Yamaha Releases Singing Synthesis Software

loopdloop writes "The world's first singing synthesis software, Vocaloid, was released by Yamaha this month at the Los Angeles NAMM show. Simply type in the lyrics and notate the vocal expressions to create a completely computer-generated singer. There are also audio demos of the product available." Update: 01/26 21:14 GMT by S : An earlier NYT-authored preview of this software has also been covered on Slashdot.

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I'm impressed.

[emplynx]

That's quite amazing. Now we need a computer to write music and songs.

So...

[PakProtector]

...this is where Britney Spears' talent comes from!

I prefer SimpleText...

[OriginalSpaceMan]

It had multiple voices... and was fun. MC Hawking style.... "mmmmmmmMMMMMMMMM ya"

In other news...

[c0dedude]

Wow, this must make the RIAA's day. An artist who needs absolutly no pay and who really is property...

Only a first step

[why-is-it]

"The world's first singing synthesis software, Vocaloid, was released by Yamaha this month at the Los Angeles NAMM show.

Feh! They might be able to program something that sings better than Britney, but until they integrate it with something like this [realdoll.com], Ms Spears' talents will continue to be in demand...

Yay! No more Britney!

[Grey Ninja]

I guess Britney is going to be out of a job now. We all know that any computer can sing better than her, and since neither of them play an instrument, I guess she's screwed.

Not to mention that the computer is far sexier.

fp! (mine)

[psychoticmelody]

So will we finally get to replace the prime-time T.V. show American Idol??

Re:I'm impressed.

[aliens]

Done. [gla.ac.uk]


Well partly done. I'm sure you could program a computer program to make Teeny boober songs in an afternoon.

@lyrics = "Baby, ooooo, love, ooooo, dance, oooo, uhuhuh";

You get the idea ::)

Close the loop...

[xmark]

The logical next step would be a program that would listen to, and enjoy, the music that other computers write and sing.

Think of the time it would free up, and the money it would save - you would never have to buy CDs. *cough* of course, some people have already eliminated that expense.

Re:great...

[Ba3r]

...first, dancing robots and now singing computers

sigh... dancing, singing robots?, its been done [nsync.com]

so, i hear that

[DarkSkiesAhead]

Steven Hawking is trying to start up a band.

They now need to work on

[mc6809e]

Just listened to these.

While their "Volcaloid" tech is nice, their "Lyricoid" tech needs work.

Re:fp! (mine)

[Libertarian_Geek]

A combination of battlebots and american idol.
BattleIdols!
Where engineers compete to build the best computer synthesised pop singer.

This is new?

[LamerX]

I think my Sound Blaster Pro came with this software. It fit on a floppy disk, and you could make the computer sing whatever you typed in. In fact it also came with a psychiatrist named Dr Sbaitso. Just don't cus at him, he gets offended very easily.

Seriously, I'm sure that this new software is much better. At least I sure hope so...

Re:One for the road...

[Afrosheen]

Since they're so old and obsolete, if you find one in your attic, I'll take it off your hands for a cool $20 USD.

After listening the demo's, all I can say is

[Snork Asaurus]

"Don't quit your day job, Mr. Hawking."

(No disrespect intended).

Don't bring me down... Bruce!

[ThePretender]

I can't be the only one that thinks the background vocals sound like Electric Light Orchestra??

Re:I'm impressed.

[Anonymous Coward]

@transitions = ("and I'm singin'...", "sayin'...", "singin'...");

Re:so, i hear that

[vinsci]

Pay attention. And look here [mchawking.com]. :-)

Re:One for the road...

[gmaestro]

You clearly don't understand. This is the last piece in the puzzle of completely eliminating musicians. We have had a drum machine to replace you for a while, electronic instruments and MIDI.

Now we can finally get rid of these whiny musicians, always complaining about "I need to feed my family" and "I'm a professional and should be paid like one." Now all of those unskilled morons can be sent to fill up the thousands of food preparation and customer service jobs that our public school system can't seem to find enough people for.

Sorry about the offtopic (tongue firmly in cheek) rant. You're right. this does sound like a fun toy.

Re:Deja Vu

[kiolbasa]

The difference that the singing text-to-speech was just a silly hack of the speech-synthesis software. It wasn't designed for any serious musical use. And Dr. Sbaitso isn't a real psychiatrist.

Re:Deja Vu

[Afrosheen]

Ten years ago? BAH! Why 20 years ago my commodore 64 could do this with SID synthesis software.

Re:I'm impressed.

[el-spectre]

Ack, if you're gonna do something so evil, don't do it in perl... do it in some other language... VBScript for example...

Re:Deja Vu

[Short Circuit]

He certainly helped me set me straight.

I've been in love with computers ever since.

er...

Re:Deja Vu

[Drantin]

But... but he helped me through so many of my problems with day to day life!

Me: The kids at school are picking on me again.
DS: Why are the kids at school picking on you again?
Me: I dunno...
DS: Why do you dunno?

...never mind...

Re:Human voice

[Afrosheen]

I totally agree with you 100%. I mean, come on, the Terminator had a hella thick accent, and he came from like 30 years in the future.

Ah'll be BECK.

Re:Deja Vu

[bunyip]

Thanks for the info...

Has Simon Cowell (American Idol) reviewed this software?

Great.

[2names]

It's bad enough we have Cher and Madonna doing the fake electronic yodel dance, now every dipthong with a little cash will be creating them.

Ayaaaarghh!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Shite!! I pressed the back button and the General Midi Junior High Choir just won't stop playing!!

Re:So...

[rylin]

Britney Spears' *what*?

prank calls...

[biz0r]

Now I can finally make some real sounding prank calls for once! Oh the joy!

Although...most idiots out there fall for the midi based voices anyhow...

Groupies

[wpiman]

This just brings us another day closer to when engineers start having groupies.......

Re:One for the road...

[iapetus]

No, that's alright. I'm in a band that used Fruityloops on a laptop to provide drums until we managed to find a human drummer, but it kept terrible time - it was always out of time with the rest of the band by the end of the song...