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By Nickolas Weingartner on 06/18/2009

Last February at the Grammys, indie rock outfit Death Cab for Cutie sported blue ribbons in order to "raise awareness of auto-tune". This was probably the first time that the ribbon method has been used to raise awareness about anything other than disease (discount the "bringing our soldiers home" ribbons which don't seem to work).

But what is auto-tune, and why do we have to become aware about it? Why is it important enough in the music industry to wear ribbons for it? Is there a problem with it to begin with?

It is important to first distinguish that there are two main forms of auto-tune. The type that T-Pain uses to make his sound wavy is known as "The Cher Effect".

In 1998, Cher released her twenty-third studio album "Believe". Trying to steer in a different direction ((her prior album, "It's a Man's World" consisted of mostly southern covers), she met with many Eurodisco producers', one of which was Mark Taylor.

For the title track of the album, Taylor experimented by changing the setting in the Auto-Tune program, and processed it in such a way that the program had to catch up to the vocal track, creating an interesting effect that Cher took a liking too. After hearing it, she demanded that the original track be deleted; only leaving the new Auto-Tune effect in place.

Since "Believe" went on to become a huge hit, many artists have taken this appraoch to using the Auto-Tune in order to produce this peculiar effect. Before long musicians from Kid Rock to Eiffel 65 were using it until it hit critical mass and eventually exhausted itself.

But before long, Auto-Tune came full tilt and rose its head within the R&B Community.

T-Pain is mostly credited with this resurgence. He used the effect heavily in his album "Rappa Ternt Sanga" and "Epiphany" and in doing so brought the effect back into the mainstream. The effect remains as popular as it did in the late 90s with artist like Kanye West, whose album "808 and Heartbreak" uses the effect almost exclusively.

But "The Cher Effect" is not why Mr. Gibbard is wearing the ribbon. Mr. Gibbard and his Death Cab crew are protesting the traditional use of Auto-Tune - using the programs as a means to correct pitch in instruments and singers rather than as a way of expanding music creativity.

Today, Auto-Tune as a correcting tool permeates the music industry. A famous quote about the program was said be an anonymous Grammy-wining award engineer, who said "Let's just say I've had Auto-Tune save vocals on everything from Britney Spears to Bollywood albums. And every singer now p[resumes that you'll just run their voice through the box."

Artists also use the program live, to 'ensure' good performances, relying on it to save the show when the artist naturally goes off pitch.

Artists like Death Cab for Cutie and Garth Brooks strongly oppose the use of Auto-Tune and have stuck to their word by refusing to use the program.

Even though the music we listen to is filtered through hundred of machines, does that take away the essence of the song? Does it undermine the art or just enhance it? In a world of post-effects that strive for perfection, will there still be room for the imperfect sound of a persons natural voice?

[Additional Photos: "Bob Dylan," happymads.blogspot.com, 2009; "Death Cab for Cutie," www.theguardian.co.uk, 2009]