Auto-Tune's moment is past - keep it real!

I'm intrigued by the lack of information available on the internet about top artists who DON'T use Auto-Tune pitch-correcting software, either live or in recordings. Yes, there is the odd query on Quora or Yahoo, but the responses are anecdotal, amateurish and most definitely not definitive.

The best I can elucidate is that Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and Neko Case definitely reject the technology on principal, because they have gone on record as saying so. Jay-Z is also outspoken against the use of Auto-Tune, although it would not be very relevant to his own style of rap music anyway. P!nk, Nelly Furtado and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco are other possibles, although many people still claim to detect its use in some of their songs. Certainly, any artist recording before Cher's "Believe" became the first (and possibly worst) example of Auto-Tune to hit the public consciousness back in 1998 would, almost by definition, not have used Auto-Tune, although that's still no guarantee that these artists did not then go on to use it in subsequent recordings.

The truth is, Auto-Tune, and related products like Melodyne, are absolutely ubiquitous in pop music today. The Auto-Tune product was first launched in 1997, and by 2003 the vast majority of recording artists were apparently already using it.  In her above-mentioned interview, Neko Case once asked a studio guy in Toronto, "How many people don't use Auto-Tune?", and he replied, "You and Nelly Furtado are the only two people who've never used it in here".

Some artists, like Kanye West and T-Pain for example, have gone the other way, deliberately over-using the effect - which in a perverse way is perhaps a more honest approach - and the "T-Pain effect" joined the "Cher effect" in the mid-2000s. In 2009, Jay-Z, whose rap style happens not to include melodic elements and so just has no use for Auto-Tune anyway, released a track "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", complete with some deliberately untuneful singing, as well as a whole anti-Auto-Tune album "Blueprint 3", as a statement against the excessive use of the technology by fellow rappers like Kanye West, T-Pain and Lil Wayne.

The problem is that that, when used subtly, it is essentially impossible to tell when Auto-Tune is being employed, and it can even be used in live performances to make singers sound better than they otherwise would. Hell, there is a whole sub-genre of YouTube videos comparing auto-tuned and non-auto-tuned singers. And don't even get me started on the various lip-syncing débacles over the years.

Me, I dislike Auto-Tune on principle. It just seems a shame that today's singers, some of whom are actually very good, even if not perfect, do not have the confidence to present their voices unadulterated. While some might see the technology as levelling the playing field, others see it as just old-fashioned cheating, and I'm afraid I am nearer to the latter camp than the former. There is essentially no way now to tell whether a singer is genuinely good or not, and surely that should still mean something?

To me, though, the worst of it is that the extent to which Auto-Tune is used kind of makes everyone sound the same, even though that is not a necessary corollary of the technology itself. It has become the fashion, the expectation, and most recording artists who are just out to make a buck feel obliged to toe the line. It is not often that I actually listen to mainstream radio stations, but when I do I am struck by the sameness of the songs, and the glaring use of Auto-Tune is definitely part of that.

So, come on people, it was just a phase, let's get over it! Generations of singers have managed without it, and generations may do so again. Good music does not have to be note perfect - computers can do that all on their own. Quite honestly, there is way too much music out there anyway, not all of it of top quality, and "levelling the playing field" is perhaps not in the best interests of music as a whole. What is it these hip-hop people say? - "Keep It Real!"

 

Even Republicans are worried about Trump's Twitter habit

It's been a long time coming, but it seems like even Republicans are getting fed up with Donald Trump's unfortunate Twitter addiction.

His tweets are mainly fired off at ungodly hours of the morning, and you can almost imagine him sitting up in bed, Melania fast asleep in her rejuvenating face mask, (self-)righteous steam emitting from his ears, anger management techniques long forgotten or ignored. No other national leader comes close to Trump's use of Twitter, and you can see why - it is the least presidential and the most unforgiving of social media outlets, and Trump has used it to shoot himself in the foot over and over again.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House principal deputy press secretary (now, THERE's a title!) has confirmed, if any confirmation were needed, that Trump's tweets are not vetted by lawyers or aides, and indeed it is difficult to imagine a little bespectacled policy wonk in that bed too. She claims that Trump likes Twitter as a means of communicating directly with the people "without the bias of the media filtering those kinds of communication".

But many Republicans are now questioning whether media bias might not be preferable to the kinds of holes Trump digs for himself and his party almost daily, all on his very ownsome. It's like he just can't resist a Twitter tirade, such as his out-of-context diatribe this week against London mayor Sadiq Khan, when everyone around him knows he should be showing some restraint and focusing on the many other domestic issues that are currently spiralling out of control. He just can't resist unnecessary and ill-advised needling, like his tweets against his own Justice Department, which he says forced through a "politically correct" and "watered down" Muslim ban (and yes, Trump uses the word "ban" in his tweets, contradicting the best efforts of his own staff). You could forgive a teenager for such poor judgement, but this is the supposed leader of the supposed free world!
Twitter as a medium of communication seems poorly suited as a means of directing the national and international policy of what is - at least for now - the most powerful country in the world. For Trump to use it to stir up the Saudi/Qatar/Iran hornets' nest, for example, as he did just this week, just seems plain wrong, not to mention scary. By its very nature, Twitter lends itself to off-the-cuff, flippant comments, and not potentially world-shaking policy changes that require deep thought and in-depth multi-agency discussions. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump, by HIS very nature, seems unable to distinguish between these very different activities.

As FBI director James Comey gears up to give some highly anticipated and potentially damaging evidence later this week, some high profile Republican talking heads are warning that Trump's Twitter habit is undermining his credibility and even directly impeding progress of his own political agenda. Several well-known GOP personalities, like lawyer George Conway, former advisor Barry Bennett, veteran consultant Rick Tyler, and senior Senator John Cornyn, have spoken out about it recently.

I have little or no sympathy for Trump or the Republicans, but nevertheless it is sad to see the presidency of a once-great country sink to these depths. And for a powerful world leader to use a trivial social media tool - typically used by teenagers to tell their friends what they had for dinner, for example - to conduct national and international state policy is just plain inappropriate. VERY BAD!!

We Are Still In is grassroots activism by people with real money and power

Since Donald Trump vowed on June 1st to unilaterally pull America out of the Paris climate change agreement, there has been an unprecedented coalition of US state governors, city mayors, university presidents and company CEOs committed to meeting the USA's Paris targets.
In a remarkable show of solidarity and grass roots opposition to Trump's ill-advised policies, over 1,000 (and growing) states, cities, universities, investors and companies have joined together in an organization called We Are Still In, whose mandate and full membership list can be seen at its website. There is not much that Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and SnapChat (to name just a few) can agree on, but climate change is clearly one of them. By participating in this initiative, all these organizations are declaring that they will continue to work to ensure the United States pursues ambitious climate targets, even as the Trump administration tries it's best to squash any such efforts.
Significantly, one of the first cities to sign up for the initiative was Pittsburgh, in a direct and unequivocal response to Donald Trump's claim that: "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris". If that weren't enough, Pittsburgh is also part of the Mayors for 100% Clean Energy initiative organized by the Sierra Club.
And, when all's said and done, this does also reflect the will of the people. A recent ABC/Washington Post poll shows that Americans reject Trump's Paris agreement move by a margin of over 2 to 1. And the Gallup Daily poll on Trump's job approval in general is down to an all-time low of 37%.
The We Are Still In movement is being spearheaded by billionaire and ex-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is also putting his money where his mouth is by committing $15 million of his own money to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretariat.
Wow! It's amazing what can get done when someone with some real power and money gets the bit between their teeth, rather than the usual overworked and underpaid activists.

Alberta man mows his lawn to internet stardom

You may have already seen this picture, but it is great, and so worth repeating.

Theunis Wessels is shown calmly mowing his lawn in Three Hills, Alberta, a small town just northeast of Calgary, as a humdinger of a tornado apparently races towards him (it actually moved east, away from Mr. Wessels' house and lawn, and was actually about 2km distant at the time of the picture, further away than it seems).

An instant classic of contemporary photography, and proof that Western Canadians are cool and macho (and nuts!).

