals of someone like Linda Ronstadt and even Miley Cyrus. Music is quite subjective.
You're probably right about that😊. If you personally don't like the sound of a voice it doesn't matter how "good" they are. I'm not a particular fan of Swift. I'm just trying to point out that most of today's useless producers don't care (or have enough knowledge to judge) whether a vocalist has good or bad pitch. They use artificial tuning as a mandatory procedure anyway
If we could bottle your facial expressions, that would pretty much sum up my feelings about music, for the last 20 yrs of music.
Thanks Fil!
Seeing that autotune is so broadly misused, it is nice to see someone actually checking pitch on the artists.
Hopefully young people will appreciate your efforts.
its funny. One of my favorite female singers as a kid was Candy Givens of the band Zephyr.
This goes back to the 'green' album of '70. I was 13. Tommy Bolin.
Drove my Mom crazy.
Years later, my Wife is a fan of American Idol.
I spin Zephyr...."She's too pitchy!"
Care ? nope.
They wont, judging by reddit they cry, deny and get angry at these sort of videos 'disrespecting' their idols.
@@chrism2964 No, I don't think anyone is crying. We all know autotune is everywhere, and is being used almost without thought on singers who don't really need it. Phil even says this in his analysis of the 2nd video of Taylor he looks at.
Taylor doesn't use it in real time live. It is true that some of her official live videos (like the 1989 World Tour) have been corrected for mistakes in post. I don't recommend this practice but I understand it. If an artist is putting out a video product, there is a temptation to edit out obvious mistakes, and not just pitch errors. Everyone makes errors.. why would you deliberately leave an error in an official Tour Video?
The use of it on studio recordings annoys me, even tbough it is really hard to detect it as the corrections are often so subtle. So subtle that it just isn't needed IMHO. Just do repeat takes until you nail it. Plus it can rob a voice of some character.
@@glenkepic3208 I don't think American Idol singers use autotune (in real-time). I've seen quite a few performances on that show where the singer's voice is obviously slightly off pitch.
@@guitarpaul3645 sane people don't, no, hardcore fans however..
I’ve seen her live in a big arena, and once or twice the sound guy has not flipped the auto tune on quickly enough, and her voice was noticeably different than the initial note.
I’ve also seen her several times and there was no difference. Her voice was fine
@@klmbs67they didn’t say her voice was bad, just that they heard a difference. Also, just because you didn’t notice, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
In 3 hours you can’t always be stable of course
She’s human after all
Other artists only perform for an hour and a half, while she performs 3.5 hours making it harder
@@Nowhatsgoingon11222True but Taylor isn’t a good vocalist she’s okay. So when you compare her to another vocalist it’s obvious her notes are flat. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that.
@@LadyVenVen sometimes you don’t even need to be a good vocalist to be a great artist though
Her strength is songwriter and she’s mostly known because of that
There are so many great vocalist out there who are better singers but when they write their own songs they can’t write a decent one
Her voice is just okay for what she does, she doesn’t need a powerful voice to show her feelings through music
Not everything is about vocals
The hardest part of music is writing and she’s the best one of the current pop music🤷♀️
Fil knows so much about music !!! It makes me proud that he confirms what we’ve all known for years. That Karen Carpenter was one of the greatest female vocalist of all time.
❤ Karen Carpenter forever❤
@ 10:22 Fil’s smile turning into a grimace coupled with his slight hmmm of disapproval is priceless. That is a definite Fil meme.
I saw/heard that and said "hmm" at the same moment. It's apparently contagious. :)
@@scudgie1 as is his smile!
Talk about body language!
I’m new to the channel and was gratified to see he heard the same thing as I did there.
I was going back through older videos, and found your comment. Definite meme moment, including the "hmmm" at the end.😂 His eye rolls from more recent pitch correction videos are perfect meme-able moments too.😂
I’m a singer and songwriter I’ve been playing out for over 30 years bands and solo clubs and bars self-taught A compressor and a little bit of reverb and some echoplex if I’m doing some Johnny Cash, is about all I use. I know echoplex is an old fashion word LOL. But I have to say I’ve learned so much just listening to you thank you you’re a smart guy and you know your stuff🎼👍🎶🇺🇸🇬🇧☘️
I thought they were guitar pedals.
I’ve never heard the word either. Thanks! I’ve learned something new today. ❤️🇨🇦
Fil definitely knows his stuff. Enjoy your playing.🤘
Aye , eye to that... I spent a decade schlepping gear and pretending to be a sound guy when I couldn't play guitar anymore, crushed my left hand....
I think the ultimate band would include "The Traveling0aĻ Willburys", "The Who", "The Pretenders", "The Heartbreakers", and of course, Karen and Richard Carpenter, Roy Orbison, Mini Riverton, John Lennon, David Bowie, "The Stones, Beatles, King Crimson, the list goes on.
I love how respectful you are even in a "takedown." It's great.
