The Secret Autotune Settings: Unlocking 2hollis's Hyper-Processed Vocal Sound
As of December 2025, the question of "what autotune does 2hollis use" remains one of the most persistent mysteries in modern music production, primarily because his vocal effect is more than just a single plugin—it’s a complex, multi-layered processing chain. The short answer is that the core of his futuristic, robotic vocal sound is almost certainly the industry standard, Antares Auto-Tune Pro, but the magic lies in pushing its parameters to extreme, almost broken, limits.
The unique, hyper-processed vocal texture that 2hollis, a leading figure in the new wave of experimental electronic music, utilizes is a masterclass in aggressive pitch correction, heavy distortion, and spacious delay. It’s a sound that has become synonymous with the contemporary Hyperpop and Rage Music scenes, blending the clean, digital precision of PC Music with the raw energy of trap, creating a truly avant-garde electronica signature.
2hollis: Biography, Style, and The Genesis of the Sound
To understand the vocal effect, one must first understand the artist behind it. 2hollis, born Hollis Parker Frazier-Herndon on January 5, 2004, in Chicago, Illinois, is an American rapper, singer, and producer who has rapidly become a defining voice of the digital music era. Currently 21 years old as of 2025, his career, which began around 2018, has been characterized by genre-bending fearlessness.
His musical style is a complex tapestry woven from several modern and niche genres, including Experimental Hip-Hop, Cloud Rap, Electropop, EDM, and Electroclash. The production is often described as "glitchy," "insane," and "genre-defying," with his 2024 album star cementing his status. His vocal processing is a direct extension of this chaotic yet controlled aesthetic, where the voice is treated less as a human element and more as another synthesizer or instrument.
- Real Name: Hollis Parker Frazier-Herndon
- Born: January 5, 2004
- Origin: Chicago, Illinois
- Primary Roles: Rapper, Singer, Producer, Songwriter
- Key Genres: Experimental Hip-Hop, Electropop, Rage, Cloud Rap, Electroclash, Dance-Pop
- Key Album: star (2024)
The Core Plugin: Antares Auto-Tune Pro and Extreme Settings
While 2hollis himself maintains a degree of mystique around his exact production secrets, the consensus among professional sound designers and producers attempting to recreate his sound points overwhelmingly to Antares Auto-Tune Pro as the primary tool. The key is not the plugin itself, but the aggressive, almost brutal, application of its parameters. This is how the signature robotic, T-Pain-on-steroids effect is achieved.
The Critical Autotune Settings Breakdown
The "2hollis sound" requires a complete rejection of the natural, transparent tuning typically sought by most artists. To achieve this hyper-digital effect, producers must push two main settings to their limits:
1. Retune Speed (The Robotic Effect)
This is the most crucial setting. Retune Speed determines how quickly the pitch correction snaps the vocal note to the nearest correct note in the selected musical scale. For 2hollis's sound, this must be set to the absolute fastest possible speed.
- Target Setting: 0 (or very close to 0, e.g., 1-5).
- Effect: At 0, the tuning is instantaneous, removing all natural vocal slides and vibrato. This creates the characteristic "stair-step" effect of pitch jumping from one note to the next, which is the hallmark of the most aggressive Pitch Correction effects.
2. Humanize (The Digital Freeze)
The Humanize function in Auto-Tune Pro is designed to slow down the tuning on sustained notes to make the pitch correction sound more natural. For the 2hollis effect, this must be disabled or set to its lowest value.
- Target Setting: 0.
- Effect: Setting Humanize to 0 ensures that every single note is aggressively corrected, maintaining the rigid, robotic, and highly digital tone across the entire performance.
Some producers also report that a "Double-Tuning Technique" is used, where the vocal is run through Antares Auto-Tune Pro and then fed into a secondary pitch correction plugin (such as the stock pitch shifter in Ableton Live or FL Studio) to further exaggerate the metallic, hyper-corrected sound. This technique adds another layer of digital artifacting.
The Full 2hollis Vocal Chain: Beyond Just Autotune
The Autotune is merely the foundation; the complete, polished sound requires a series of secondary effects that add texture, space, and aggression. The 2hollis Vocal Chain is a complex arrangement of plugins that turn a dry vocal into a shimmering, distorted, and ethereal instrument.
1. Pre-Processing Gear (The Input)
While the final sound is heavily processed, a clean input is still necessary. It is widely speculated that 2hollis uses a dynamic microphone setup favored by many rappers and producers for its ability to reject background noise and handle loud vocals.
- Microphone: A common choice in the trap/hip-hop world is the Shure SM7B.
- Preamp/Booster: Often paired with the SM7B is a microphone activator like the Cloud Lifter to provide necessary clean gain.
2. Aggression and Distortion
A key element of the "Rage" and Experimental Electronic sound is a sense of grit and saturation. This is achieved through distortion and overdrive, often applied directly within the pitch correction plugin itself.
- Autotune Overdrive: Many producers replicating the sound use the built-in Autotune Overdrive feature in Auto-Tune Pro to add a subtle, yet noticeable, digital clipping and saturation.
- Saturation Plugins: Additional plugins like the Fresh Air plugin can be used to add high-frequency excitement and shimmer, making the vocal cut through the mix of glitchy synths.
3. Space and Ambience (Delay & Reverb)
The vocal is not just corrected and distorted; it is placed in a vast, digital space to give it an ethereal quality, a nod to the Cloud Rap aesthetic.
- Slap Delay: A very short, quick delay is essential. This adds thickness and width to the vocal without sounding like a traditional echo. The delay time is typically set to a very small value (e.g., 50-150ms).
- Short Room Reverb: The reverb is often an "extremely short room reverb" with a high decay and mix level. Plugins like FabFilter Pro R2 or similar high-quality reverbs are used to create a metallic, boxy, yet spacious sound, making the vocal feel like it's trapped in a digital echo chamber.
Alternative Plugins and LSI Keywords
For producers working on a budget or in different Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like FL Studio or Ableton Live, several alternative plugins and LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are relevant to achieving a similar effect:
- Kerovee: This free pitch correction plugin is often cited as a great alternative for capturing the classic, artifact-heavy Autotune sound without the price tag of Antares Auto-Tune Pro.
- Waves Tune Real-Time: A popular alternative to Antares, also capable of the fast, aggressive tuning required.
- Melodyne: While known for its transparency, it can be pushed to extreme settings to create unique digital artifacts when intentionally misused.
- Topical Entities: Other entities that define this sound include Vocal Processing, Vocal Preset packs (often sold by third-party sound designers), and the overall production style of the Drainers collective.
In summary, the 2hollis vocal effect is a synergistic blend of a zero-Retune Speed setting on a professional pitch correction plugin like Antares Auto-Tune Pro, combined with aggressive Autotune Overdrive, a tight Slap Delay, and a generous application of short, metallic Reverb. It’s a deliberate sonic choice that elevates his music from standard electronic fare to a truly experimental and unique digital soundscape.
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