Cher effect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cher effect is an informal term used to describe extreme digital pitch correction of singing to produce a semi-artificial voice sound effect^[1]. In its typical application, the natural small variations of pitch in human singing are flattened to exact notes, with a noticeable gliding between the notes. The sound is comparable to certain effects that can be produced with a vocoder, but is closer to a natural human voice.

The technique was made popular by the 1998 Cher song "Believe"^[1], and has since become prevalent to more obvious or more subtle degrees throughout electronic-oriented popular music. The effect has been closely associated with the Antares Auto-Tune audio effect software, which is reputed to have been used on "Believe", although competing products are available today as well.

1 Uses of the effect
2 List of songs utilizing the effect
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Uses of the effect

The effect has been employed in recent years by artists such as Daft Punk^[2] (who also use vocoders and talk boxes).

The effect was referenced for comedic effect in episode "New Kids on the Blecch" of the animated series The Simpsons when Bart formed a boy band named the "Party Posse". Ralph Wiggum had the effect applied to his voice when singing the phrase "love formation" in the song "Drop da Bomb!".

[edit] List of songs utilizing the effect

All T-Pain Songs

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c Sue Sillitoe, Sound On Sound, February, 1999. "Recording Cher's 'Believe'". Accessed 12 February 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c Treacy, Christopher John. "Pitch-adjusting software brings studio tricks". The Boston Herald, February 19, 2007, The Edge, Pg. 032
^ ^a ^b Frere-Jones, Sasha (2008-06-09). The Gerbil’s Revenge. The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.