I like how Paul Joseph Watson video was. Believe me this isn't really showing the truth. Paul's did.
Always watch the video without looking first at the comments to not be influenced, must say I am still NOT a fan. I don’t know but there are parts even in the second one thought have a weird sound.
Another spot on analysis, as always it’s been great to find you and start to understand why I love the music that I do.
🤘🏻
You have hit on something that I always do, that is that I listen to and watch without reading comments. Comments are usually good for explanating what I didn’t understand, comic relief or to get a sense of what others are thinking. The latter usually exposes how rude, bigoted or uninformed/informed the public is.
Auto correct, what the hell is “explanating”? Is that a word?
All right! I read such an interesting LA Times article yesterday about Damon Albam's sort of caddish comments about Taylor. Thanks for stepping right up!
@Ola Amer Thank you! That's much more detailed than the newspaper article.
Nothing gets by you Fil you lay it on the line through your auto-tune pitch correction analysis even your facial expressions are a dead giveaway. Thumbs up teacher!
As always I really enjoy your content. Great expertise and explanation!!
It instantly sounded like a robot. She would actually sound fine and more genuine without it.
Fil..I've learned so much just listening to you for a couple of weeks.
U are so talented!
Thanks!
I wonder how often "remasters" are done specifically for the purpose of correcting pitch. Perhaps? I wonder if a comparison could be made between two tracks (one from the original and one from the remaster) to reveal and/or illustrate this.
This was a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. It gave me a greater appreciation for how will she can sing. This was a magical performance. Thanks!
How WELL she can sing...which is VERY well now that her vocal chords have matured.
Love these videos! Thank you for keeping it real & making it so informative. Have you ever featured the a-ha frontman Morten Harket? Sx
Thanks. Very insightful. Ms Swift seems like a very driven artist, who isn't yet fully comfortable in her abilities. I think she compensates for this by "clinging?" to every bit of control she can muster to feel safe in what's she's doing.
Thank you so much for your informative analysis. Very educational I feel wiser for watching your channel.
You can hear how mechanical and robotic it sounds. Like it is totally processed. Like an AI is singing and not a person.
Such a good way to put it.
Cool how he didn’t get on the artist for “cheating” with auto tune ..
He just came down on the auto tune itself for unnecessarily adding a robotic sounding.
Classy. I like this guy. Subscribing. 💁🏻♀️
I would love to see you use the pitch graph on Emmylou Harris’s “Michelangelo” or “When I Was Yours.” Not to suss out auto-tune, but rather to see her vibrato and her accuracy in the lines.
The song sounds like a cheap and forgettable Disney or Netflix special in audio form!
@@SproutyPottedPlant What song?
Very well done Fil. Honest and classy analysis with nothing but good intent.
I was not a fan of Taylors, but a few months ago I saw Rick Beato's video about how she beat the scoundrels who were holding her catalog hostage by rerecording her songs, and doing a better job than the originals, and then reading an article about the classy way she handled beating Don Maclean's "American Pie" record for longest song to ever reach #1. She sent Don a gift and highlighted his song on her social media, introducing it to a whole new audience.
So I gave this song a listen and I really enjoyed the new 10 minute version.
It is a shame they did that at the premiere for her short film for this song, but I guess they didn't want to leave anything to chance.
Anyway, keep up the great work.
Autotune seems to take away the individual character of each singer's voice,I think
Maybe this is why I find many CZcams artists filming covers out of their home sound so much more emotional than commercial artists. They just aren't being autotuned and whatever other postproduction manipulation that is being done. Angelina Jordan is my favorite of these and I wonder if she would sound as bad as these others if they messed around with her vocals in a similar way. I think they may have done it to her on the recent soundtrack song "Mercy" because it sounded a little off to me, but I'm not so good at decerning the difference by ear.
Love these vocal analysis vids Fil. Would love to see an analysis of my favorite singer of my lifetime, Sandy Denny. Her performance on the John Peel show of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes” would be interesting.
Very interesting analysis! Found your video from a post on the Taylor Swift subreddit. I never really considered if Taylor uses auto tune or not, I much prefer a more ‘live’ performance such as her Tiny Desk performance. I’m curious your thoughts about her produced studio music, especially evermore. I’ll be checking out the rest of your channel!
I def hear what you’re saying, in re to eq. I also detect a hint of phasing, as well
I remember hearing Taylor in a live performance a number of years ago for what if I remember correctly was a Grammy awards show. Pitch wise she was all over the place, clearly was not a lyp sync, auto tuned or pitch corrected in any way. I couldn’t help but feel bad for her as it was a very sub par performance. At the time I was not surprised given that I was aware she struggled with pitch & thankfully was using a vocal coach to improve.
Based on more recent performances, it appears she’s improved a great deal (btw, proper vocal technique, coaching & hard work can solve most pitch issues).
I’ve said in my comments here before that I fully understand the difficulty singing in tune live w/o being able to hear yourself.
In this performance it should have been seemingly easier w/ just a guitar knowing that a loud crowd can still make it very difficult.
