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GOOG-411's "Biddy-Biddy-Boop" Sound Backstory
Chris Albrecht writes "The bippedy-bippedy-bippedy sound you hear when using 1-800-GOOG-411 is actually a senior voice designer at Google. (Here's the sound.) The technical term for that noise is the 'fetch audio,' and it's more complicated to design than you'd think. For the first time, the voice of GOOG-411 talks about how he came up with it, how important that sound is, and how people now ask him to 'perform' it."
Is that you?
that gives me flashbacks to the .com bubble days.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
...why should I care?
Lamest. Story. Ever!
[and before you flag me as a troll, have you actually read the summary and listened to the sound?]
When I play this on my Mac, it seems to be silent. Am I the only one who hears nothing, or is it really high pitched? I have quite a bit of hearing loss, especially in the upper ranges.
i am a soviet space shuttle
What, is this article a joke? I hear no such sound when I call 1-800-GOOG-411. I even went through a complete (and unfortunately fruitless) search for a Mongolian barbecue in Atlanta.
Well I speak Swedish and all I can say is that is one big potty mouth he's got there.
No wonder his sister got bitten by a moose.
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
If you are also not American, or just haven't hear of it, Wikipedia article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOOG-411
Basically, GOOG-411 is an experimental Google telephone service. Users can call and use speech regocnition to do local business search. I think American phones have letters on the number buttons, so 1-800-GOOG-411 means 1-800-466-4411.
talk about bubble 2.0! what happened to hiring the educated at google? too pricey?
... from google? what a bunch of yahoos.
baby talk
news related with google, the option don't appear in the box i disabled apple news.
anyone remember quack.com ? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?
this is what $600 a share gets you...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
To my ears, the p's in "bippedy-bippedy-bippedy" are more pronounced than the b's and this makes the jingle sound a lot like the tongue twister "If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?"
If you slow it down, or play it backwards (or both) is there is hidden message?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
"The bippedy-bippedy-bippedy sound you hear when using 1-800-GOOG-411 is actually a senior voice designer at Google."
So the sound is a voice designer? A wave in the air is a person? Who wrote this headline and did he have a stroke?
I know the odds of finding a pay phone nowdays are slim but does this allow you to make a free phone call or does the phone ask for money when the goog-411 transfer occurs?
... I'd be changing carriers.
Google - we expect much better from $600/share.
No trees were killed in the making of this post; however, many trillions of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.
Wouldn't it have been easier to have just made that sound by audio recording a dying cat?
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
It doesn't allow you to make a free phone call, it is a free alternative to the 411 service that the phone companies change you ($1.50 per call on Alltel). I put it on my speed dial just now and gonna start using it. Tried several numbers to see if I could hear the sound, but the response to my query was instantaneous and thus heard no sound....
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
My older version of WinAmp won't play it and I get no sound. When I load the mp3 with Cool Edit Pro 2.0, it plays just fine.
It is quiet, but possibly the problem is that your Mac defaults to a rather low sound level out of the speakers. My G4 certainly did, and even listening to music was annoying because it was so quiet, even with the audio turned up full.
The fix is of course simple and entirely intuitive, as are all things on a Mac.
a) open iTunes
b) In the Window menu, choose Equalizer
c) Crank the Pre-amp setting to 12
Now all of the audio on your Mac will not only be loud enough to hear, it will be louder than the same audio on a PC, which can only be turned up 10
Three Squirrels
Put that on your list of restaurants to start when Atlanta moves offshore, to become an even bigger Delta hub. Also, think about Pho (vietnamese soup, special characters notwithstanding), its great stuff ;)
To me it sounds more like "giggety giggety."
The revealing backstory about the Googleplex's custom-made toilet paper. The technical term is actual 'bathroom tissue', and it's more complicated to design than you'd think. For the first time, Sergey Brin discusses the choices of materials and the unparalleled softness, and how often he gets thanked by Google employees after they wipe their asses.
The GP was commenting on the fact that once you find the record you want, Google asks if you want to be connected to that number. How do payphones deal with this?
advertising hidden as a news article. Gee, tanks editors.
-=[ place
Try the "Tell-Me" service at 1-800-555-8355.
For instance, when it returns from a submenu to the main menu or does a lookup of some info, you hear approximately the same biddy-boop sound.
See topic
It actually sounds more like the God Machine from the 'This Week in God' segment of the Daily Show.
:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Daily_Show_recurring_segments#This_Week_in_God
I didn't realise Stephen Colbert 'senior voice designer'
You break all the laws of physics and you seriously think there wouldn't be a price?
I'm fairly sure others will join me in asking: What is GOOG-411'?
