Katy Perry "Wide Awake" Isolated Vocal

It's always fun to hear what happens inside a song, which is why our Isolated Tracks Fridays are so much fun. This week we'll take a look at the isolated vocals from Katy Perry's big 2012 hit "Wide Awake."

The song was a world-wide hit, going top 10 in most countries and as high as #2 in the U.S. It was the last single from Perry's huge Teenage Dream album. Here's what to listen for.

1. The vocal begins with an interesting delay effect on the doubled background vocals (which are slightly spread left and right), with a med delay that has a long regeneration and long half-note delay with a slight ping-pong. This delay continues even on the lead vocal.

2. The vocal is very compressed and you can especially hear it work on the attacks in the B section and choruses.

3.  There's also a lot of auto-tuning going, sometimes more obvious than others.

4. Check out the cool stereo delay effect at 2:45 that's spread hard left and right.

5. The harmony background vocals in the choruses sound like they're Katy vocal samples triggered with a keyboard.

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It Had To Happen - A Mixer With Auto-Tune

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Peavy has introduced a line of mixers (the AT series) that has built-in Auto-Tune.

This is obviously aimed at entry-level artists and bands, and I don't blame Peavy or Antares for doing it because there was probably a demand, but it sure sends the wrong message to musicians who should be spending their time trying to get better rather than relying on technology to fix their mistakes.

Technology is wonderful in that it allows us to do so much more than we could do in the past. For instance, today's typical home studio is far more powerful than anything The Beatles ever had available to them (although it doesn't sound near as good).

That said, technology can also hide the performance warts that were glaring in the past that forced the performer to actually practice the craft in order to get better at it.

I don't blame anyone for wanting to sound their best, and this blog and most of my books and coaching programs have been dedicated to that for years, but there's no shortcut to greatness. You still have to put the time in, and no amount of Auto-Tune will sonically paper that over.

One problem I see today is that much of the time that used to be spent practicing and rehearsing is instead dedicated to learning music and audio hardware and software. While that's a necessary evil, it still draws attention away from a musician's primary asset, which is playing music.

So I'll get off my soapbox now and wish Peavy well with the product as well as its users, but if you're using it, please do so as a temporary solution until you get your chops together for both your sake and ours.

Thanks to Dave King for the heads up on this.

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The Peavey Autotune Guitar

Recently I posted an article about the creation of the Auto-Tune process and about how it's become a crutch for a lot of singers and producers, as well as an all-too overused effect. But this might actually be a great use for the process. I don't know how I overlooked this, but Peavey introduced the AT-200 Auto-Tune guitar at the most recent NAMM show.

When I first heard about an auto-tune guitar, I was very skeptical, but after watching the demo, I must admit that I'm intrigued. If it can get you an always in-tune and intonated instrument, I can definitely see uses for it. Plus, there doesn't seem to be any latency that would impede using it, and it even responds to bends and makes alternate tunings a snap.

Check out the video and tell me what you think.

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Autotune Accidentally Invented By Oil Scientist

Auto-Tune is the process we love to hate. To most older (or shall we say "classic") engineers and producers, it's avoided like the plague, preferring to work the singer until he gets it right. Of course, no one complains when it's used on that one note that just can't be comped. Then there's T-Pain, who took Auto-Tune to a new level, using it as a integral piece of his act by using it on literally every song. It was bad enough when Cher did it way back in 1998 on her hit "Believe," when we thought the fad was over. Not so, apparently.

But perhaps the real story is that Auto-Tune was that it was accidentally invented by an Exxon scientist while interpreting seismic data using sound waves. The researcher was Andy Hildebrand, who was using audio to map elements deep below the earth's surface, which means basically looking for oil.

To his credit, Hildebrand, who loves music, determined that his method could be used to help singers everywhere, and so he founded Antares Audio Technologies in 1990. The rest is history.

Great singers still don't need or want it, but mediocre singers, engineers and producers everywhere live by it. In fact, many big touring acts actually use it live on stage. If that's not cheating, I don't know what is. Perhaps Auto-Tune is another reason to hate the oil industry?

Here's an interesting and amusing video on the history of Auto-Tune.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.


You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.


Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.