Having played in live bands for many years, coming up with a quality mix & sound for every venue is always a challenge & giving a vocalist the monitoring support they deserve is also a challenge.
All that said, I don’t blame her for using some on the fly auto tune, but personally I’d much rather see her audio team provide her a very high quality ear monitor or closely positioned stage monitor. I’ve successfully used a single well positioned Bose Tower (or similar) for a very clear personal vocal monitor for my 2 daughters / singers.
Btw, a little delay is nice, but the “large hall” reverb along with the digital edge of the pitch correction on this performance for me took away from what could have been a far more raw & unplugged opportunity. Sadly there was nothing unplugged about it 😞.
I’m sure however, her fans don’t care as they don’t seem to mind when she sings out of tune nor do they care when her voice sounds like it was created on a synth!
For the record, I’m very much a fan overall & her abilities as a pop song writer & in forging a strong career in very very challenging industry..!
I would say she is more than just a pop song writer. Her range of songs from ballads, rockers, country, pop, folk, musical style etc. is super impressive. Her sense of melody is truly gob smacking. I think she is one of the best song writers in history. The fact that millions love those songs, and sing them back to her in packed out stadiums, is kind of proof of that.
OK, so someone's bound to say, "oh come on, how can you compare her to the Beatles?" Well, I will. Whilst her sense of melody is quite different, the Beatles did exactly the same thing, wrote catchy melody driven songs that millions of young girls fell in love with, and sang them back at packed out stadiums. Also the Beatles had 3 major writers all contributing, Taylor is mostly herself - even those pesky co-writes Mr Damon Albarn!!
Anyway.. Billy Joel thinks she's the new McCartney .. and I ain't arguing with him!
@@guitarpaul3645 I appreciate your additional thoughts - well said!
@@guitarpaul3645 Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen have been glowing of Taylor's songwriting abilities too.
What you're describing with this mix is derogatorily termed the "bullfighter effect". People attempting to combine various live performances into one longer "seamless" performance face a problem because crowd noise is essentially white noise yet it's incredibly easy for the human ear to pick up ANY interruption in continous crowd noise recordings. Levels and tone will inevitably vary and cannot be merged. It leads to jostling changes in the final mix that sounds like "Ole!" chears at a bullfight. A classic example is the mix of Travelin' Man on Live Bullet. Bob Segar is talking to the crowd ("Couple of songs from our new LP, we'd like to do for you now... This first one's called Travelin' Man...") and the crowd is at full mix then the SECOND the song begins with "Up with the sun, gone with the wind...", the house noise is taken way down and it almost sounds like an album cut. (The performance itself IS real and phenomenal...)
Thanks for this video! I am a Taylor Swift fan myself and I was aware that she at least uses pitch correction from time to time so this didn't really surprise me that much. (although it is a bit disappointing that her voice was altered in the "surprise" performance) I really like the way you explain these things and how you're not really bashing anyone for using autotune, just explaining why it sounds so bad compared to a natural voice (which I agree with). Have a good weekend and thanks for the analysis! 😊
It's not a big deal. We know she has a beautiful voice and great performer. This is Technical Stuff. Don't forget she's a songwriter. Even if she autunes sometimes. Its OK. Who doesn't use technology. Every person in this world.
Poor artist made worse by auto tune.
@@SARAH-ue3xw I mean, that’s a matter of personal taste too. I’m a fan but am a little bothered by the way she’s auto tuned along with a bunch of pop singers who don’t really need it.
The worst part is you get a ton of people who are so sure that Swift, Sheeran, even Buble and similar, are bad, just because they use this crappy “correction.” They’d all be more respected if they sang without it.
@@Simplyveej You may be right, or you might have just heard her most popular songs. Which are kind of “bad” because they’re trying to fit into a standard “pop sound.”
we have every reason to bash autotune and pitch correction and talkboxes and all these fake bullshit modern day singers and their fake asss so called "sound engineers" !!!! it means these people are not REAL musicians at all and they can't sing for real to save themselves !!!!! i want to hear a PROPER live performance WITTH NO AUTOTUNE and WITH NO PITCH CORRECTION at all what so ever and still sound good like the beatles and elvis presley from the 60's !!!!!! i want people to PROVE to me with real EVIDENCE that they actually have got some TRUE DECENT TALENT on them !!!!! other than that it is ALL FAKE BULLSHIT !!!!!!! and i would NEVER buy that shit in a billion years !!!!!! i am OLDSKOOL honestly if you can't sing LIVE or in a recording studio without being AUTOTUNED or without being PITCH CORRECTED or without using a TALKBOX i say DON'T BOTHER cause old skool people like me DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT AND WILL NEVER TOLERATE IT !!!!!!! it is DOWNRIGHT DISGUSTING !!!!!!i would NEVER EVER EVER let any so called AUTOTUNING OR PITCH CORRECTION SOUND ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT or any TALKBOX SOUND ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT even touch my own recording studio if i was the OWNER of my own recording studio or if i was the OWNER of my own LIVE STADIUM !!!!!!!! with me and my family and my recording studio and my live stadium you either do things the OLD SKOOL BEATLES 60'S WAY THE NATURAL WAY or not at all !!!!!!!!!
