Junior Sanchez on AutoTune, Debbie Harry, and Why the Vocal Is Everything
DJ, remixer, and producer Junior Sanchez has worked with everyone from Madonna to Blondie. Here’s how he thinks about vocal production and why AutoTune has been a constant in his sessions for decades.
September 2, 2026
Read time: 5 mins
Junior Sanchez doesn’t mince words about what makes a record work. “The vocal is what captivates the listener,” he says. “And the vocal is probably the most important thing of any record.” Coming from someone who has produced and remixed for Katy Perry, Madonna, Gorillaz, Jamiroquai, and Debbie Harry of Blondie, that conviction carries weight.
Who Is Junior Sanchez?
Junior’s career started early. His first record came out while he was still in high school, and by graduation he was already touring. His first show was at Tribal Gathering in London, where he opened for Kraftwerk alongside Roger Sanchez and DJ Sneak as The S-Men. At 18, he signed his first publishing deal with EMI, and the credits have kept building ever since across pop, rock, electronic, and dance music, with artists ranging from Good Charlotte to Cookiee Kawaii.
How Does Junior Sanchez Use AutoTune in His Sessions?
AutoTune Pro is a constant in Junior’s workflow alongside Vocal Compressor and Vocal EQ. “The reason I use AutoTune is because it’s the best vocal performance correction system inside a computer that has ever existed today,” he says. “And I don’t think there’s going to be anything to replace it.”
His approach to tracking with AutoTune is practical and direct.When time is short or a singer just needs extra confidence, having AutoTune on during tracking catches pitch problems in the moment instead of leaving them for the mix. “Most vocalists that don’t have ego will open their hearts to that. Tracking with AutoTune on is a blessing to them.”
He’s equally clear that fixing a vocal isn’t a compromise on performance. “If you got the performance, that’s 99% of everything the song needs. Everything else are tools. It’s not cheating to fix a sibilant vocal or an out-of-tune note.”
What Did Junior Sanchez Think of Vocal Reverb?
Junior recently used Vocal Reverb on a project for John Roberts featuring Debbie Harry of Blondie, and the results caught him off guard. “I used a lot of the Vocal Reverb on her parts and they sound super lush, super cool. It brought out all her background vocals and all the oohs and aahs that she did.” Anyone who knows Blondie’s records knows Harry’s signature background textures are central to the sound. “It enhanced her vocals and it was super easy to use. When I put it on her vocal, I didn’t know what I was going to get, but what I got, I was very pleasantly surprised.”
The feature that stood out was Vocal Reverb’s AI Assist. “With a push of a button, it analyzed the vocal that I gave it and spat back out to me what it thought I needed. And it was very accurate. It saved me time with a lot of things I would do on the reverb post, like EQing out a lot of low end.” For producers working across multiple vocal tracks under time pressure, that kind of accurate starting point changes how long setup takes.
Junior is also contributing presets to Vocal Reverb with the goal of giving users creative results immediately. “Especially if you have a lot of vocals and you want to get fancy and creative, it does take a lot of time. I want to help bring a lot of creative reverb use to the user very instantaneously.”
Why Does Junior Sanchez Say AutoTune Changed Music?
Junior puts it plainly: “AutoTune is not just a piece of software. It created a soundprint for hip hop.” On its creative range: “The most inspiring thing about AutoTune is it’s limitless."Maybe the most inspiring thing about AutoTune is it's limitless. Actually, I think we've all learned that you put it on, and it's as creative as you want it to be or as you can be."
His enthusiasm is unambiguous. “If AutoTune was a person, I would literally run up to them, hug them, give them a pound, grab a beer, because you’ve changed the music business, period.” And the short version: “If I didn’t have AutoTune, I would invent it.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What plugins does Junior Sanchez use for vocals?
Junior Sanchez uses AutoTune Pro for pitch correction alongside Vocal Compressor, Vocal EQ, and Vocal Reverb as core components of his vocal chain. He describes these as essential tools across every session.
What is Vocal Reverb AI Assist?
Vocal Reverb’s AI Assist feature analyzes an incoming vocal and automatically generates reverb settings matched to that vocal. Junior Sanchez used it on a project featuring Debbie Harry of Blondie and noted it accurately returned the settings he would have dialed in manually, saving time on post-processing tasks like filtering low end from the reverb tail.
Does Junior Sanchez think pitch correction is cheating?
No. Junior is direct: “It’s not cheating to fix a sibilant vocal or an out-of-tune note. The tools that we have today, we can fix anything.” He frames pitch correction as a professional tool in the same category as any other part of the production chain.
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Antares is a leading developer of software for music recording and live performance. For over 20 years, Antares has powered the music of top-charting and indie artists with products including the industry standard for pitch correction, AutoTune™.