b'How geophysics ruined musicFeatureHow geophysics ruined musicTim Dean and Tim Brice tim.dean@angloamerican.com tfbrice@gmail.comIntroduction Figure 2.A photo of Sonny and Cher taken during the 1960s.The USS Missouri (Figure 1) was the last battleship to serve with the US Navy. Entering service in 1944, she was finallyGeophysical Corporation and then Landmark in 1982 where decommissioned in 1992. Her service included hosting thehe served as head of software development. In 1989 Andys signing of the Japanese surrender at the end of WW2 in 1945,career changed rather unexpectedly when he left geophysics as well as bombarding Iraqi positions during the first Gulf Warto spend a year studying music composition. During this in 1991. For those of us of a certain vintage, the Missouri mayperiod he invented a way to seamlessly loop samples using be more familiar as the setting of the video clip for Chers 1989a synthesizer. This work led him to found Antares Audio hit If I could turn back time. The US Navy agreed to the use ofTechnology which in-turn, developed Auto-Tune, which pitch the Missouri in a bid to boost recruitment, but were reportedlycorrects vocal tracks in real-time1.unhappy with the outfit Cher wore (the video was only shown1998 marks the year in which these two seemingly divergent on MTV after 9 pm). Although the influence of the video clipcareers cataclysmically collided and, as the title suggests, led itself is debatable, the song did reach number one in Australia. to geophysics ruining music. The catastrophe itself was a song Chers musical career began as a duo with her husband Sonnycalled Believe and was Chers first US number one in 33 years Bono (Figure 2), their song I got you babe reaching number(a record for the longest gap between number-one singles2). It one in 1965. As well as continued success in music, Sonny andalso reached number one in 23 countries, becoming the most Cher went on to have a successful television career during thesuccessful single of her career. Those of us unfortunate at the 1970s (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was the 7th most populartime to be relying on the radio for our entertainment (Napster, show on US television in 1973/74). Following her divorcethe first popular music file-sharing site was not founded from Sonny in 1975 (Sonny went on to be the mayor of Palmuntil 1999) were continuously tormented by the weirdly Springs and a Republican member of Congress before dyingelectronically distorted sound of her voice accompanied by a after hitting a tree while skiing in 1998; his 4th wife, Mary, wenteuro-disco beat. This vocal crime (later dubbed the Cher effect) on to be elected in his Congressional seat seven times beforewas achieved using the Auto-Tune feature invented by Andy being defeated in 2012), Cher went on to act on both the stageHildebrand turned up to 11 (I will give him the benefit of the and screen (winning the Academy Award for Best Actress fordoubt when it comes to foreseeing the future pain that his Moonstruck in 1987). Cher also continued to release music, withinvention would cause).mixed success during the 1980s and 1990s. Although the use of Auto-Tune to the extent of Chers smash In stark contrast, geophysicist Andy Hildebrand earned ahit remains relatively unusual, it has become ubiquitous in the doctorate in electrical engineering before joining Exxon inrecording industry to correct any off-key notes. Interestingly, 1976 (Chers only release of the year, Long Distance Love Affair,the producers of Chers hit refused to disclose how the sound failed to chart). In 1980 he left Exxon and co-founded Cyberanhad been achieved, although this was more to protect their methodology from competition rather than to prevent further pain to the listening public.The next artist to really embrace the full potential of Auto-Tune was an American rapper with the perhaps appropriate name of T-Pain, short for Tallahassee Pain after his feelings about his home town (we are guessing he wasnt a big fan); not to be confused with the band TPau who had a number one hit 1Even back in 1999 (the year when he was awarded the Enterprise Award from the SEG) Auto-Tune was estimated to be employed on 90% of all commercial music.2https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/artists-who-went-years-Figure 1.A photo of the USS Missouri taken in the 1980s. between-hits-721938/43 PREVIEW APRIL 2022'