Great content FIL!
Find your content so interesting and informative. Thanks so much. 🤩
I really like these analysis videos. I think you should try Patsy Cline if you can find an example with decent fidelity. You know there would be no enhancements since it had not been developed when she was performing.
it makes me sad that artists are using autotune so much now. I so appreciate the Judy garlands, Karen Carpenter, Julie Andrews, Sammy Davis Jr, etc. Pure amazing natural voices that occasionally are not spot on...WHATS WRONG with that. Forever going forward I will always be thinking that any live vocal performance I hear is autotuned 😢 Love your channel, and YOU are an amazingly talented artist as well
Thanks!
they didn't use autotune cos it didn't exist...subtle...
@@davepasternso they couldn't be bullied into it by producers and others yes?
@@davepasternthey did use it
It was already being used in the 80s if you didn’t know it
@@Nowhatsgoingon11222 autotune was introduced in 1997...
I'm glad you showed this 😀
Good on you. Many musical artist and their producers have gone to using auto-tune a bit too much. It's not always needed but they still use it anyway.
Not a particular Swift fan, I do think she’s a talented songwriter. My dislike of her singing is not just the auto tune but she seems to me to have poor breath control, her phrasing is really odd sometimes
She does seem to lack a lot of the basics that come with musical training. There is no arguing with her popularity and appeal, though. Not everyone has to be classically trained to touch peoples' hearts with their music. It takes all kinds, I guess.
interstate love song@@Hakausu
Yes, the phrasing! I think that's what bothers me too. Poor control overall, across her range. I agree with the above comment that she seems to lack basic musical training--and not just in terms of performance, but in terms of music composition as well. I've heard that she (supposedly) stated in interviews that she's not interested in learning how to read music/anything about music theory. Kind of a shame, to be unwilling to learn about the field she purports to be a talent in.
You are such a mind opener. Thanks. Sometimes we "fall in love" with certain performers but would rather not know that their voices are not perfect, since no voice is. I'd rather hear a real voice and appreciate the good with the not as good. I am more attracted to the old singers because of this.
another great video Fil
Absolutely fascinating stuff! I know I'm a couple of years late getting here but I just stumbled across your channel today! It's great to know that my old ears can still sense when something sounds off. I much prefer Taylor's version where she's sitting at the piano - all the slightly flat and sharp notes just add a depth and warmth to the song that's missing from the so-called live version. I could hear the autotuning in that and it immediately spoilt the song for me. She doesn't need it! Anyway, thank you for your fascinating analysis.
One thing I’m sure of. When she could have used some pitch correction back in her teens, when she was still developing as a singer (her songwriting ability was professional level before her singing ability), she sure didn’t use it. Poor thing had some shaky performances. I mean she pulled it off more often than not but people came after her pretty hard.
She seemed to come into her own as a vocalist about the fourth album, age 22.
Thanks for this comment. I’m not a big fan of pop, but occasionally find some singers I like. (The *first time* I heard Taylor’s “Teardrops on my Guitar”!) I’ve always heard that Taylor couldn’t sing, but never really knew due to auto-tune and peoples’ nastiness in general.
The gargling sound at 10:44 is a dead give away. When I go to the cinema I always take my guitar, mic, micstand, sound engineers, mixing desk, vocal processor with all its presets - eq, compressor, pitch correction & reverb. Doesn't everyone? This "impromptu" gig is simply show biz.
You're totally right, YOU don't take your, "... guitar, mic, mic-stand, sound engineers, etc... ", when you go out to the cinema (well, I assume you're being sarcastic or facetious, when you say, "I always take... ").
But then... you're not the peoples' beloved Tay-Tay 👸.
But let's be honest, if you had people hanging on your every word, willing to do your every bidding just for the hell of it, a bank account that stands into NINE figures, a fan-base that's bigger than your bank balance, several multi-million $$$ houses and you were, in spite of what Kanye might think, the biggest thing in music over the last fifteen years; well, ... Why wouldn't you take everything everywhere? 😂🤣
My takeaway from this video (and especially from the comment by @TaylorSwiftTourExtras) is that the audio from the “impromptu” performance was manipulated after the performance. Certainly, the audio engineer mixing the live event wouldn’t boost the audience sound during the show.
Taylor is in Melbourne right now. Melbourne streets a covered with glitter from thousands of crazed fans.
She played to 96,000 last night at the MCG.
I can play Cruel Summer on the guitar.
Just wow! I’m so glad I stumbled upon this channel.
I never listened to anything from Taylor but my Wife has been a fan for years.
Ha, just saw some lunatic was arrested today trying to crash into her NYC apt building and trying to get in.
