Could I Get That Song in Elvis, Please?
By BILL WERDE
Published: November 23, 2003
[I] magine having a singer with a world-class voice at your disposal, any hour of any day. She's just standing at the ready, game to perform whatever silly song you might make up for her: a ballad about her love for you, a tribute to your best friend's golf game, a stirring rendition of the evening's dinner menu.
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Close friends of Madonna or Mariah may already have had that pleasure, but for everyone else a new technology called Vocaloid may offer the next best thing. Developed at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and financed by the Yamaha Corporation, the software, which is due to be released to consumers in January, allows users to cast their own (or anyone else's) songs in a disembodied but exceedingly life-like concert-quality voice. Just as a synthesizer might be programmed to play a series of notes like a violin one time and then like a tuba the next, a computer equipped with Vocaloid will be able to "sing" whatever combination of notes and words a user feeds it. The first generation of the software will be available for $200. But its arrival raises the prospect of a time when anyone with a laptop will be able to repurpose any singer's voice or even bring long-gone virtuosos back to life. In an era when our most popular singers are marketed in every conceivable way ? dolls, T-shirts, notebooks, make-up lines ? the voice may become one more extension of a pop-star brand.
The human voice has proven the most difficult of all sounds to synthesize. Digital technology can produce something clear enough to convey meaning, but only in a clipped monotone that sounds more like a robot than a real live person. A convincing human voice, spoken or sung, with all its complex, flowing articulations and quivering uncertainties has been unattainable. Yamaha has not yet made Vocaloid available for scrutiny, but judging by some early samples and demonstrations, the company seem to have made that quantum leap.
You can think of the software as a kind of audio font: musical notation and lyrics can be translated into the chosen voice, then saved for replay, just as a word processor might translate a text into Helvetica or Times New Roman and print it out as many times as you like.
These fonts are made up of a database of phonemes, the basic sounds that make up any language. To create the database, technicians record a singer performing as many as 60 pages of scripted articulations (like "epp, pep, lep"). Assorted pitches and techniques like glissandos and legatos are also thrown in the mix; with all the combinations, the process takes a week of five-hour singing days. The resultant font is "reminiscent" of the singer's voice, says Ed Stratton, the managing director of Zero-G Limited, a London-based company that has licensed the Vocaloid technology.
Zero-G is using Vocaloid to create the first of these fonts: Leon, described as a "Virtual Soul Vocalist," and Lola, his female counterpart. The digitized duo will make their debut in January at the International Music Products Association conference in Anaheim, Calif.
The technology first attracted attention in March at Musikmesse, an annual music technology conference in Germany. Paul White, the editor of the British audio gear magazine Sound on Sound, was there for the demonstration. "A few simple tools were used to adjust inflection, tone, vibrato and so on," wrote Mr. White. "Within minutes, the computer was singing like a professional!" A Vocaloid version of the song "Amazing Grace" ? recorded with prototype technology, yet still more human sounding than any previous vocal synthesis ? was released on Yamaha's Web site shortly after the conference. Quickly, that sample drew links from sites in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Japan, Russia and the United States, setting Internet message boards and chat rooms buzzing.
In the case of Leon and Lola, session singers were hired to record what Mr. Stratton calls "generic soul-singing voices." The decision to start with soul was purely a
meaning without all the variations of unvoted 'chads', results will differ every time, just like they did in Florida (even though the results were slightly different, dubya still got the gold in those precincts in question).
Well, see, then you run into people who feel they are proficient enough to use a computer (and rightly so), but have no real clue in the area of security and virus protection. If they felt as such, they are more likely to skip over any help files or desktop introductions, defeating the purpose.
You use linux? Suuuure you do;) Just like the other 70% who say they do and the 3% that actually do...
This is a common security through obscurity tactic among those who want to try linux but haven't got around to it yet. I for one actually DO run linux:)
Slashdot Mirror
comes with wine and sleeping pills (refills not availible yet)
Could I Get That Song in Elvis, Please? By BILL WERDE Published: November 23, 2003 [I] magine having a singer with a world-class voice at your disposal, any hour of any day. She's just standing at the ready, game to perform whatever silly song you might make up for her: a ballad about her love for you, a tribute to your best friend's golf game, a stirring rendition of the evening's dinner menu. Advertisement Close friends of Madonna or Mariah may already have had that pleasure, but for everyone else a new technology called Vocaloid may offer the next best thing. Developed at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and financed by the Yamaha Corporation, the software, which is due to be released to consumers in January, allows users to cast their own (or anyone else's) songs in a disembodied but exceedingly life-like concert-quality voice. Just as a synthesizer might be programmed to play a series of notes like a violin one time and then like a tuba the next, a computer equipped with Vocaloid will be able to "sing" whatever combination of notes and words a user feeds it. The first generation of the software will be available for $200. But its arrival raises the prospect of a time when anyone with a laptop will be able to repurpose any singer's voice or even bring long-gone virtuosos back to life. In an era when our most popular singers are marketed in every conceivable way ? dolls, T-shirts, notebooks, make-up lines ? the voice may become one more extension of a pop-star brand. The human voice has proven the most difficult of all sounds to synthesize. Digital technology can produce something clear enough to convey meaning, but only in a clipped monotone that sounds more like a robot than a real live person. A convincing human voice, spoken or sung, with all its complex, flowing articulations and quivering uncertainties has been unattainable. Yamaha has not yet made Vocaloid available for scrutiny, but judging by some early samples and demonstrations, the company seem to have made that quantum leap. You can think of the software as a kind of audio font: musical notation and lyrics can be translated into the chosen voice, then saved for replay, just as a word processor might translate a text into Helvetica or Times New Roman and print it out as many times as you like. These fonts are made up of a database of phonemes, the basic sounds that make up any language. To create the database, technicians record a singer performing as many as 60 pages of scripted articulations (like "epp, pep, lep"). Assorted pitches and techniques like glissandos and legatos are also thrown in the mix; with all the combinations, the process takes a week of five-hour singing days. The resultant font is "reminiscent" of the singer's voice, says Ed Stratton, the managing director of Zero-G Limited, a London-based company that has licensed the Vocaloid technology. Zero-G is using Vocaloid to create the first of these fonts: Leon, described as a "Virtual Soul Vocalist," and Lola, his female counterpart. The digitized duo will make their debut in January at the International Music Products Association conference in Anaheim, Calif. The technology first attracted attention in March at Musikmesse, an annual music technology conference in Germany. Paul White, the editor of the British audio gear magazine Sound on Sound, was there for the demonstration. "A few simple tools were used to adjust inflection, tone, vibrato and so on," wrote Mr. White. "Within minutes, the computer was singing like a professional!" A Vocaloid version of the song "Amazing Grace" ? recorded with prototype technology, yet still more human sounding than any previous vocal synthesis ? was released on Yamaha's Web site shortly after the conference. Quickly, that sample drew links from sites in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Japan, Russia and the United States, setting Internet message boards and chat rooms buzzing. In the case of Leon and Lola, session singers were hired to record what Mr. Stratton calls "generic soul-singing voices." The decision to start with soul was purely a
Well, at least this shady side of journalism is working in favor of the victims, not the aggressors.
CMU Unveils Robot Hall Of Fame
Don't forget to collect your $699 non-linux money.
AYE!
Viva la Bam!!!
you didn't get the point. What I meant was, without the chad situation, the final count will differ each time there is a recount.
calling Dr. DMCA on line one... ...calling Dr. DMCA on line one...
meaning without all the variations of unvoted 'chads', results will differ every time, just like they did in Florida (even though the results were slightly different, dubya still got the gold in those precincts in question).
*cough* Florida *cough* *cough*
same priciple here
This guy's going to get hell for what he says, the school is going to sue him, and the creator gets more publicity.
SCO Calls GPL Uunenforceable, Void.
oh god not this troll again
Well, see, then you run into people who feel they are proficient enough to use a computer (and rightly so), but have no real clue in the area of security and virus protection. If they felt as such, they are more likely to skip over any help files or desktop introductions, defeating the purpose.
like the story itself?
This is a common security through obscurity tactic among those who want to try linux but haven't got around to it yet. I for one actually DO run linux :)
see also a comment about SCO (no, this is not a troll).
Copyright Extension In Australia
600 New Species of Fish Discovered.
Soon to come in 3004:
damn! a teenager on the street gave me another thought advertisement for some penis enlargment product
if the judge is from oklahoma, we must call him a local yocal
(see also Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America #27)
...and trying to solve a law problem with technology is also futile respectively.
I'm at a loss. Isn't that what they've been doing the whole time?