Song Identification software

old Guy

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Sorry very aware of Soundhound and Shazam. Question for a Friend. Is there a similar app that will Identify a song played on a guitar?

My friend writes after trying Soundhound (Shazam does not identify at all what hes trying to achieve)

quote :
I tried again with the guitar through an amp using soundhound. It reckoned I was playing Day Tripper by ELO, and Walk Don't Run by some band I've not heard of. It didn't recognise any of the other songs I tried playing. I reckon it's probably identifying the songs by the main melody line, so it doesn't work very well with guitar riffs and chord progressions. Shame.

I'll check out that session when I've got some time to indulge. Thanks.
 

old Guy

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Hornucopia

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People used to come into (Beaver Radio) record shop in Liverpool and say ' have you got a song that goes like this....da/dade/da/de dah......'
Also into my library in North Shields similarly.
The guys in the record shop kept a list of the craziest Country song titles.
Both places were pretty good at knowing!
 
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bencat

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People used to come into (Beaver Radio) record shop in Liverpool and say ' have you got a song that goes like this....da/dade/da/de dah......'
Also into my library in North Shields similarly.
The guys in the record shop kept a list of the craziest Country song titles.
Both places were pretty good at knowing!
Sadly Beaver Radio (nee Rubelows) has long since closed and I think is now a fish and chip shop . Not too sure if any Library would still offer this service today . Love the idea of going in and singing in my deep but truly cracked voice and expect anyone to know what the hell it was . :eek:
 

montesquieu

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I think there's a misunderstanding here about what Shazam and the like are doing. They aren't (as your friend seems to think) identifying the melody line at all. Essentially they are comparing characteristics of the digital patterns present in a sample recorded by the enquirer's phone/ipad against a pre-existing sample from a database. The specific track in its complete rounded performance needs to exist already in recorded form before it can find a match for it. In that way it can distinguish between, say, a live and studio version of the same song, or two different conductors' recordings of the same Beethoven symphony. It's not hearing music, simply comparing patterns of 0s and 1s.

There is software out there that can capture note pitches and timing values from sound it 'hears' - quantising them and scribing this into a score - but the chances of what it captures being successfully matched against any other person's performance (which is almost certain to have different timing and even different notes, and therefore would be differently written when scribed) are very small - and there would need to be some kind of notated source to compare this against which in itself would be subject to the same variability. Interesting exercise but I think still well beyond the capabilities of any machine, however 'intelligent'. Currently, only humans can hear a street busker murder the opening chords of Wonderwall and have any idea what's coming.

Lyrics are different, there are all sorts of intelligent ways to compare something typed (or even speech-to-text captured) against a database of lyrics, and come up with a match. But it's comparing textual info not a melody line.
 
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Hornucopia

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Sadly Beaver Radio (nee Rubelows) has long since closed and I think is now a fish and chip shop . Not too sure if any Library would still offer this service today . Love the idea of going in and singing in my deep but truly cracked voice and expect anyone to know what the hell it was . :eek:
I was having lunch on Sunday with an ex-Beaver Radio employee-Barry Forshaw, now running 'Crime time' and writing books! I recall Nems - same street, famous now for Beatles manager, Brian Epstein....loved their sound booths in 1960!
North Shields Libray service was very advanced in the early 70s; new library, lots of records......keen librarian, plus me with my 'pop sensibilities'!

Took me several listens to Al Jarreau before I realised he was singing words to 'Aranjuez'!
 

old Guy

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I think there's a misunderstanding here about what Shazam and the like are doing. They aren't (as your friend seems to think) identifying the melody line at all. Essentially they are comparing characteristics of the digital patterns present in a sample recorded by the enquirer's phone/ipad against a pre-existing sample from a database. The specific track in its complete rounded performance needs to exist already in recorded form before it can find a match for it. In that way it can distinguish between, say, a live and studio version of the same song, or two different conductors' recordings of the same Beethoven symphony. It's not hearing music, simply comparing patterns of 0s and 1s.

There is software out there that can capture note pitches and timing values from sound it 'hears' - quantising them and scribing this into a score - but the chances of what it captures being successfully matched against any other person's performance (which is almost certain to have different timing and even different notes, and therefore would be differently written when scribed) are very small - and there would need to be some kind of notated source to compare this against which in itself would be subject to the same variability. Interesting exercise but I think still well beyond the capabilities of any machine, however 'intelligent'. Currently, only humans can hear a street busker murder the opening chords of Wonderwall and have any idea what's coming.

Lyrics are different, there are all sorts of intelligent ways to compare something typed (or even speech-to-text captured) against a database of lyrics, and come up with a match. But it's comparing textual info not a melody line.
Thanks: well written piece. I let my friend read it he commented back

quote

Thanks, that's interesting but I'm not convinced that person is entirely correct.

IIRC doesn't at least one of the music ID apps state that it can recognise a song if you hum it? If that is right then the software can't just be comparing the input with digital samples from actual recorded songs.
 

montesquieu

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Thanks: well written piece. I let my friend read it he commented back

quote

Thanks, that's interesting but I'm not convinced that person is entirely correct.

IIRC doesn't at least one of the music ID apps state that it can recognise a song if you hum it? If that is right then the software can't just be comparing the input with digital samples from actual recorded songs.

I think the key phrase here is 'IIRC' though would be extremely interested in the technology behind any app making that claim.

EDIT: just found this, fascinating, need to dig in and see what sits behind - the database that sits behind this is relatively small in musical terms (around half a million tunes).

https://screenrant.com/google-hum-search-song-identification-android-ios-explained/
 
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old Guy

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I think the key phrase here is 'IIRC' though would be extremely interested in the technology behind any app making that claim.

EDIT: just found this, fascinating, need to dig in and see what sits behind - the database that sits behind this is relatively small in musical terms (around half a million tunes).

https://screenrant.com/google-hum-search-song-identification-android-ios-explained/
My friend said and i copy and paste

checked after sending my message and several apps claim they can identify a hummed or whistled song.
I don't know if it's related but I remember reading several years ago that software could identify songs by a sequence of note changes. It didn't need to know the notes or the size of the steps. It was simply whether the next note was higher, lower, or the same as the previous note.

E.g The Day Tripper riff would be 1HHHHLLHLHH from the beginning.

Edit: all that rocket science to me went right over my head. I am just the goffa :) but I want to add something. If anyone's reading this on a Mac. With music playing in the background. Ask Siri to tell you what the tune playing is. I do not know how. But it works.
 
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TIU

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Sadly Beaver Radio (nee Rubelows) has long since closed and I think is now a fish and chip shop . Not too sure if any Library would still offer this service today . Love the idea of going in and singing in my deep but truly cracked voice and expect anyone to know what the hell it was . :eek:
You could still in and sing for your supper.
 
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tuga

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Sorry very aware of Soundhound and Shazam. Question for a Friend. Is there a similar app that will Identify a song played on a guitar?

My friend writes after trying Soundhound (Shazam does not identify at all what hes trying to achieve)

quote :
I tried again with the guitar through an amp using soundhound. It reckoned I was playing Day Tripper by ELO, and Walk Don't Run by some band I've not heard of. It didn't recognise any of the other songs I tried playing. I reckon it's probably identifying the songs by the main melody line, so it doesn't work very well with guitar riffs and chord progressions. Shame.

I'll check out that session when I've got some time to indulge. Thanks.
To the best of my knowledge these apps recognize recordings not music.
 

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