
Visualizing Hip-Hop Melodies (2016) - sova
https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2016/visualizing-hip-hop-melodies/
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peteforde
One of the most educational and interesting explainer videos I've ever seen is
Vox's "Rapping, Deconstructed". Please consider this required watching, even
if you have no interest in hip-hop music:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWveXdj6oZU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWveXdj6oZU)

After you watch that, I suspect you'll hear this Kendrick Lamar track with new
ears:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZTYgq4EoRo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZTYgq4EoRo)

I know that while I am still very much a jazz/rock person, those videos
expanded my perception of what was musically possible. No hyperbole on my end.

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Baeocystin
That was an edifying, enjoyable watch. Thanks for posting it.

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pickdenis
(This isn't related to hip-hop or melodies.)

I have absolute pitch; I can tell the pitch of any musical note I hear without
any reference at all. I can also produce any pitch within my vocal or
whistling range without a reference. This all comes completely naturally to
me, and I don't have to think about it. Listening to this rap song, I noticed
something strange.

The article talks about the melody of the song, but the rapper isn't singing.
Of course, his rapping voice still has a pitch but it's actually not obvious
to me what note he's "singing". If I listen very hard, I can still pick out
the pitches of his notes (like how he centers on D). However, it is much much
harder for me to tell the pitch of a speaking voice (or rapping voice) than a
singing voice. This leads me to believe that there is a separate, functionally
discrete part of my brain dedicated to processing music.

It also perhaps explains why I don't like rap music that much; it feels like
my brain processes it as though it is spoken word rather than music, creating
a somewhat strange and unmusical experience.

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sova
Spoken word and Music are processed by different sectors of your brain it
feels like or seems? That's really fascinating. What about math?

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adamiscool8
This is really cool -- I know I tend to enjoy certain songs that share certain
characteristic flows, this would be a fun way to sort of "quantify" and
organize a music library. I wonder if Spotify uses a technique like this as a
heuristic for their song suggestions.

Is there an open source alternative for Melodyne?

