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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 sequenc

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.

swombat 18y ago
I get the feeling songsmith isn't aimed at real musicians... and for people with no musical skills whatsoever, it probably beats singing a cappela.
mechanical_fish 18y ago
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 18y ago
  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 18y ago
    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 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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli
    - kwamenum86 18y ago
      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 18y ago
        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.

swombat 18y ago

I get the feeling songsmith isn't aimed at real musicians... and for people with no musical skills whatsoever, it probably beats singing a cappela.

mechanical_fish 18y ago

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 18y ago
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 18y ago
  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 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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli
  - kwamenum86 18y ago
    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 18y ago
      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.