Why do they have a "Biddy-Biddy-Boop" Sound?
Why would I want to know the Backstory?
How is this in any way important, newsworthy, or even interesting?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
YouTube video
Dark Helmet: Now what is it?
Radar Technician: I'm having trouble with the radar, sir.
Dark Helmet: What's wrong with it?
Radar Technician: I've lost the bleeps, the sweeps, and the creeps.
Dark Helmet: The what?
Colonel Sandurz: The what?
Dark Helmet: And the what?
Radar Technician: You know. The bleeps. [makes bleep sound effect]
Radar Technician: The sweeps. [makes sweep sound]
Radar Technician: And the creeps. [makes creep sound]
Dark Helmet: [to Colonel Sandurz] That's not all he's lost.
c) Crank the Pre-amp setting to 12
Somehow, "This one goes to twelve," doesn't have quite the same ring as, "This one goes to eleven."
I think I can live with that sound, 2600 this quarter has a great hack for goog411 to make free calls. (Technically so people can make free calls to you, but if you and some friends got together and did the hack you could call then from say a pay phone for free and not get a ridiculous collect charge.)
If i had one dollar for every brain you dont have, i would have $1.
Just what the hell is voice design? Does this guy do formant synthesis or genetically engineer organisms to emit human sounding vocals?
Google have the cash to hire professional voice artists, linguistics specialists, composers, sound designers, engineers and producers. I have this hunch the results would sound better than the badly recorded gibbering of some dipshit with a ridiculous job title.
... but "Stuff that matters"? Seriously? Not a chance.
That sound is certainly not pleasant, not to mention annoying.
...of the phonemes it was comparing what you said to to find the closest match in the database. Not all of them of course, just whatever one it happened to be checking after it got done playing the last one it played at a fast but somehwat human-intelligible speed.
That was awsome. You had me going with the all things intuitive, AND you actually gave useful information. Bravo.
If you call up GOOG-411 for free (compared to the ripoff that is cell phone carriers 411 at $1.75 a pop), it always asks you for the city and state first. Sometimes the city and state are easy to parse, like "Reno" or "Keokuk". Sometimes it's not, like "Glen Ellyn, Illinois" (and the other one I've tried, Glenallen, Alaska). If you mumble, your voice is otherwise hard to parse, or the city is obscure, GOOG-411 will take about 3 seconds to figure what the hell you're saying, which is when it'll play this sound.
Same thing with the business name - if you say something like "Restaurant", that's easily parsed, but if you say something specific like "Bed Bath and Beyond", it could take up to 3 seconds to parse, search for, and find your match. You'll hear the sound, and then the list of results.
I don't know why the Johnny Carson theme (or similar) could have sufficed, because the sounded reminded me of logging onto AOL at 56.6 Kbps. Or make up a Google Jingle or something.
I use GOOG-411 at least once a week nowadays, and the feature to text message you details of what you're looking for has proven (mostly) invaluable while I've used it. There's the problem that sometimes, Google's information on businesses just isn't up to date. But that's a Google-wide issue.
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
The man behind this noise may be the best voice expert on earth, I still don't like this thing. HM(very)HO some kind of steam machine sound would be much better here.
If you ever want to get frustrated, try GOOG411. Now we know why. They spent time coming up with the beep instead of thinking about the call flow / menu navigation. I have used GOOG411 extensively because I like the auto-connect feature and no ads but 1=800-FREE411 is better because it's better organized, does a better job at voice recognition, handles residential numbers and knows when to send you to a real person.
555-tell has a better sound. It sounds like the google guy mimicked the 555-tell sound and then made an elaborate story about how original he was in the idea for that kind of "searching-sound"
This has to be one of the stupidest things ever posted! Someone was paid big bucks by Google to make a sound like a bad scat musician on... oh nevermind, it's not even worth completing the joke.
Well, this sound suspiciously sounds like a re-work of old sound Tell Me systems play while trying to decipher what the beep user tried to say. Just try to call 1-800-555-TELL (1-800-555-8355) and play with the menu.
:) Even though they were before Google in voice stuff :)
That sound is also a sure sign that you're dealing with Tell Me designed system -- for example Fandango uses their back-end, some banks and some other interactive voice systems.
Of course Tell Me was bought by Microsoft so now it's inevitably evil
Hyperom.com
Maybe you're hearing it, but it sounds too much like garbled cell phone speech for you to be sure it's Google and not your phone.
I mean WTF, why don't they just play the Jeopardy theme or something like that. Then everyone would be going around humming the "Google Theme" and we'd have a gen-yoo-wyne meme on our hands.
