24 Inventions That Changed Music

A majority of these inventions came from scientific minds, and Auto-Tune is no exception. Its parent company, Antares Audio Technologies (originally called Jupiter Systems), was founded in 1990 by geophysicist Dr. Andy Hildebrand. Using the same Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology he employed to measure seismic data, Hildebrand first patented the Infinity sample-looping software and various Pro-Tools plug-ins. But it was Auto-Tune − a DSP-powered program used to course correct vocals and instruments − that etched his legacy. Its creative limitlessness has empowered the likes of Kanye West (while remaining a bone of contention for purists), but it also gave us the recording careers of his fiancé, Kim Kardashian, so perhaps that's a wash.