What a world ;)
I hope the hand gets better soon. Want to hear you play !
The non auto tuned performance had a few “off notes” but even they probably weren’t that obvious to your average listener.
She would do fine without auto tune at this point.
She has a pleasant, breathy voice, but it's not the level voice you'd expect from the biggest singer of the Millennial generation, so she obviously feels she needs to enhance it. The writing certainly appeals to millions of teens but I don't find it particularly musical, it's more like reading out of a diary.
I have never been a big fan, but now I have a specific reason why. She now says she is in control of her music, so you can't blame the TV production people. Thanks Fil!
You are right, Taylor doesn't need pitch correction. She's very accurate these days. If you listen to the SNL performance she did just 1 day later, I don't think that one is pitch corrected. She was actually flat several times and more so at the end of the song. And I still loved the performance!
So, it honestly puzzles me why this performance was Autotuned. I mean, it obviously was... but why?
Please keep making these great videos!!!
The same reason people who already look great edit their photos: to sound that little bit better.
She also explained that she couldn't always hear her voice when singing. I always knew she could sing
She sounded so flat singing ATWTVTMVFTV on SNL
Agreed. That SNL performance was emotional and amazing.
She sucks mate
Sad to me is that she doesn't need the electronic enhancement and she loses the natural soul of her voice.
Soul - LOL.
Phil, could you please map the waveform of some SIA performances (studio and live)? Thanks!
To me, it sounded like most of the NPR Tiny Desk performances done in studio (pre-COVID) were natural performances. There was a video a while back re: why it would be impractical to auto-tune Elvis. For impractical to auto-tune, there are two modern singers who come to mind: Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers. Both were also on Tiny Desk in studio a few years ago. It would be interesting to see analyses of their performances.
I have appreciated your analysis of various musicians over the years, especially guitar technique, and attention to those with exceptional voices. You’ve been looking at auto tune for a while now, and I’d love to see you move on to a new topic. Maybe great collaborations, or the talents of multi-instrumentalists, or something else positive again. I love music and your insight is enriching!
Since Fil nailed everything in this- I'll talk about the guy @8:31 He's either embarrassed his bros will see him at a Taylor Swift show, a bit too much of a mega-fan... or he's on the FBI top 10 list. Not sure which it is.
@mystical03hope Cool. It was meant to be humorous, not insulting.
what's wrong with being in a taylorswift show?she is an great artist and puts on a great show and she is one of the most talented writers of this generation.it's 2022for god's sake!!stop being sexist
@@user-qm1ld2kv2f Learn to read, Karen.
I’m not fan but appreciate her talent, I think that the sheer amount of work the modern pop star has to do must be a lot and will no doubt play a part in deciding whether they want to “tweak” things to give the fans the best experience. It’s part of the corporate machine to please the consumers, keep them happy and keep them coming back, I’m sure there are a lot of wages riding on the back of Taylor’s marketability after all, it’s just the way it works
She is more than talented. She's iconic
Up until a few months ago I couldn't really tell if something was auto-tuned.... however after watching maybe 5 or 6 of your videos (including Floor Jansen's) I could tell IMMEDIATELY in this video that that first "live" one was auto-tuned. I am wearing stereo headphones on my laptop though. Thanks so much for these "lessons" on auto-tuning and pitch correction. I feel like an informed listener now! The pitch analysis of Adam Levine was great showing auto-tuning was only on chorus'. That really made it clear to me. I also appreciate when you recognize an artists ability to sing well (on pitch) and you're really critiquing the production rather than the performer (usually).
Thanks!
The performance was at the premiere of the All Too Well mini movie I think it was after a Q&A session featuring Taylor Swift and the two actors, of course her playing the song was pre planned unless she just happens to carry her guitar literally everywhere, I don't know if it's significant or not but they did change the Mic just prior to the start of this clip.
If I want to hear a great Country Woman singer I go back to Mindy McCready. That girl could sing so beautifully at the drop of a hat. I’ve seen her just sit down and sing a song with such perfect pitch and tones. Truly a great natural voice.
I wonder if the decision as to how aggressively autotune/pitch correct is more a function of how much bleed from the instruments is in the vocal mic? Eg: Pretty tough to autotune a vocal if you’ve got lots of piano in that mic feed as well.
There are no words to accurately express immense gratitude,admiration and joy that i have as a member of your audience. Where do i begin? Seriously where? The inclusiveness, the perspectives and points of view, the way you lay them out and the nuances of all those things. Your humble fairness and dedication to making certain there is no point left out assuring that all fairness is applied. Again how do i express the absolute finesse with which you lay out apply and present these analysese it amazes me. Stating that the way you analyze is nothing short of amazing just doesnt do you justice. I hope my lol rather verbose gushing here is the better of the two 😂 ❤❤❤❤ what you bring to the table. What a feast it is ❤❤❤
This is great! Thanks for educating us! I always thought Taylor Swift is great live singer but I guess no one is that good.
