Sonu Nigam confesses he uses auto-tune sometimes: ‘Previously, everything was live, sarangi, strings, so our pitch didn’t have to be perfect but now..’

Sonu Nigam has opened up about his use of auto-tune, revealing that he has relied on the technology for some of his songs. His admission comes as a surprise to many fans who have long associated auto-tune with singers who may not possess strong vocal abilities.Sonu discussed how the evolution of music production has changed the way singers approach recordings. He acknowledged that he was fortunate to train and practise without technological assistance, but believes auto-tune has its own place in today’s music industry. He said in an interview with Game Changers podcast, “The era of auto-tune has certainly brought a lot of changes. People say a lot of bad things about it, but I say ‘Jo bhi hua hai aacha hua hai (Whatever has happened is for the good)’. In earlier days, you had to sing without auto-tune, and we are lucky to riyaaz (practise) without it, and now we don’t need it.”Despite this, Sonu admitted that he occasionally uses auto-tune himself. He explained that modern music is heavily digitised and follows a much more precise pitch structure compared to the days when singers performed alongside live musicians.“But still, I would say I use auto-tune on certain songs of mine. Everything now is so 440; previously, everything was live. We had live sarangi; live strings, so somewhere our pitch didn’t have to be perfect. Everything now is digitised; everything is going in a straight line, and your voice will sound off if it’s raw. Previously, with live music, we used to adjust according to the live music, but now your song will stand out.“Sonu also drew a clear line between using auto-tune as a finishing tool and using it to make up for a lack of singing ability. According to him, singers should first deliver a strong performance before relying on technology to make minor corrections.“It’s our responsibility that we don’t use the resources to fix the voices of those who can’t sing. You give your 99% and bring it to 100% with auto-tune. Many actors use auto-tune for their songs, and it’s absolutely fine if they use it to enjoy their dreams. But they cannot replace singers.”Meanwhile, Sonu Nigam is gearing up for his association with Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Batwara 1947’. Backed by Aamir Khan Productions, the film features Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal and Abhimanyu Singh, among others.Sonu has also lent his voice to the song ‘Tabassum’ from the film. The track has been composed by AR Rahman, with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar.