January 18, 2009

Three Microsoft Songsmith Abominations

This novelty has already worn out its welcome, but I guarantee that the flood hasn't even begun. Software like this is comparable to diet pills: they are both marketed as effortless solutions to whatever ails you. Do you lack musical talent? Do you suffer from obesity? No need to exercise or practice, just use our shitty product instead. Here's one of many demo videos Microsoft put together for the Songsmith software:

4 comments:

stexe said...

I haven't heard of this software before, and I just saw the demo video, but still don't understand how the three abominations were made: how were david lee roth, sting, and paul mccartney's voices isolated like that, and imported into the "new" material?

Tthe software might be new, but I don't see much theoretical difference between it and the casio keyboards with built-in drum machines and chord accompaniment which have been around for ages. It's a fun way to pass the time, and if you're putting in just a particle of interactivity, that makes it exponentially more worthwhile than watching television or playing guitar hero. Wether or not anyone wants to hear it is a different story.

And I believe musical talent to be overrated. It's more important to be creative, regardless of technical ability. Microsoft songsmith and its ilk seem to suppress creative tendencies, but it's clearly a consumer product, not an artist's tool.

Lance Ehlers said...

They're using some other whiz-bang piece of software to isolate the vocals beforehand, then feeding it into Songsmith.

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