More proof it's 1999 again - already, co-workers are flipping Google stock instead of working (and losing thousands of dollars last week.) Time to sell everything!
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Cosby's been doing this for decades.
"It's all very complicated and difficult, so we used the first thing I muttered into the microphone."
Coming up next, a history of the dial tone.
Dumb sound. Dumb story. What the fuck?
I'm not 100% certain how pay phones deal with it but you might want to check out the current 2600 Magazine as they have a writeup there on using it creatively.
0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
Yes, Buck
beedy-beedy-beep
Not /n/ews needs pruning.
When it asks for your location, say "biddy biddy boop" or any other nonsense syllable and it will search long enough for you to hear it.
The article is well written but has this annoyingly casual tone like "of course you know what this super-famous ubiquitous sound is and obviously, as someone 'in the know,' you care about its origins." No. In fact, I have no freaking idea what you are talking about. This makes me wonder if it isn't an attempt at a viral marketing scheme. Sadly, now when I finally do hear the otherwise amusing little sound (which would be much more amusing if I had no idea where it came from), I'll only think "this is a self-important hyper-over-engineered sound that was too self-consciously created for it's purpose."
i\hbar\dot{\psi}=\hat{H}\psi
Mongolian barbeque? hell do what Genghis did. Find the nearest yak, rip one of its legs off with your bare hands. Order the nearest underling to kill himself, take his two leg bones rub together to make fire and roast the yak leg and wash it down with the underlings blood. It will give you strength for the battle.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
I'm impressed and excited. My cellular phone provider, Fido/Rogers, is terrible for their 4-1-1 service. It's expensive and it was only recently that they started sending a text message with information about the destination requested. My mother has a Blackberry through Bell, and they actually block Google Maps without even having a competing service available!
With google, it's free, the response system is interactive (it doesn't charge me for a miss, and it presents more than just one option), and it has the potential ability to email my cellular phone a map of the location using google maps- I hope, eventually, anyway.
The only downside is that I live in Montreal, Canada, where the service is not currently available. I hold hope, though, because when I told it "Montreal" it came back quickly with a pre-recorded voice that said "Montreal, Quebec" showing that the city is indeed in their database. It wouldn't be hard to expand the service to Canada as the city search feature is already available here via the www. Also, since the US and Canadian phone systems are integrated to the same toll structure, Canadians can already dial Goog-411.
Urban Detail
It turns out that I have actually heard this sound while using Google's service. It's so indistinct, though, I always thought it was crosstalk on my cellular signal.
It's one more than eleven!
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
>>Every time you call an IVR or reach an automated speech system, someone's worked at it to make it not just functional, but also usable and friendly.
Well, except for the system used by the Cable TV, credit card, bank, telco, computer tech support, university admissions, etc. company. 'Cause those systems seem like they're designed with the sole purpose of making it as difficult as possible to actually speak to a human being. The end result is I'm typically about as happy as Alanis Morissette on a blind date by the time I get to speak to someone with a funny accent who knows even less than I do about the subject matter.
I try to maintain pristine language, really I do, but on a really bad day I had to talk to Sprint customer service and the automated voice system really started to get on my nerves the second or third time I had to talk to it and I let slip a few choice non-G-rated phrases. I was transferred to a person faster than any other method I'd tried before or come up with since.
Back in my day when we chiseled our bits into stone and sent them by mule train from village to village...
Somehow, "This one goes to twelve," doesn't have quite the same ring as, "This one goes to eleven." Ah, but this is slashdot. He was using base 9.
i\hbar\dot{\psi}=\hat{H}\psi
The post modern struggles of the common man are evident in this minimalist piece. The faint echoes impute a sense of desertion, a lone voice in an empty chasm. Midway through the piece, the listener is invited to shudder at the conflicting emotions.
However, the ending disappoints with flat tonality as the vocalist almost spits out the "-oop." If this piece were a wine, it would have fruity though not overpowering hints of apple but an unpleasant, almost vinegary finish.
This is a performance which should be heard at least once by listeners who enjoy discovering new, novel challenges in auditory stimulation. However, it's not destined for the classics. Future students in the field will encounter this work as a footnote in the progress of informational tones, but it is otherwise a forgettable piece.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Personally, I've stopped using Goog-411 for now.
... after 5 minutes, I found the little bippity-boop voice to be almost grating enough to chuck my iPhone against a wall.. almost. That voice makes it seem very unprofessional, like a couple highschool kids put it together. And from the results I've had using it, I really think that just might be the case.
Mainly because it sucks balls and I don't care if it's free if I find it frustrating and gladly pay $1.50 for the information I need quickly without hassle.
