Revolution Radio - Autotune?

[AutogolazzoJr]

I just bought "Revolution Radio" and listened to Ordinary World and Still breathing. Both of them seem to use loads of autotune, and as a result, the vocals sound flat and dull. Your thoughts?

 

Oh yea, this is my first post on GDC. Nice to meet you all. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

Sounds more like his usual vocal filters to me. 

[AutogolazzoJr]

My father said that too. I'm not sure about that, whatever it is, it's a lot stronger than what he used to use. Green day always seems to sound better live, which I will be seeing them in march. Hope they sound good!

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

Just now, AutogolazzoJr said:

My father said that too. I'm not sure about that, whatever it is, it's a lot stronger than what he used to use. Green day always seems to sound better live, which I will be seeing them in march. Hope they sound good!

The filters don't seem stronger than before to me...they are somewhere between AI and 21CB in terms of intensity in my opinion. His voice has more lows than on the trilogy too. 

Also, welcome to the forum - have fun!

[Steven Seagull]

But still breathing sounds so bad live 

[AutogolazzoJr]

I can't really respond to that without sounding like someone who only likes the "old green day" (which I am, to a certain extent).

 

I'll be sure to have some fun. 

 

Just now, Steven Seagull said:

But still breathing sounds so bad live 

Hey, at least no vocal effects. He hasn't sang live in at least a year I think. He will sound better soon.

[WhiteTim]

He has been using filters which aren't auto tune  

[AutogolazzoJr]

Well, that's relieving. Autotune = cancer.

[Christian's Inferno!]

I think the reason Ordinary World sounds different is probably cause it was intended for the movie. I still think it's the weakest track on RR. It doesn't really sound like a GD track to me

[Trotsky]

Still Breathing definitely isn't autotuned. There might be some kind of weird effect but not autotune. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

44 minutes ago, Steven Seagull said:

But still breathing sounds so bad live 

I don't think so. 

[Sanity Loan]

There is always some level of pitch correction on Billie's vocals, whether that's manual edits or dynamic correction. There is in most, if not all, in-studio music these days. Is there much to do on Billie's vocals after recording? Probably not, because I assume he's pretty solid in the studio. Also, each verse, chorus, bridge, etc gets recorded several times and Chris pieces each of them together to create a near-perfect chain of vocals. After that, any touch-up needed would be done with some minor pitch correction.

Like they have been since 21CB, Billie's vocals get the low-end totally removed, some of the highs reduced, and compressed to hell. Plus, some small reverb and slap delay. This combo of reverb and delay is most evident in the chorus of "Still Breathing."

Finally, like with most of Billie's vocals since Dookie, there is a lot of doubling to add depth. With doubling, there is naturally going to be some phasing, which could be mistaken as a "filter" or "AutoTune."

Awesome as Fuck on the other hand...

[That Dude]

Those songs are fleshed out and full and totally manually tuned.   They are also a couple of the greatest recordings Green Day have made in a while.   

 

Like the arc in "Somewhere Now" / "Forever Now" we go from dull to full and all is well.    

 

So, I totally disagree on all counts.    Welcome aboard!    

 

[Dakke]

As stated above, I don't think it's auto tune and just the usual filters applied they've used since AI. They are just as noticeable on for example Too Dumb Too Die.

[GDInsaniac]

Ive noticed ever since the trilogy Billies vocals have been modified more through filters and such and sound different from 21st century breakdown and past.

[WhiteTim]

1 hour ago, GDInsaniac said:

Ive noticed ever since the trilogy Billies vocals have been modified more through filters and such and sound different from 21st century breakdown and past.

Same as since AI just more noticeable on the trilogy and RevRad due to the difference between the production style 

[Spike]

And why wouldn't there be some form of minor pitch correction on a mainstream rock record in 2016? It's lose-lose because the actual performance in the studio is never going to be 100% perfect, but if it wasn't corrected there'd be people writing the whole record off because the vocals weren't perfectly in tune.

[matteo263]

Some pitch-correction will always be present in this day and age. It doesn't mean that we should lose respect to the performance and the artist. A production is a complete different art form to a live performance, so they shouldn't really be compared as such

[Young blood]

Hm, I thought the same but I kinda got used to it? I get why you'd think that but I don't think it's autotune haha c: 

[Wretched & Divine]

I'm so fascinated reading these discussions between audiophiles because I don't really look into things that much  To my untrained ear, I can't hear any auto-tune which is usually quite jarring in its conspicuousness with a lot of pop music.

[Sanity Loan]

12 hours ago, WhiteTim said:

Same as since AI just more noticeable on the trilogy and RevRad due to the difference between the production style 

This. AI did have a little more low-end in the vocals and was ran through some distortion to dirty them up, but for the most part, they're largely the same, including pitch correction and double tracking.

[AutogolazzoJr]

At least they still sound amazing live. Especially at NJ where they played a ton of old songs.