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30 Comments
- badtz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7WOW! That DOES sound amazing! So many times I've lost ideas because I didn't have have a fast and intuitive way of jotting it down. I guess audio recording could somewhat work also, but not as pretty :)
- Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Will "Whistler" work? No, I seriously doubt it. There's a reason most of the existing apps that do the things talked about in the article are tricky to use, and a bit flaky - this is a *damn hard* problem to solve, even if you have a competent musician generating the input for it.
But that doesn't mean something nice might not come out of the attempt to make it. So fair play to the folks involved, and good luck. Me? I'll stick with Ableton and learning how to make music myself in the old-fashioned way... ;) - CrankyMcGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Voting will be later today. This app has been a favorite of mine since the beginning. I don't want another newsreader or cooking database app to win. I want something new and innovative. Besides, I want to use this app! Also, the contestant has been really active in the forums unlike Desktop Wars' contestant. He should be good to work with for the developers - something they've insisted needs to be present or they'll pan the app...
People should vote just to get their hands on Voice Candy. ;) - StellarlyAstral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4What about the value it has in writing music. It would make things much easier for tunes on the brain.
- kevin.gc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Everyone vote for this guy when the polls come up!
- gargantuan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Pointless? Breaking down the barrier that prevents people who can't read or write music (but who may still be very musicaly gifted) from creating real music using this app and their own brain? Well I guess the universe just peaked if that kind of idea is pointless.
- Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@tumult: I guess it's my reward for trying to keep some realism going around here... :)
I wish the Whistler people all the luck in the world, seriously. But there are so many apps trying to do single features from its wish-list, and entire companies focussing on solving the same difficult problems, and even *they* can't get just one of them completely working. I think it's an unrealistic set of expectations.
But I'll gladly eat my words if I'm proven wrong. - Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's nice to see that at least some people have a grasp of how complex digital music production is, let alone making the applications for it.
There's more reasons this app can't be made than can (speech recognition alone is in it's infancy still, and that's dealing with far less potential for error), and if you have even the slightest grasp of music composition, production or even just basic common sense, you'd easily see that.
If they can pull it off, i'll eat both my hat and my shoes, but i know for a fact i wont have to. - ophello, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
This would indeed be an incredible app. A fun toy for non-musicians, and an invaluable and liberating tool for composers (like me). There is indeed a mountain of programming for whoever decides to develop it. It's not really an "if", but a "when" this app (or something like it) will become available.
Wouldn't the user have to go through a sonic profile creator so that the computer can sample different pitches of your voice and whistling? Wouldn't this make the concept more feasable? I'll submit this question to the developers...
One thing is certain: if and when this hits market, it won't be cheap. - Rageous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ Sartori
I don't underestimate the work at all. The idea was hashed out quite a bit with Jason Harris of Unsanity fame, and cross-discussed with a number of sources within the Berklee synthesis department, both faculty and students. When I discussed a developer piecing together an app like this I assumed it a given that said developer would already be familiar with interfacing software for music, whether that be as a Logic programmer (a few are interested) or a plugin developer on KVR Audio.
We've sat and parsed out pretty much everything that would be necessary to make this project work, and it's a MASSIVE undertaking. I pointed out things like Max/MSP and Melodyne to illustrate that the concept is *possible*, though by all means it will almost require a reinvention of the wheel, so to speak.
Glad you guys are enjoying the read, I had fun with the topic. :) - streetstealth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This has been attempted before:
http://www.wildcat.com/Web/Wildcat/Html/Site/Homepage.htm
I'm guessing Whistler would have a much better interface, though. - weareglass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is BS. A friend of mine who has been writing and performing music since we were in high school (10 years ago), has been in countless bands and released more CDs of his material, solo and with others, than you can shake a stick at, would always complain to me when we worked together than he'd get a melody in his head and have to focus on remembering it all through the work day and record it on a four-track the very minute he got home. He could really have used something like this.
- spoier, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Hell yeah... this is why I love my Mac. So many crazy innovative and aesthetically pleasing apps out there to discover. Hope it gets made!!