I agree with you Fil, it's not actually live. It's modified. I imagine Taylor is a product of the times. Most pop stars today are most likely doing the same things. Good and fair analysis.
I'd like to see a few of the great 'torch singers' analyzed. Julie London?
Fil, you have no idea how much I appreciate your work and how much thankful I am, because I make my music. I started singing and recording my own music when I was almost fifty and I saw Melodyne as a blessing, but with time I undestood that I have to wait with publishing my music untill I'll be a better singer. Now I sing much better and you made me understand that I do not ha e to be obsessed with being on the grid 100%. My appreciation and regards from Poland!
I would be shocked if Taylor's voice wasn't manipulated. I don't care. Her fans don't care. Even her most ardent fans will often admit that she doesn't have the strongest voice. She's a songWRITER who can sing. People relate to her words. I'm glad she gets to be the one delivering her own music, even if she needs a little help.
Everything I hear in pop music today is auto tune, even with singers who know how to sing. Why? Are we so musically dumb that computer sounding music is what people want along with computerized beats that sound all the same from one song to the next. auto tune sounds mechanical and removes any soul that makes the music true to the heart.
Karen Carpenter was a real singer. They used to call her one take Karen cause she could record anything with one take perfectly. Sinatra did everything in one take. Floor Jensen of Nightwish is another singer who can sing anything from symphonic metal to pop, opera or show tunes. Pat Benetar used to call herself a pissed off opera singer, Ann Wilson of Heart, probably the best woman rock singer ever. These folks know how to sing. They had too, there was no auto correction.
Singing is singing, period. You either know how to sing, or you don’t. Taylor is not a great singer but much more expressive without auto tune, and as mentioned, the nuances in her music come through. Yep. The old country, rock and soul singers needed to be more accurate in pitch. They needed to know how to sing. Everything today is about the producers, not the music or the singers. So sad.
I would love to hear an analysis of Neil Young since he is causing a ruckus with the Spotify thing. Love him. hahaha
I'm at home with Covid and just found your channel. I love absolutely everything about it, so thank you for all you do and being my covid binge. I would like for you to do an analysis on anything by Journey, maybe a recorded vs live analysis, and I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Thanks, Much love from Alabama, US❤️
Sharon Palmisano... Here are the links to all of Fil's of Wings of Pegasus analysis on Journey and a cover song to enjoy.
British guitarist analyses Journey live in 1981!
czcams.com/video/MagTJJSyTJE/video.html
British guitarist analyses Gregg Rolie's Journey live in 1980!
czcams.com/video/xD944BGxR-8/video.html
Don't Stop Believing - Journey (Wings of Pegasus Cover)
czcams.com/video/RkQ5oMmrwO8/video.html
@@drewpall2598 thank you so very much! I don't think I ever would've found it. You just made my day better!
@@sarcasmfordays Your Welcome 🙂
Thank you for Sharing This. FIL
I can hardly be called a fan of Swift's, but there's no doubt she's a powerful and very talented force in music and entertainment. Her performance of Red at the CMA's blew me away.
Live recordings edited with autotune should carry a warning label.
Another great analysis video. Does this guy have a million dollar smile, or what!
As someone who doesn’t know a lot about her music,I enjoyed her song “ Wildest Dreams “ . I loved the Choreography, the outfits, the animals. ( Live and Intimate) isn’t going to sound the same as seeing/ hearing her in a live performance. She definitely has a very unique voice. When you write your own music it’s different,because she knows how she wants the delivery to sound. Sometimes that doesn’t always happen.
Personally something sounds really off to me ,perhaps it’s interference from something else I’m not aware of .
I write my own songs as well. It seems she should be proud of her songwriting ,she’s made a good living at it . I’ve heard recently,someone accused her of not writing her own songs . (That would hurt especially / when Taylor put so much work into her writing ) .
We’re really not hearing the live version.,the way we should.
The choreography, the outfits and the animals? Unless it's a Pink Floyd show from 1977, who cares?
@@tontoepstein6860 - Oh my. Get out more. There is a lot more music than just Pink Floyd who has a stage show or uses visuals in their performances.
@@kdphotos4691 While using animals?
@@kdphotos4691 If it ain't Pink Floyd, then it had better be Siegfried & Roy.
Shellback and Max Martin wrote that song.
I really enjoy your channel. ❤
Very informational. And not surprising.
What's sad is she has a perfectly perfect Taylor Swift voice. A singer's natural "imperfections" are what make them unique and where emotion is expressed. Beware, singers. If the record company captures enough of this, they can make "perfect" recordings WITHOUT you.
What amazes me is that the engineers didn't have the good sense to leave out the autotune when she was just talking. This is Milli Vanilli all over again. But, in the autotune age. No replacement singer necessary.
I've never been a fan of Taylor Swift.
However, I did see Kelly Clarkson in concert. I did enjoy her performance. Vocals were a crisp strong sound within every song.
