…no amplification, autotune, editing, etc….
Maybe I’m showing my age, but there was a time not long ago when a good singer could was expected to fill an auditorium with the voice, to hit all notes precisely and accurately, and to do so when accompanied by full orchestra.
I am not opposed to amplification, especially in the pop genres where the instruments and music are supposed to be loud. As a vocalist and music educator, I feel that part of any vocal lessons or coaching today must include microphone technique. I’ve seen many students who want to sing, and the first thing they do is grab the mic and put it up to their lips. One think that kind of irks me in musicals is when an actor/actress is required to break character to grab a mic for a solo. IMHO that reflects a combination of poor vocal coaching on the part of the music director, as well as poor technical direction. Microphones can be strategically placed in or around the stage to capture any well-projected voice.
As far as Auto-Tune, I can appreciate its use as an artistic effect, as Cher used it as early as 1998 in Believe, comparable to distortion or flanging effects on a guitar. However, again IMHO, any artist who is considered to be a vocalist should be presenting their true voice with their own intonation, and have enough confidence in their own vocal skills to be able to perform without such a “safety net”. You might as well lip-sync a recorded concert, ala _Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli.
Now editing is a technology that is as old as magnetic tape. It used to be that recordings were edited by actually cutting and splicing the audio tape. Reportedly, during the recording and production of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody tapes were so edited and overdubbed that some of the audiotapes were actually worn to transparency.
end of rant!