Outline

I: Intro paragraph A. Grabber: //There is something to be said for those with natural musical talent; their ability to know what the audience wants to hear, controlling inflection, intonation and vocal quality while still grabbing the attention of the audience.// B. Purpose of paper: //Auto-tune has decreased the amount of effort the artist puts into their work. Most chart topping artists have no musical training, and do not write there own songs. They have become mannequins to the designers of the music industry. A blank slate that can be molding into musical perfection by ways of a computer and a devious sound engineer, creating artificial talent.// C.Thesis Statement: //Through the abuse of Auto-tune, the music industry has decreased the level of musical capability by it's artists, making the industry itself less credible.//

II: How Auto-tune came to be A. Created by Andy Hildebrand, an oil consultant. He "interpreted seismic data" for the oil industry, providing them with a map of appropriate and plentiful drilling locations (Tyrangiel). B. Hildebrand was dared by a colleague at a work function to create something that would allow them to sing in tune all of the time. C. First prototype created in 1996.

III: How Auto-tune works. A. Originally intended to save time and money for sound engineers to fix notes without having to bring the artist in again. B. Uses a retune speed from 0 to 400 (milliseconds). C. First used in Cher's hit "Believe" with the retune speed close to 400.

IV: Where Auto-tune has gone A. Music executives now have the power to make anyone sound like a professional. B. Akon's singles have always featured auto-tune, and now they make microphones with auto-tune built in. C. Sound recorders can fix almost any note, and even entire songs, changing the key and vocal intonation. D. Throat modeling: "New Throat Length control actually allows you to modify vocal character by passing it through a variable-length physical model of the human vocal tract" (AntaresTech).

V: How it effects musicians. A. Because talentless performers can now become best sellers, the music industry is becoming more and more difficult. B. Number of people who seem to display talent is increasing, making those who really do have natural talent, fade into the background. C. Music Industry is creating false norms, making it harder for performers who do not use auto-tune during live performances, to entertain an audience because they expect the artificial sounds created in the studio. D. Albums with natural imperfections are seen as unprofessional.

VI: Closing paragraph A: Restatement of thesis B: Culmination, underlying values C: How it applies to me personally; personal future plans. D: Thought provoking closing statement.