

But for now, Kanye's Auto-Tune vocals are schtick with a strategy as his ghostly, mechanical vocals enhance the album's already despondent atmosphere. Skeptics predicted Kanye's indulgence in a gimmick like Auto-Tune would result in an artistic train wreck - perhaps, one day, we'll look back on this as Kanye's equivalent to The Ethel Merman Disco Album. Rappers including Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg have played with Auto-Tune, too, but no rapper has taken things as far as Kanye West on 808s and Heartbreak. What began as a little-known production tool has exploded into pop music with artists such as T-Pain and Demarco recording entire albums with the program's strange, quasi-robotic sound.

The result is a melancholy, intimate and decidedly quirky effort.Īs a friend recently joked, "Who knew 10 years ago that Cher would predict the future sound of hip-hop?" Her "Believe" was the first major hit featuring Auto-Tune, which corrects off-pitch notes, but when pushed to the extremes, leaves behind a telltale electronic signature. Not only does he sing on the entire album instead of rapping, but he's filtered his vocals through the voice processing system known as Auto-Tune, an increasingly popular trend among pop artists. Kanye West's new album, 808s and Heartbreak, is a departure for the Chicago rapper. In the accompanying video, I take you through how I created it, so you can mimic this idea with any sample you like, and then explain how the device rack is set up.'Paranoid (Featuring Mr. These two layers add a more high end "click" sound to the bass drum notes, helping to round out the sound and add definition to the low end melodies. To help give it some punch, I have fortified it with an additional 808 bass drum sample (get some 808 samples here from Synthtopia!) and a sample made with Ableton's Operator. I've tuned the bass drum and spread it out over the keyboard to create a bass instrument that allows your bass drum to play in key with your songs and even play melodies. The result is a Free Ableton Live Device Rack that allows you to play the bass drum like an instrument. This week I spent some time with samples of the heavy hitting bass drum. Each sound is loaded with character and can be found across many musical genres. The iconic Roland 808 drum machine is a staple in modern music.