People are drinking less and less alcohol

It seems that people are drinking less and less alcohol, according to a new International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) report, even though global GDP has been increasing. Global GDP increased by 3.5% in 2016 according to the IMF, and yet the global market for alcoholic drinks shrank by 1.3% over the same year. This is a much greater reduction than in the previous few years, which have seen an average 0.3% annual reduction. Normally, at least over the longer term, alcohol consumption and overall GDP tend to move in lockstep, but these recent stats appear to buck that trend.

The main driver of the contraction was in beer, which saw a 1.8% reduction in 2016, compared to a five-year annual fall of around 1.8%. Cider fell by 1.5%, and wine consumption remained relatively flat, falling by just 0.1%. Spirits, on the other hand, showed a modest increase of 0.3%, with gin, tequila and whiskey producers revealed as the big winners, with a 3.7%, 5.2% and 1.7% increase in global sales respectively.

A few large consumer countries had an outsized impact on the decline in global alcohol consumption: for example, beer sales in China, Brazil and Russia fell by 4.2%, 5.3% and 7.8% respectively; vodka sales in Russia fell a precipitous 9.3% (although Russia still remains by the largest consumer of vodka).

So, what are people doing instead of getting drunk? Or are they turning to home-brew and illegal hooch instead of buying their booze commercially? The report fails to tell us.

Trump's backing out of Paris agreement is just sad

Well, we all knew it was going to happen. President Trump has already reneged on so many election promises, he couldn't let one of this magnitude slip away too. But it still came as a slap in the face when Trump pulled the USA out of the Paris climate change agreement.

Well, technically, under the terms of the 2015 agreement, he can't actually do that until towards the end of his term. But yesterday he unequivocally expressed his intention to put America into an exclusive club, along with Nicaragua and Syria, as the only countries in the world unwilling to tackle the worldwide threat of climate change. Talk about "making America great again"...

Trump seems to think that Paris is just another deal that can be renegotiated in America's favour, just like all deals are infinitely renegotiable in his eyes. But the EU has made it more than clear that Paris is absolutely not renegotiable, and the rest of the world is moving on regardless of US unreliability and intransigence.

I could go on to rant about how most of corporate, political, municipal and scientific America has slammed the decision (with the glaring exception of most of Trump's closest Republican coterie), as has most of the rest of the world. I could describe how many states, municipalities and major companies have vowed to continue to pursue carbon-cutting policies regardless of the small-minded Mr. Trump's edicts. I could go on ad nauseam about how the decision was based on erroneous statistics and logic anyway. But the mainstream press has already done that, and  much better than I ever could. You can (and should) read it at your leisure.

I will just content myself with a personal reaction, albeit one that I believe will be shared by many. When I see Trump doing his best to dismantle one of the few structures and initiatives that has actually brought the counties of the world together over the last few years, my overwhelming feeling is sadness. Sadness for the world, sadness for the future, sadness for the majority of the American people, sadness for Barack Obama as he watches his legacy being undone, even sadness for Trump himself, as he becomes more and more of a ridiculous cartoon figure as time goes on.

Now, maybe he really does believe what he says, maybe he actually does love the working man as he claims (although forgive my skepticism about that). But hearing the tired old phrases be keeps trotting out for all occasions, contrary to expert opinion (not to mention the global Zeitgeist, my reaction lurches unpredictably between sadness and anger.

For a man whose catchphrase was (and apparently still is) "Make America Great Again", it is depressingly ironic that Donald Trump is currently presiding over a diminution in America's influence and prestige worldwide. It is increasingly difficult to take Trump and his beliefs seriously, and, increasingly, world leaders are just throwing up their hands in despair, and choosing to leave the USA out of their calculations. America is gradually alienating all its old allies and isolating itself, putting itself on a level with global pariahs like Syria and North Korea. Whoever thought that America could become an irrelevance in international politics, a mere afterthought!

If that's not sad, I don't know what is.

