fancycwabs: (Default)
fancycwabs ([personal profile] fancycwabs) wrote2008-08-02 10:51 pm

It got Sam Cooke right, too. Or I did.

I thought I'd play around a little with the Midomi iPhone App, and see what songs came close when I sang 'em.


Previously I'd had some luck singing "Summer Nights," but there are plenty of bad examples of that for Midomi to compare. I thought I'd try some slightly more obscure items (not terribly obscure, as another human being--beyond the original artist--has to have covered the song a capella for Midomi to find a match).

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First, an attempt at Queen. Clearly I didn't do a great job, since it selected "Bohemium Rhapsody" as the first guess.

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Then, some Jonathan Coulton. I was surprised that the second (and only other) choice was TLC's "Waterfalls," as Coulton's cover version lifts just a little from "Leaving On a Jet Plane."

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As contrast, I tried my hand at the original. As a white man, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Midomi thought I was a white man trying to rap.

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Some Beatles,

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Who knew "I Touch Myself" and "You Were Meant For Me" could be confused for one another? I'm cuing up Jewel the next time I watch Austin Powers.

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Some relatively obscure Frank Sinatra,

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And some better-known Sinatra. Midomi has a hard time with things that have a rubato lead-in, like "Luck Be a Lady" because the singer's pauses can throw the rhythm off. On the other hand, I'm not surprised to see as many Japanese results, as I understand that "Ruck Be A Rady" is very popular with the Karaoke bunch--just behind "Moon Liver."

Anyone else out there with an iPhone, check it out! It's free, and you can see whether you can carry a tune in a bucket or not.

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