- buglord, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This would be sooo much fun with a few beers and a fatty :D
- unloud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2While you are being resonable, I think that they could truly come up with something original by trying and something impressive by trying. I think the problem is just that nobody has had the right approach yet, and I'm praying that they do.
Either way, I'd rather they shoot for something innovative and get somewhat less this time around than just give us the same old cookbook or another RSS reader. - Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@unloud:
I totally agree that the attempt could produce something worthwhile. It's certainly better than aiming low and getting something crappy or, yes, another RSS reader. I genuinely do wish them luck, hopefully they'll meet all their goals.
But the attitude in the linked article is that these are mostly solved problems, so there should be no real difficulty in combining them into an application. Indeed, they even say that if it doesn't win the dream app contest that "...it’s a worthy project for an Objective C programmer to pick up and put together". And that's just plain underestimation of the difficulty of the work involved - maybe a couple of programmers, if they have a grasp of audio coding already, but certainly it's not just a case of assembling a bunch of existing code with a nice front-end. - SVPirate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'd really like ot see that, that exact scenario has happened to me more times than I can even remember, almost daily. I'm a fairly musical person but I lack 2 things - the co-ordination to play anything, and he patience to learn how. This might at least give me the headstart I've been looking for...
- Sartori, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Rageous:
Thanks for the reply :)
Seems like I just got the wrong end of the stick then re. the underestimation - glad I was wrong on that count! With a bunch of such knowledgable collaborators, the possibility of such an app actually working are definitely much greater. Although I'm a coder I've not done very much in the way of synthesis, so I only have the vaguest concept of exactly how complex the task at hand is - but as I said, I wish you all the best with it. Fingers crossed! :) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"But the nature of what the program intends to do is far more ambitious at the core than imagined by Richard or the developers who selected it as a finalist, not quite realizing the potential for a full-blown white elephant."
Ummm yeah A 5 year old child could of told you that. - ssWhiplash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't think that this tool is going to allow somebody who's tone deaf and can't keep a beat to make great music. But it could be a fantastic idea catcher. I've been drumming for 20 years and it's no problem for me to sit on the drums and whip out whatever flies into my head. But I also have an ear for harmony and melody, but I have no way to get that stuff out because I can't play a guitar or piano well enough! It's like having a bunch to say but having your lips taped closed! This program would be amazing, because I could just whistle whatever comes into my head, assign a patch to it, and I've got a great first draft of my idea.
With regards to technical limitations... don't tell me this can't be done. There's programs NOW that do pitch correction, beat matching and the rest. The only problem we have is that the front ends are designed for pro musicians and require too much knob tweaking. - dandiemer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2it has my vote.
- ssWhiplash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm with you. If I see one more crappy recipe database or something-or-other manager, I'm going to freak out. We have all this horsepower on our desks now and what do we spend time writing? Programs that simply convert paper and ink to 0's and 1's. Enough! Make my computer do something crazy! Something I could never do with any other tool. Whistler NEEDS to be written.
- StellarlyAstral, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3By far my favorite.
- sp3ccylad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I really like the idea, and I'm on record as liking it. I tried a Whistler-style experiment in Logic Pro and it was a disaster - but that's not to say it can't be done. Let's just say it probably needs an app to itself.
Oh, I forgot - that's what we're discussing here: an app to do this one thing.
Go for it, Mr Whitelock. - random44, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is a pretty innovative idea, and it looks like the developers are serious about the ability to make it into an awesome and useful app. The voting's been slightly delayed until tomorrow, so make sure to come back around. :)
- dogfukka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1phew-wee (whistle) - bet everything gets translated as Yellow Rose of Texas
- noreturn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I assure you that nobody with musical talent needs to whistle their tunes to a computer.
But go ahead and bury my comment. After that, you should join American Idol and stare confusedly at Simon when he tells you that you have no grasp of what making music actually requires and perhaps you'd be better off sticking to whistling. - tumult, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1why is this guy being dugg down?
- dmoney06, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I really don't understand how this app is feasible. If it does work great, but I have a feeling its going to be incredibly buggy.
- noreturn, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Yeah, this sounds like it would be fun for all of 15 minutes. You know, before you realize it holds absolutely no practical value. Innovative and feasible it may be; it still seems pointlessly boring.
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