I remember first finding out about the fiction of “live” albums back in the 70’s. Kansas was the first band I heard talk about “correcting” poorly played/sung phrases of songs. They were quite critical of how it was usually done - essentially re-recording the song in-studio with added crowd noise. They 1/2 apologized and 1/2 justified providing the best “live” experience they could that way. They’ve come a long way.
Another brilliant analysis Fil - thanks. It made me think to compare Swift with a live Vikki Carr performance from 1970 on the David Frost show, that was uploaded about a month ago. I discovered Carr listening to radio around 2010 & was knocked out by her talent & charm, & her ability to sing with great sincerity a song that I initially thought was pretty laughable. If you get a chance I’d love to hear your thoughts on that performance - the song is ‘It Must be Him’
Love these...Wondering about your comment that she's an accurate vocalist, though. I remember seeing a video of a live performance with her and Stevie Nicks and Taylor's pitch was pretty off. (Stevie actually looked shocked, if I remember correctly.) So, maybe in live situations they use the auto tune on Taylor to make sure the notes are correct in case she can't hear herself, or whatever.
Yes, I’ve heard that one too. Phil probably means she’s reasonably close to pitch now, but she wasn’t always this good.
Yes, I would say that she has put a lot of work into her vocals on the last 6-7 years. But that is too be expected as she started when she was like 17 and gained prominence as a song writer. Some of her old live performances are hard to listen to/watch. Lol love her though!!
The human voice and ears can have off nights at any point in a career. She's extremely talented and a great singer 95% of the time. But when someone is as awarded as she is, the general public expects flawless at all times and if ever they encounter a performance where she was off it will be right there in their back pocket to always mention. I've seen both Elton John and Billy Joel more than once live and no one doubts their talent but I've heard them both sing some very wrong notes.
@@donryan3153 She has a pretty face and is a great songwriter but I wouldn't call her a great singer 95% of the time. She's had too many bad notes to be taken seriously as an authentic live vocalist. She's clearly not.
It says a lot about modern society that this person can actually sell out stadiums.
I could not be more grateful for this type of educational content. Thank you. The world is all constructed (not natural), and we all need to understand how it's done.
I like how you pointed out what was happening but also expressed your deepest respect for the artist.
Completely agree Fil, very frustrating to see auto tune applied to someone who clearly doesn’t need it. I can hear the auto tune, it sounds tin-like, forced. Such a shame. I would deem that a “fake performance “. 😕
I'm a fan of Taylor Swift but I am aware that she has trouble singing live due to nervousness. She's had lots of pitch issues in the past which have been really pronounced during her major pop live performances resulting in a lot of criticism from tabloids and the general public constantly saying she's a bad singer, which may have affected her self esteem towards performing live. However I noticed that she's been really improving recently, possibly from eating better (she suffered from body image issues and disordered eating) and being in a more positive mental space, but I wish her production team would use less autotune or melodyne or whatever because she has so much potential in her voice. She's not incapable of singing on key as there are so many performances from when she was younger singing country music that haven't been autotuned where she sounds amazing. Maybe she needs more time to prepare her voice, maintain good vocal health? I don't know, I'm just speculating. I know each person's voice is individual to everyone.
Anyway, I really appreciated your balanced analysis of her live performances. I liked that you analysed two of her performances and didn't just judge on the one video. I've loved watching some of your previous videos about this topic (I absolutely LOVE Karen Carpenter). I find for some people it is really easy for them to be dismissive of pop artists, and for some reason Taylor Swift has always been on the receiving end of it. Perhaps because female singers have always been held to a high standard vocally and often compared to each other. But I first listened to her music as a teenager and her soft voice was actually the perfect medium to convey the storytelling in her songs and I loved how she was the songwriter and creator of her own work.
I would love to see you do more analysis on her live performances, and thanks for the video! Have a great weekend :)
Not a fan, but as a father of a fan I've been to many of her concerts over the years and when she is live it is very clear she isn't a great singer. Though I do have more respect for her compared to Ariana Grande that lip synced the concert my daughter dragged me to. I would much rather hear an out of tune singer, even an auto-tuned singer versus a damned lip syncing singer.
I agree. Female singers seem to be held to really high standards because the best vocalists are female (if we're being honest). As a rock fan. I have been to dozens of gigs where the male singers were pretty ropey. Taylor is a great musician and songwriter, but many people can't see beyond her vocal flaws. But the character of her voice is great, and when she does get the pitch right it sounds awesome. I bet she has put tons and tons of effort trying to improve her singing voice down the years, and if you listen to the recent rerecordings of Fearless and Red she really does sound damn good now.
@@guitarpaul3645 I really doubt it unless she paid to take vocal coaching on the side. Labels don't typically put that at the forefront of what they seek in an artist. It used to be where, the label didn't mind taking a smaller artist because the big names would still pay for the smaller ones. Now they slap 1.5 to 3 mil behind someone, and admittedly that someone is often good, but you can't blame people for being a bit ticked. Not only did they shut out anyone who doesn't walk lock step with them, but it makes it hard to hear who's real. I don't think girls are held to a higher standard by the working public. I think they're mostly seeing the Twitter verse which doesn't always reflect the opinion of people like me.
