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Could AutoTune become like Reverb or Compression... a standard in powered mixers?


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I recently reviewed the Peavey XR-AT powered mixer, which expands on Peavey's XR platform by incorporating Antares' AutoTune software into the first three channels.

 

AutoTune has been slagged for a good while (and often for good reason), but is the possibility it could become a de facto feature in live sound systems an inevitability? People understand that there's a lot of studio trickery that goes into making a recording sound just right, and they expect that level of polish in recordings. Is it only a matter of time until the availability of technology to create that level of polish in a live setting results in an expectation that it will be used?

 

 

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Seems like a gimmick and something best left to a stand alone processor. The amount of effort needed to put the feature in just doesn't make sense, to me anyway. More widely used would be pitch correction or harmonizer. Either/both of those would move more units than including a niche effect.

 

It's kind of like if it included a "wah-pedal" as a feature for guitar players, but nothing more.

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Good afternoon, have a couple a questions. Does the AT work? Did you actually use it and what were your thoughts? Was there any trickery results?

 

As far as the compressor, I've been looking for years for a small format mixer with a decent comp on it for vocals. (read the manual, it's a 4:1 ratio) It seems this fits the bill. I know yamaha had that feature years ago, but I guess I never heard anyone speak of it positively.

 

Did you try out the effects and what did you think?

 

I am looking at the PV10 BT which I believe is probably the same effects as the mixer you reviewed. I am at toss up between this PV and a Soundcraft Signature 10. I wouldn't use the Aux's on this mixer anyway, but it has the great lexicon effects which I'm guessing probably a bit better than the PV effects? And I would prefer the sweepable EQ on the Soundcraft. I have never used PV's "mid morph" but it makes sense, you turn left it removes low 250 hz mud and turn it right it boosts 4K for vocals, which is what I primarily use the sweep-able EQ for.

 

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Hey, Chris - you wanna try something fun? Play organ on "chorale" and let the Leslie bleed into the mic. Then sing in tune into an auto-tune device. Damn thing will lock into the organ and throw your vocal tuning all over the place. At least mine does. :) That's the biggest problem with these blasted things from my POV. They only work if everything is in tune, and sometimes, it's not supposed to be!

 

Wes

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It's true that autotune is (over)used in recorded music a lot these days, however............in a studio situation you can allow it to do it's automatic work but unless the performer is already pretty accurate with their intonation there WILL be foibles (wrong notes inserted). This can then be corrected by manually "fixing" those wrong notes. In a live situation, as you know, there are no "do overs". Setting pitch correction to automatically work perfectly every time is nearly impossible.

 

That said, what ever happened to talent? Also what about glissando and other pitch bending/sliding techniques? Seems to me that using autotune all of the time is like playing a electronic kit. It leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to subtleties that ARE a part of good music.

 

My personal take on autotune is that in the studio, you can take an otherwise great performance with one or two flaws and fix it but otherwise.........Get an ear. In a live situation, I would never consider it.

 

Just my .02 worth

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Good God I hope not!

 

Ditto.

 

I'm hoping autotune will become a passing fad, similar to the... oh... Synare of the late '70's - early 80's, signature of a period of time... kind of like green shag carpet of the '70's... got used a lot, maybe a bit too much (or way too much) when it was the "in thing".smiley-happy

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I don't ever see auto-tune as some sought after processor that experienced sound folks would even consider buying, Heck most of experience sound folks don't even like vocal stomp box processor because chances are the user doesn't have clue on how to use them right.

 

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Seems like a gimmick and something best left to a stand alone processor. The amount of effort needed to put the feature in just doesn't make sense, to me anyway. More widely used would be pitch correction or harmonizer. Either/both of those would move more units than including a niche effect.

 

It's kind of like if it included a "wah-pedal" as a feature for guitar players, but nothing more.

I completely agree.

 

While auto-tune is a "gimic", especially for most bands, the technology for auto-tune is the same as that used in "pitch correction" which is anything but a gimic.

 

I can see pitch correction being part of the mixer as well as AFS. I tend to believe that convincing harmonies would be quite a lot of processing for a digital mixer (at this time). As processing power increases, I would think that anything that is vocal processing related would eventually be included in the mixer

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Hi there.  I've sung with bands and hosted karaoke shows for 20* years.  I bought the XR_AT yesterday, and overall I must say that the amp is awesome.  What I would like is a little instruction with regard to the auto tune feature.  At least enough to properly set it up and use it.  The owners manual fails to detail this aspect of the unit.  Can someone offer a little help over here?

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