AutoTune, the creation of plug-in firm Antares, has never been short of both lovers and haters. The much maligned Antares AutoTune and more latterly derivatives, is often blamed for the lack of real singing skills.
However, singer and song writer Charlie Puth claims it had the opposite effect and rather than make him lazy AutoTune taught him how to sing. What's more he used it in conjunction with Pro Tools so he could hear how his voice might sound if he could sing in tune.
In an interview with CBC Radio he says;
"I basically taught myself how to sing through Auto-Tune... I have perfect pitch, and I get so irritated when I can't feasibly hit the note. So I opened up Pro Tools and downloaded Auto-Tune and highlighted my voice, and just put it to F major - I remember that was the first key I ever used on it. I cried because I could hear my voice in the way that I wanted it to sound. That plug-in has been so important and I am not ashamed to admit it"
The penultimate line does bring an entirely new perspective to the argument, the idea that the artist used it to hear how he might sing, rather than simply use it as some cheat and a means to an end.
It's unlikely the article will change the views of those with the most entrenched positions, but the article does give a point of view that many of us may not have considered before.
You can find out more on this story on the CBC Radio website