
Microsoft Songsmith a Youtube Hit Machine - physcab
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/01/29/microsofts-songsmith-a-youtube-hit-machine/
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unalone
Roxanne was great, but their other two absolutely weren't among the best.
Oasis' Wonderwall became an excellent non-emo techno song:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1e_h1OJfS4>

The program changes minor chords in the song to major, so suddenly the chorus
seems peppy and bouncy. And its version of Crazy Train fits _far too well_ and
will have you laughing out loud if you're a fan of the original:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFZvLprEIpw>

I like how some people are decrying this online as the death of music, like
Songsmith is going to change how music is made. (Oasis writing music with
Garage Band to the contrary, most people still write their music by getting
some musicians together and figuring out how stuff sounds.) I think it's
really neat that it can do this! The program's working very well - I'm
installing the beta today and we'll see how well it handles real-people voices
- and people expecting it to magically create the memorable hooks and snares
from the original are people who still miss that a machine _can't_ generate
truly great music, because the best music comes not from formula but from the
human mind.

~~~
kwamenum86
Real guy using it: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaUQ4_kJBHw>

The chord progressions are painfully boring but that guy seems pleased.

~~~
Tichy
Only listened to the first part, but I think he might have a hit on his hands.
Brilliant lyrics!

The last hit I witnessed in Germany (I rarely check) was something along the
line "I count to three and take you home, come along we'll make a threesome" -
people love that kind of lyrics...

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swombat
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN9pGgg8YlQ&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN9pGgg8YlQ&feature=related)

Interesting... so part of Obama's rhetorical skill is to start his sentences
on a beat.

Songsmith looks like a mostly useless piece of software from a musical point
of view... I can't imagine any real musicians using it. But from a content-
creation-for-the-masses point of view, it's clearly a hit. I look forward to
seeing more crazy shit put together with this software.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
meter is an important aspect of public speaking. if you vary your meter at
inappropriate times your speech doesn't come off as natural and flowing. OTOH
if you maintain a rigid meter the whole time you sound robotic.

~~~
wallflower
One of the secrets of public speaking is to pause. If you don't pause, you're
not highlighting what should be construed as important.

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kwamenum86
In it's current state songsmith could not kill modern music. It does not sound
organic enough. It has no soul. If music created by humans using music
sequencers has its quirks. Songsmith music sounds very formulaic and
unimaginative and becomes boring after the first verse or so even if the tune
is catchy.

~~~
mechanical_fish
To heck with _soul_ \-- now that I've listened to several of the tracks in the
original article, the problem with Songsmith is that it's hard to reverse-
engineer a rhythm that you're singing _against_. [1] It mangles the rhythms in
_Roxanne_ , in which Sting's vocals are designed to play around and against
the timing of the rhythm section, and its treatment of the first few seconds
of _Intergalactic_ are comedy gold, as it desperately tries to figure out the
beat. It makes the Beasties' syncopation feel wickedly subversive. ("Wait",
says the computer, "you're allowed to sing off the beat? _You utter bastards._
")

It's a hilarious simulation of the more painful aspects of the amateur music
experience, [2] but it doesn't have the rhythmic chops to out-rap a five year
old.

Maybe it would do better if we gave it a metronome.

\---

[1] "hard" in the sense of "actually, I think it's logically impossible".

[2] If only metronomes were issued at birth. Though, actually, that's
happening now: I have hope that _Rock Band_ and _DDR_ will help to raise an
entire generation that _has a sense of rhythm_.

~~~
kwamenum86
We have already established that Songsmith does not break any new musical
ground...but the more I think about it this is hardly an impressive
technological feat either. I have a Casio keyboard from the early nineties
that has about 100 tunes from different genres. You can change the key of
these songs as they are being played and it makes them sound like an entirely
new creation. We have also been able to analyze vocals and determine the tone
for a while. Songsmith basically slaps the two ideas together. This could have
been in beta by 1995.

~~~
mechanical_fish
_This could have been in beta by 1995._

Sure, but the key innovation here is YouTube. Cats have played piano for as
long as there have been cats and pianos [1], but only now do the folks sitting
around at home have the opportunity to turn their piano-playing cat into an
international video superstar with ten minutes of work.

As a subject for academic papers in music or electronics, Songsmith doesn't
rate. But as an amusing social media hack, it's just great. I can't wait for
the advent of the next new genre: "pieces that were supposedly written by
Songsmith, but have secretly been painstakingly assembled by actual
musicians". Will that cause a Milli-Vanilli-style scandal, only in reverse?
[2]

\---

[1] Trivia fact of the day: Did you know that the novelty piano tune _Kitten
on the Keys_ was copyrighted in 1921?
<http://www.perfbill.com/covers/kitten.htm?a>

[2] I published this, then suddenly realized that Milli Vanilli is nearly
twenty years old, and some of you might not have been born yet. Thank god for
Wikipedia: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli>

~~~
kwamenum86
Isn't it kind of sad though that MSFT invested x dollars in this and it only
has value as (potentially) the next i-meme?

On an unrelated note, I am going to to start using that footnote technique of
yours because I often have several tangential points, which makes my comments
messy.

~~~
mechanical_fish
_I am going to to start using that footnote technique of yours..._

Hooray, I'm an innovator! ;)

[1]

\----

[1] Though technically I think I stole the amusing footnote idea from Terry
Pratchett, and from the Steve Meretzky/Douglas Adams team that wrote the
_HHGTG_ game.

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ssharp
Let's not forget the second half of most modern songwriting - lyrics. Music
certainly has MANY mathematical elements to it. There is no doubt that
computers can do a lot of lifting in orchestrating and making arrangements
just using basic music theory. Some of it may even be creative and useful.
Most of it will be elevator arrangement trash.

Still, you're not going to be able to have computers write meaningful lyrics.
A lot of "human" factors go into writting lyrics and the lyrical melody.

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andreyf
Nice: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5nTFKSTAxo>

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raphar
I love the product ad, lindked from the article. Sucks so much that I love it
:D. And also: Is than an apple notebook??

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mynameishere
Here's the best one:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM1GUk1SBmY>

~~~
kirse
Van Halen's Runnin' with the Devil:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kxqMpGAL3I>

1:45 in and 2:45 in are some highlights... Money back guaranteed if you're not
crying after watching it.

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nazgulnarsil
Does anyone else think that Eye of the Tiger actually sounded pretty good? >_>
_awaits criticism of musical taste_

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sajidu
MSFT, welcome to the interwebs!!!

Even Linus loves it :)

~~~
bd
Here is a post by Linus:

<http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2009/01/fantastic.html>

Billy Idol's "White Wedding" he mentions is indeed hilarious:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCWo1qdTdE>

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trezor
I guess this is a good place to mention Britney Spear's toxic.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9S4O974qQo>

I find it hilarious because of the total mismatch between the music and video.