@@SymphonicEllen Well I believe so because Taylor is an organic musician. She knew from a young age that her songwriting chops were strong, but her voice a bit shaky. Sure, that didn't stand in the way of her early success, but she has always been very insecure about her vocal flaws, and to her immense credit, she takes pride in her craft and has put serious effort into improving her voice. The results are obvious, she really can sing a lot better these days. Sure, she is no Adele technically, but she does have great character to her voice.
@@guitarpaul3645 I give her major kudos for what she does, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying, as far as the label is concerned, they usually don't make that kind of thing a priority. I would actually love to hear Taylor with someone like Henk Poort off the Beste Zangers 2019 show. He's an opera guy but he can sing other things. When he sings country, he favors Conway Twitty a little bit.
Hell yes she does. Saw it in person at Grizzly Rose / Denver back in the day. Layers and layers.
Fil brilliant analysis!
When a performance is live, I would prefer the artist be allowed to put their voice out there without the help of this technology.
Question from a non-musician: She doesn’t appear to wear in-ears, we cannot see if there any monitors on stage, is it possible that with a raucous crowd she can’t really hear herself well enough to produce the quality she has at the tiny desk with a smaller and more “polite” crowd? Therefore, it’s possible she felt the need for/allowed the use of autotune? Should anyone be expected to sing their best without proper feedback? And thanks for your insightful videos.
Do not pay attention to trolls.
Taylor swift has critically acclaimed recordings in multiple genres of music.
Anyone who doesn't understand this, is seriously detached from reality
So I don't think this crowd was so loud that she couldn't hear herself. I don't think there would have been any monitors, so she would have just been using the acoustic guitar as her pitch reference. We also don't know how off she actually was as this was corrected in post (not real time). And oerhaps she didn't have time for a vocal warm up which makes it more difficult to get on pitch straightaway.
@Guitar Paul
None of what you are talking about matters one bit.
She has created critically acclaimed recordings in multiple genres of music.
Won three albums of the year, which has never been achieved by any artist EVER.
AND, they were each a different genre of music, making it an ALL TIME IMMORTAL achievement.
The fact that trolls are discussing her pitch, in light of her elite accomplishments, speaks volumes about the mental state of many on here.
@@bradhuskers Dude relax. I am a massive fan of Taylor. You don't have to tell me about her accomplishments. This is a video talking about the use of pitch correction software in post editing of a particular video. If you can actually read, I was merely addressing a query raised by the previous commentor. None of this is "trolling".
@@bradhuskers Also, whilst I am a huge fan of Taylor, don't take the Grammys too seriously. They are widely recognised as a bit of a joke. She is immortal because of her music, not because of some dumb awards that often make no sense whatsoever. Or are you telling me that Random Access Memories was really better than Red? And why did Queen never win a single Grammy?
Hi Fil, just wondered if you fancied doing an analysis of one of the songs by Bon Iver and Taylor Swift; or anything by Hozier?
I have a question I hope you'll answer. I'm going by the live Buble video you did, where he was autotuned on a live TV program. Autotune or Pitch correction used live (as in this video) is it added while she's singing live? Does the audience hear the vocal 100% live sharps/flats and flaws, or 100% live with correction added?
Taylor is not the most impressive singer but her writing is very good.
vanilla pop ,go put on some Elmore James or Johnny Winters
Is it? A good amount of her material is extremely simple - sometimes single note - melodically. For sure - Melodic complexity itself doesn’t mean that a song is “great” (whatever that might be) but a lack of movement in the melody line means I tune out pretty quickly. This song is obviously more complex melodically so I’ll need to listen more closely to a full version.
All that said, curious as to what you consider examples of her great writing?
@@lonnyhandwork422
Oh, so simple equates to not good?
LMFAO
You have ZERO clue about what you are talking about.
@Lonny Handwork
Simple or complexity, has absolutely nothing to do with artistry or greatness.
You'd understand that if you had an ounce of intelligence.
@@georgehorner1578
LMFAO
Another zero intelligence poster.
Fil, I'm with ya. I think that there is a place for pushback from the artists to keep the correction off of their creation. Why these processes are used on such a talented voice is baffling to me! And it seems to happen a lot. I do not like the sound of auto tune. It's all I can hear and it really detracts from my experience of the music. It seems to strip the emotion out. Maybe that's why I listen to older recordings.
Thanks for your efforts. I appreciate the time you put into it and I have learned some stuff too!
I call that fader jockeying lol sometimes I would do that during
Guitar solos and sometimes altros … great video!!!
Check out The Godmother of Rock’nRoll - Sister Tharpe. I came across her on: Claudia Assef. I wasn’t aware of too many female pioneers in the music industry until a few years ago.