BS: Technology -- Joy and Terror

Subject: RE: BS: Technology -- Joy and Terror
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 08:46 PM

This has to be intended for export.

My observation (limited) in Nagoya a few years back was that the Japanese took great pride in their Karaoke performances. Without exception, the "performers" I heard there were good enough to ignore this technology. I had they impression they would be brutally honest with one of their own who didn't "measure up."

On the other hand, a couple of "drunken ugly Americans" in my own party were something of an embarrassment (to me, at least). Our "hosts" were quit gracious, although they seemed to "duck under the table" at frequent intervals when they couldn't otherwise surpress their feelings.

In the local Karaoke market (in my US neighborhood) this should be a real winner, although much of the popular music doesn't seem to demand much in the way of pitch accuracy.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Technology -- Joy and Terror
From: pict
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 07:44 PM

Antares autotune pitch correction software can undetectably correct bad pitching and has been about for years it is practically an industry standard now.Many acts now use hardware versions of autotune at their live events.

Melodyne another audio editing prog can add or reduce vibrato and change the formants of your voice from male to female or vice versa or change a bass voice to a soprano or alter the tempo or rhythm of a sung or played phrase without affecting the pitch,incredible software from Germany that's been about for a couple of years it costs about £600 autotune costs about £300 and can be used as an audio plugin for the likes of Cubase or Logic Audio.

Most of the pretty faces and even old established names are using these tools to turn in what they imagine are "perfect" performances.I much prefer the natural sound and the slight imperfections that come with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Technology -- Joy and Terror
From: michaelr
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 07:33 PM

The horror... the horror...

(shudder)

Michael

Subject: Technology -- Joy and Terror
From: Amos
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 07:21 PM

TOKYO -- Some might call it Japan's biggest victory against noise pollution since pop duo Pink Lady split up two decades ago.

Karaoke sound systems provider Taito Corp said on Tuesday it had teamed up with a U.S. professor and chipmaker Analog Devices on technology that could give even the most tone-deaf crooner perfect pitch.

Using the "Csound" computer music language pioneered years ago by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Barry Vercoe, Taito will market a system this summer that adjusts sing-along music automatically to the pitch and tempo best suited to an individual singer.

"This is sound synthesis on software that until now was only used in experiments and research," said Hidehito Kitamura, who headed up Taito's development of the new system.

Eventually, he said, Taito may use the technology to reconfigure a singer's errant tones to the proper pitch, without otherwise altering the sound.

"We'll be moving from one new feature to the next."

That could be good news for the millions of regular patrons at Japan's karaoke bars -- both those who dread the inevitable pressure to sing even if they can't carry a tune, and those who have to listen to them.

"Karaoke is said to be an original Japanese cultural contribution, but this could take it to new levels," Keio University professor Toru Iwatake told a news conference unveiling the technology.

Tuesday's demonstration was limited to automatic tempo adjustment, particularly suited for ballads, Kitamura said.

The system will also let a singer calibrate the key automatically before a song begins, he added.

Machines now require manual pitch and tempo adjustments, which can be hard for amateur songsters to gauge and can create distortions that are difficult to sing along with.

For those confident of their vocal prowess, moreover, the new system will be able to objectively assess pitch, rhythm and skill at such voice techniques as vibrato and crescendo -- an indispensable item for the occasional karaoke competition.

Karaoke rating systems already exist, but they can only determine how closely the singer's voice matches the recorded original, not singing ability.

"This assesses singing skill mathematically," Kitamura said.

MIT's Vercoe, who lauded Taito for finding a way to bring the sound synthesis technology to market, said pitch correction with Csound had been demonstrated long ago. It could even convert a spoken voice into melody, in real time.

"It's in the technology. You just have to switch it on," he said.

Taito's Kitamura added that the advent of high-speed communications had also been essential for the new system.

Ten years ago, Taito pioneered Japan's popular "telecom karaoke" services, which pipe karaoke music and lyrics to pubs and night clubs via wireline networks at far less cost than maintaining an on-site disc collection.

Noting the new system would require about a hundred times or more bandwidth than current systems, Kitamura added: "We can do this thanks to ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines) and fiber- to-the-home."

Well, there ya go, folks -- the beauty and the beast. If bad singing (my own comes to mind) is suddenly rendered perfect as to pitch, then the other components of its badness will surely stand out in bizarre high relief -- the poor rhythm and the emotional bolandness for example.

Conversely, if someone with incredible rhythm and expression who never mastered pitch falls back on this technology, real beauty might be added to the world which would otherwise be hidden!! Whaddya think!!?

Regards,

A