Charlie Puth learned how to sing through Auto-Tune

Charlie Puth's latest single, 'Attention', is a worldwide success, including here in South Africa, where it is number one on the Coca-Cola Top 40. 

His angelic voice is instantly recognisable when his songs play on the radio, but the singer admits that he gets frustrated when he can't hit the right notes.

Speaking to CBC podcast host Tom Power, Charlie says he learned to sing through Auto-Tune. 

He would sing a note, then pitch correct it in Auto-Tune so that he was singing the correct frequency, and then tried to emulate the notes he had just heard. 

"I basically taught myself how to sing through Auto-Tune... I have perfect pitch, and I get so irritated when I can't feasibly hit the note. So I opened up Pro Tools and downloaded Auto-Tune and highlighted my voice, and just put it to F major - I remember that was the first key I ever used on it. I cried because I could hear my voice in the way that I wanted it to sound. That plug-in has been so important and I am not ashamed to admit it... everybody uses it," he said. 

Charlie also talked about the success of his hit single, 'See You Again', with rapper Wiz Khalifa, which was the most watched video on YouTube until 'Despacito' snatched the title last month.

The 25-year-old co-wrote the song, which is a tribute to 'Fast & Furious' actor Paul Walker, but almost didn't make it on the track.

"They were like who is this no name person. He has silly videos on You Tube, why should we let him sing the song? Well, because I wrote it. And that's exactly what I told them. And miraculously I ended up singing the song... it took some convincing, like months... I knew no-one was going to write that song. They had 60 people trying to write for that part, and I nailed it in 10 minutes. It sounds arrogant, and it is, but I just quietly tell myself that. I knew that I was the guy to sing it. From personal experience, my friend passing away - it made a lot of sense at that time of my life. Because he always told me that I would have a song in a movie, so all that stuff just lined up. I was very passionate about me singing that record." he said. 

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Carol Ofori and Ricky take you through 40 of the planet’s hottest songs in our weekly chart show, the Coca-Cola To0p 40, on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm.