Vocal improvers & AC/DC

[kahunabean]

I heard that most if not all pop 'stars' have their voices routed through super hoo-jammy machines to make their voices sound better (when they aren't miming that is) Can anyone confirm or provide an insight ? I also heard that the late great Bon Scott of AC/DC (when they were a good band !) used one to make his voice sound more raucous because apparently he *was* quite a good singer but they wanted him a bit more rock'n'roll.

[sft42]

While i really don't know about the Bon Scott story the bit of kit i think your referring to is called a harmoniser (the most famous example being made by a US company called eventide). These were originally for use in live vocal situations to give singers a hand to even out "imperfections" and they can correct by note out by a semi-tone...However studio gimmickery also includes ADT (automatic double tracking) which makes the voice sound fuller and other little tweaks like EQing to beef up vocals but nearly all recording artisrs use this.

[TheHitMaker]

Harmonisers and ADTs are certainly one way that vocals can be 'improved'. Nowadays auto-tune modules can be used in digital studios (including home PCs) which will take an out of tune vocal and put it in tune. This trick can be spotted if you listen carefully and seems to be much in use with the singles chart at the moment! This means that anyone can now appear to sing in tune, but that does not put passion into a voice. Although I am sure that using echo, delay, tuning aids, double tracking, eq-ing, etc, etc, etc, just about any effect can be produced.