Not really America's most misspelled words

Google Trends has just tweeted out a list of what it calls "America's most misspelled words". It's a pretty strange and alarming list:

• Alabama: Pneumonia 
• Alaska: Schedule
• Arizona: Tomorrow 
• Arkansas: Chihuahua 
• California: Beautiful  
• Colorado: Tomorrow 
• Connecticut: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious  
• Delaware: Hallelujah 
• District of Columbia: Ninety  
• Florida: Receipt 
• Georgia: Gray 
• Hawaii: People 
• Idaho: Quote 
• Illinois: Appreciate 
• Indiana: Hallelujah
• Iowa: Vacuum
• Kansas: Diamond 
• Kentucky: Beautiful
• Louisiana: Giraffe 
• Maine: Pneumonia
• Maryland: Special 
• Massachusetts: License
• Michigan: Pneumonia
• Minnesota: Beautiful
• Mississippi: Nanny
• Missouri: Maintenance
• Montana: Surprise
• Nebraska: Suspicious
• Nevada: Available
• New Hampshire: Diarrhea
• New Jersey: Twelve
• New Mexico: Banana
• New York: Beautiful
• North Carolina: Angel
• North Dakota: Dilemma
• Ohio: Beautiful
• Oklahoma: Patient
• Oregon: Pneumonia
• Pennsylvania: Sauerkraut
• Rhode Island: Liar
• South Carolina: Chihuahua
• South Dakota: College
• Tennessee: Chaos
• Texas: Maintenance
• Utah: Disease
• Vermont: Europe
• Virginia: Delicious
• Washington: Sense
• West Virginia: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Wisconsin: Wisconsin
• Wyoming: Priority

First, though, bear in mind that these are not subjects being researched on Google. In fact, what it really is is a list of words gathered from Google searches for "how to spell" in each of the 50 states. So they are more words that Americans are uncertain about, rather than words they actually get wrong or words that are routinely misspelled in search requests (which would perhaps be more interesting and illuminating).

So, it's not necessarily the case that people from Arkansas are obsessed with chihuahuas (although that MAY be the case), or Pennsylvanians with sauerkraut (which would be even stranger). These are specifically requests for how to spell words, which makes me think that most of them were probably requested by schoolkids writing essays or something of that sort (at least I hope so). Presumably someone typed in "how to spell newmonia", for example, and waited for Google to politely suggest "Did you mean how to spell pneumonia?"

But it does nevertheless still raise a whole host of questions and concerns. For instance, why are so many people in Connecticut and West Virginia concerned with the spelling of a nonsense song from a 1960s Disney movie? Why do so many people from Wisconsin have problems spelling their own state name? How many different ways ARE there to spell "banana" or "angel"? And what is it with Pennsylvania and sauerkraut anyway?

And what's wrong with using a dictionary?

Deportations of Afghans a black mark on Germany's image

Another item on CBC's As It Happens program yesterday came as something of a surprise, at least to me.
We are used to thinking of Germany as being an open and welcoming country, and one taking much more than its fair share of refugees, particularly from the war-torn Middle East. But it seems that, for some time now, the Germany has been deporting refugee Afghans back to Afghanistan by the planeload, in an attempt to deter other Afghans from seeking refugee status there, and on the supposed grounds that the country is now safe to return to.
The deportation program has been temporarily suspended in the wake of yesterday's massive suicide car bombing in Kabul - ironically, Kabul is one of the regions of the country flagged by Germany as "safe", although yesterday's blast occurred in one of the capital's most secure neighbourhoods, and both the German and Canadian embassy buildings were damaged - but they are expected to start up again soon. The German press release yesterday suggests, rather callously, that they have "more important things to do than to prepare the organizational measures needed", giving the impression that the current hiatus in deportations is more do with paperwork than with a genuine concern for the safety of the deported individuals. It seems that some deported of the Afghans have been injured or even killed, and many have already left the country again in desperation.
What is perhaps even more shocking is the report of some of the techniques Germany is employing in their pursuit of the deportations, from the use of batons and dogs, to the surprise visits in the middle of the night or at school or work, eerily reminiscent of 1930s Gestapo techniques. Not the image of modern progressive Germany we are used to.
Several organizations, including the Afghan Refugees Movement, are protesting and working to get Germany to stop the deportations to what is clearly not a safe country, and one in which the repressive Taliban regime has been rapidly regaining ground in recent months.