musical climax happens practically every other measure. Was there oppression to the
Romantic Movement? Absolutely there was. Is the oppression today reminiscent of the
oppression in the early 19th century? No, it is not. While people may have had distaste
for the music of Beethoven, Schubert, and others (calling their works much too
clamorous), most expressed respect for each of them, commending them for an effort in
trying to advance music (which, by the way, they did successfully).
This era is very different. We have been introduced to electronics in music, which
characterized much of pop music, as well as other genres that are nothing like music has
ever seen before (but that’s an entirely different topic). The biggest problem today is that
people are trying to find art where there is none. They’re trying to take all of these new
pieces and throw them all into one category that is the 21st century. Artists must
understand, whether it’s in music, visual art, or art of any form, that art that is bad or
unusual simply for the sake of being bad or unusual is not art.
Auto-Tune: Rise or Downfall of the Music Empire?
by Miriam Kyzer
It’s 1998, and pop singer Cher is working with her producers on a new song. By
this time, Auto-tune, a tool used for correcting pitch, has
been around for a year. Out of curiosity, the producers
decide to completely turn up the Auto-tune effect on the
recording of Cher’s voice, unknowingly creating the hit song
“Believe.”
The robotic quality of this effect became massively
popular and soon took over the music industry. Over the
next decade, artists such as T-Pain, Kanye West, and Kesha
rose to prominence through their stylistic use of Auto-tune.
However, not everyone enjoyed the sound; many people
accused Auto-tune of not only sounding bad, but simply covering the artist’s lack of
singing abilities. Meanwhile, most mainstream artists who claimed to not use Auto-tune
still used just the right amount of it in the studio so that it would remain undetectable to
the listener while still creating a perfect product.
So, is Auto-tune the downfall of modern music as we know it? It depends on how
it’s used. Auto-tune is an interesting tool that can be used for great innovation in music
when used stylistically; but when used simply to cover up mistakes in pitch, the value of
the music starts to go down. Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” is an example of Auto-tune
used for completely creative purposes. In this song, she uses a device that reads her