Tuning the human voice to the sound of technology: A cultural history of pitch-correction software in 21st-century popular music

将人声调整为技术声音：21 世纪流行音乐中音调校正软件的文化史

• 批准号: 2106127
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2106127
• 关键词: Tuning; human; voice; sound; technology

With this project I am exploring the increasingly close relationship between pitch-correction software and vocal techniques in popular music.Applications such as AutoTune and Melodyne enable a broad 'tuning' of the human voice-not only in terms of its pitch accuracy, but also in terms of an idealized timbral perfection. Because pitch-correction technology has been used in popular music production with increasing regularity since 1997, I hypothesize that singers are now beginning to imitate the sounds 'perfected' by this software. I situate pitch-correction software-and this more general 'ideology of perfection'-within a larger cultural history of music technology, joining scholars such as Sterne (2003) and Katz (2005) in their attempts to write the history of sound and music according to the technologies which have worked to produce them. More pressingly, in musicological scholarship to date, there has been no comprehensive history written of pitch-correction software. Instead, several small studies have considered 'AutoTune' in localized contexts (Danielsen & Brovig-Hanssen, 2016; Hein, 2017; Ragona, 2013; Marshall, 2017, 2018).I will also consider pitch-correction software in relation to a relatively new school of thought which contemplates the increasingly reciprocal relationship between the human body and its technological Other (Hayles, 1998; Latour, 2005, 1998)-an issue which sits at the forefront of many musicological studies (Prior, 2009, 2017; Stanyek & Piekut, 2010). The burgeoning importance of this work is becoming ever clearer as we see the increasing use of terms such as 'post-truth' in contemporary society-in this deeply philosophical and highly politicized cultural climate, I perceive an urgent need for scholars to strive to make sense of this so-called breakdown of the 'real'. I hope to develop a critical musicological approach to this blurring of the 'human' and the 'non-human', teasing out whether pitch-correction should be understood as a non-human, transcendental technological power, or as the product of a unique cultural-historical, and essentially human, moment. Given this context, I will seek to examine how the widespread use of pitch-correction software is related to the way that popular musicians sing. I will refer specifically to how the historical development of music technology is implicated in this relationship, and will also consider the role that this relationship plays in the broader interface between humans and technology in an increasingly 'posthuman' world.To consider these matters in detail, the initial stages of research will consist of a comprehensive internet ethnography of particularly salient audio and visual sources which illuminate key issues relating to the research questions. I will use these sources to develop a coherent method for the analysis and transcription of the technologically refined voice, simultaneously engaging with debates surrounding pitch-correction. I also plan to delve into the computational details of pitch-correction software itself, consulting the scientific literature to understand how the cultural goals of the software are implicit in its design. Following this, most of the research will be interview-based-gathering information from singers, sound engineers and vocal experts. Here, I hope to find out exactly how voices and singing techniques have developed over the past 20 years, and the role of pitch-correction technologies in this development.My research method therefore combines internet ethnography, the close analysis of two main sources (music and software), and interview-based research. I employ this tripartite method because a network of music, software, and human values (located in both internet discussions and practical, work-based situations) produces the highly nuanced and culturally fraught position of pitch-correction software in contemporary society.

通过这个项目，我正在探索流行音乐中的音高校正软件和声乐技术之间日益密切的关系。AutoTune 和 Melodyne 等应用程序可以对人声进行广泛的“调整”——不仅在音调准确性方面，而且在理想化的音色完美方面。由于自 1997 年以来，音调校正技术越来越频繁地应用于流行音乐制作中，因此我推测歌手现在开始模仿通过该软件“完美”的声音。我将音调校正软件以及这种更普遍的“完美意识形态”置于音乐技术的更大文化历史中，与斯特恩（Sterne，2003）和卡茨（Katz，2005）等学者一起尝试根据产生声音和音乐的技术来书写声音和音乐的历史。更紧迫的是，迄今为止，在音乐学学术界，还没有关于音高校正软件的全面历史记录。相反，一些小型研究考虑了局部环境中的“自动调谐”（Danielsen & Brovig-Hanssen，2016；Hein，2017；Ragona，2013；Marshall，2017，2018）。我还将考虑与相对较新的思想流派相关的音高校正软件，该流派考虑人体与其技术他者之间日益增长的相互关系（Hayles， 1998；拉图尔，2005，1998）-an 这个问题位于许多音乐学研究的前沿（Prior，2009、2017；Stanyek & Piekut，2010）。当我们看到当代社会越来越多地使用“后真相”等术语时，这项工作的重要性变得越来越明显——在这种深刻的哲学和高度政治化的文化氛围中，我认为学者们迫切需要努力理解这种所谓的“真实”的崩溃。我希望针对“人类”和“非人类”之间的这种模糊性，发展出一种批判性的音乐学方法，弄清楚音高校正是否应该被理解为一种非人类的、超验的技术力量，或者作为一个独特的文化历史的、本质上是人类的时刻的产物。在这种背景下，我将试图研究音调校正软件的广泛使用与流行音乐家的演唱方式有何关系。我将具体提及音乐技术的历史发展如何与这种关系相关联，并且还将考虑这种关系在日益“后人类”的世界中在人类与技术之间更广泛的界面中所发挥的作用。为了详细考虑这些问题，研究的初始阶段将包括对特别突出的音频和视觉来源进行全面的互联网民族志，以阐明与研究问题相关的关键问题。我将利用这些资源开发一种连贯的方法来分析和转录经过技术改进的声音，同时参与围绕音高校正的辩论。我还计划深入研究音调校正软件本身的计算细节，查阅科学文献以了解软件的文化目标如何隐含在其设计中。此后，大部分研究将基于采访，从歌手、音响工程师和声乐专家那里收集信息。在这里，我希望了解过去20年来声音和歌唱技术是如何发展的，以及音高校正技术在这一发展中的作用。因此，我的研究方法结合了网络民族志、对两个主要来源（音乐和软件）的仔细分析以及基于访谈的研究。我采用这种三方方法是因为音乐、软件和人类价值观（位于互联网讨论和基于工作的实际情况中）的网络产生了音调校正软件在当代社会中高度微妙且充满文化色彩的地位。