Sasha Frere-Jones has a fascinating article in the June 9 The New Yorker about Antares's Auto-Tune software. In case you aren't familiar with it, Auto-Tune is pitch correction software that is used almost universally in contemporary pop recordings—sometimes just to "fix" an off note, increasingly frequently as an effect in its own right.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan, although having accompanied John Atkinson on various recording projects, I can attest that on some days even the best musicians in the world just can't hit a certain note or nail a particular passage. Demanding them to record take after take after take can sap the life out of a recording just as certainly as over-reliance upon software fixes. (I'd also like to point out that, watching JA in such circumstances, I learned that the hallmark of a real producer is his ability to make the frustrated musician comfortable enough and confident enough to nail that problem passage.)
Besides, the "imperfections" in recordings—such as on almost every track cut by the Beatles—keep them sounding fresh to me, even after 40 years of listening. I wonder if anyone will be listening to "Lollipop" 40 years from now—and still finding it fresh?
As a bonus, Frere-Jones has bravely posted an audio file on Auto-Tune in which he sings "Since You've Been Gone" and engineer Tom Bonjour fixes it in the mix.
