3 ms·

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

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.

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.