But I while I was drinking some espresso trying to use Goog-411 to get a specific cab company that is one of the major providers here in sf and getting listings for every other major cab company, and even smaller ones, but not the one I specifically asked for and then telling it to go back, try again etc etc over and over
So I said fuck it, dailed the regular 411 and got connected to Desoto Cab right away.
I'll check back with GOOG-411 in a year or two.
For now, they aren't worth free, they are a waste of time.
If you recognise that at least a portion of your readership - which you rely on for ad revenues - is not from the US then, whilst remaining US-centric in the "articles" posted, you can at least pander a little to those who don't eat-sleep-drink US geek culture by being explicit about terse references.
Just an idea.
Oh yeah and don't use overlong sentences like I do.
Actually a lot of service providers these days give you about 2-5 free 411 calls, at least that is how it goes here in Southern California.
I only use 411 once or twice a month; but googles sms text service is pretty good if you know how to send it text messages right to get directions somewhere. No need for the GPS unit or Thomas Guide and it acts like a 411 service also but sends you all the info to your phone, although routes sometime are not as accurate or fast.
Mmm, pineapple. That was a Mongolian restaurant in Quito, Ecuador, though: they may be different in Georgia.
The first things this made me think of was the classic TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, with the annoying robot Twiki that makes a noise rather like biddy biddy biddy.
I kept getting "giggity giggidy, all right" but apparently I was calling 1-800-boob-411 by mistake.
stuff |
What's a payphone? I was cell-less for a weekend over 4 years ago when I was stopping one job on a Friday and starting a new job on a Mondya. I bought some hard drives at a tech store closing, but forgot I was on my motorcycle until I walked back outside. Doh! I couldn't find a payphone anywhere nearby to call to get the drives picked up. I ended up asking someone else walking out if I could pay them $1 to make a quick call. They let me use it for free. Everywhere I used to know of that had a payphone has taken them out and painted over the old spot.
No-one writes jokes in base 13!! ...erm, I mean 9.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
I don't know if it's because I've never used goog-411, and I read this article _first_ -- but when I listen to that sound, I think it _sounds_ like someone trying to mimick a computer. Which annoys the piss out of me. I listened to it twice and I think if I heard it a third time I'd get angry.
And the article talks about how they've turned down a jeopardy-like theme song, along with a fake conversation. So this was #1 of 3 ideas? Those ideas are *all* horrible. I can think of a million ideas that would be better off the top of my head.
None of them involve a human pretending to be a computer, badly.
---
Even the audio from this would be better.
---
Ace
The interview transcript:
... what is it?"
... if you're going to talk about why I do that noise, don't get into all the super, very very technical aspects of how I came up with that. Just mention maybe, some of the contenders to that sound we had to eliminate using very very complicated, subjective, basic reasoning"
[...]
"The technical term is the fetch audio"
"Wow, that's very.... very technical. I'm not sure all of our readers will understand something of that complexity, could you explain it in very very simple terms. Something we could all relate to?"
"Well, basically, when the computer is getting information - this is the sound that plays"
"I still don't get it."
"Ok, you call - you ask for information - this is what plays"
"Wow. ok, and
"It's me pretending I'm a computer"
"Pretending! Doctor feynman, surely you're joking!"
"Well, yes... I am joking - it's a joke, because computers don't make that noise ever, and it doesn't sound like a computer at all, it sounds like me... spitting"
"Wow! that's fascinating"
"yeah.... yeah, sheila in accounting gets a kick out of it"
"Oh my god, so you get _requests_ to make that noise?"
"yep..."
"wow.... fascinating. absolutely fascinating. I don't understand anything you've just said - you must be eons beyond our human comprehension of space and time. How will I ever put this down on paper, in a way someone without a PHD could possibly understand?"
"Hrm... well.... let's not call it the... fetch.. audio - that is very complicated, and maybe
"Wow. thank you so much, this is going to be the best article my high school's every published!"
"high school!?"
"Could you do that sound for me? What do you call it?"
"... I call it the biddy-biddy-boop sound"
"But you never, ever make a biddy-biddy-boop sound while you're doing it"
"Shut up. [subject leaves]"
Ace
I'm sad that payphones are dying. I actually got a cellphone even though I don't want one since payphones are nearing extinction. Luckily, I found one for free, no contract for $6.66/month if you buy 3 months.
Anyway, on topic, I was looking up a fish & chips place on my cellphone using goog-411. It's called GB Fish & Chips, for Great Britain.
GOOG-411 dutifully pronounced: "Gigabyte Fish & Chips" I still laugh at that poor robot being forced to utter that phrase.
Man, you really need that seminar!