'Auto-Tune the News' melds music and politics
Gigi Macaluso
Issue date: 10/8/09 Section: Features
Have you ever switched channels from MTV to CBS and suddenly had the irresistible urge to call Katie Couric "shawty"? Do you ever watch C-SPAN and see potential for the next T-Pain single?
Probably not, unless you happen to be 24-year-old Michael Gregory from Brooklyn, NY. The young musician remixes C-SPAN and other broadcasting media to create perfectly pitched R&B ballads that explore a variety of subjects, from the recent Climate Change Bill to Michael Jackson's passing. Gregory calls the overnight online sensation "Auto-Tune the News."
According to Gregory, the "talking heads" of politics make great comedic material. "I will say that everyone needs their straight man," he said. "Even Rufus T. Firefly needed his Mrs. Teasdale. The Bill O'Reillys and Kiran Chetrys of the world are perfect for that role because they're so self-serious. To go a step further, though, they're even more involved in the joke since they're unintentionally singing [and] dancing."
The humor in the nation's policies and politics are sometimes of a more inherent nature, but every so often they could use some help, and that is what "Auto-Tune" does. Originally used by artists like Chaer, Kanye West and Daft Punk, the computer program Auto-Tune takes a sound and alters that sound's pitch. Now Gregory uses it for comedic entertainment. Gregory's "Auto-Tune the News" uses the Auto-Tune program along with some editing to make the news literally sing its way onto your computer screen.
There are officially eight Auto-Tune the News episodes available on YouTube, and these videos continue to gain popularity. The clever quips and shots at pop culture and politics are truly amusing, and the music is quite catchy as well.
The faint-of-heart and the politically correct may not enjoy the clips, as the videos don't take a partisan stance. Still, they do point out the often ridiculous nature of politics, a purely bipartisan attribute.
Carson Whitelemons '12 argued that Auto-Tune the News is "all the fluff of The Jon Stewart Show without any of the dialogue." It is true that the videos are devoid of commentary, and are simply a manipulation of political sound bites. So why is Auto-Tune the News gaining popularity so quickly?
Probably not, unless you happen to be 24-year-old Michael Gregory from Brooklyn, NY. The young musician remixes C-SPAN and other broadcasting media to create perfectly pitched R&B ballads that explore a variety of subjects, from the recent Climate Change Bill to Michael Jackson's passing. Gregory calls the overnight online sensation "Auto-Tune the News."
According to Gregory, the "talking heads" of politics make great comedic material. "I will say that everyone needs their straight man," he said. "Even Rufus T. Firefly needed his Mrs. Teasdale. The Bill O'Reillys and Kiran Chetrys of the world are perfect for that role because they're so self-serious. To go a step further, though, they're even more involved in the joke since they're unintentionally singing [and] dancing."
The humor in the nation's policies and politics are sometimes of a more inherent nature, but every so often they could use some help, and that is what "Auto-Tune" does. Originally used by artists like Chaer, Kanye West and Daft Punk, the computer program Auto-Tune takes a sound and alters that sound's pitch. Now Gregory uses it for comedic entertainment. Gregory's "Auto-Tune the News" uses the Auto-Tune program along with some editing to make the news literally sing its way onto your computer screen.
There are officially eight Auto-Tune the News episodes available on YouTube, and these videos continue to gain popularity. The clever quips and shots at pop culture and politics are truly amusing, and the music is quite catchy as well.
The faint-of-heart and the politically correct may not enjoy the clips, as the videos don't take a partisan stance. Still, they do point out the often ridiculous nature of politics, a purely bipartisan attribute.
Carson Whitelemons '12 argued that Auto-Tune the News is "all the fluff of The Jon Stewart Show without any of the dialogue." It is true that the videos are devoid of commentary, and are simply a manipulation of political sound bites. So why is Auto-Tune the News gaining popularity so quickly?
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