[DECtalk] OT: Another Singing Synth!

Raymond Grote musicalman1 at comcast.net
Tue Nov 22 15:03:19 EST 2011


NOw that you mention it, I remember hearing that story. I actually saw the 
part in Space Odisey you're referring to, but I won't spoil it. I don't 
think there were any synth voices in that movie, since it was from 1968. I 
wonder, if it would have been created in 2001 if there would have been a 
synth in it. We'll never know.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jayson Smith" <ratguy at insightbb.com>
To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 1:12 PM
Subject: Re: [DECtalk] OT: Another Singing Synth!


> Daisy is a major one, with good reason. I don't know the exact historical
> details, but I think sometime back in the 1960's some programmers at Bell
> Labs programmed an IBM mainframe to sing that song. As far as I know that
> was the first singing computer. That program inspired a certain scene in
> 2001 a Space Odyssey. I won't say any more about that to avoid spoilage.
> So that's why lots of people make synths sing Daisy.
> Jayson
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Raymond Grote" <musicalman1 at comcast.net>
> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
> Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:58:15 -0500
> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] OT: Another Singing Synth!
>
>> Well, by substitute I meant something like Vocal Writer. I love the sound
> of
>> that synth and I thought Syng would be able to sound closer to that than
> DT.
>> And in some ways it does. I'll post some stuff in a bit. Maybe i'll even
>> recreate some synth classics, like Penny Lane and or Daisy Bell. Every
>> singing synth like this seems to have a demo for one or both of those.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Alex H." <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
>> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 12:26 PM
>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] OT: Another Singing Synth!
>>
>>
>> > No, well I didn't think it was a DT substitute anyway. Nothing can
>> > replace that beautiful synth! Yes, if you can post an MP3 of it, even
>> > though it's not perfect, please do. I'm interested to hear this now!
>> > :)
>> > thanks,
>> > Alex
>> >
>> > On 11/22/11, Raymond Grote <musicalman1 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> >> Well, this thing doesn't look like it's all I thought it would be. 
>> >> It's
>> >> certainly different from Dectalk, but it sounds rather strange. I made
> a
>> >> file of the ABCs, and even after spending around two hours on it, I
>> >> could've
>> >> done much better with Dectalk. So, I think Syng is more made for a
>> >> singing
>> >> robot sound effect, not for actually sounding like a person. You can
>> >> understand the words, but they won't sound natural. I'd compare it to 
>> >> a
>> >> Braille N speak type of synth sound, or an 80s synthesizer.
>> >> It definitely has its place, but it is not a Dectalk substitute! I
> wasn't
>> >> going to post any mp3s of it since  it didn't work out as I had
> expected,
>> >> however I am rethinking that decision and I might post some when I
> have
>> >> more
>> >> made. I can't find any audio demos of it from anyone else, at least in
> my
>> >> brief search, so maybe i'm not very good at it yet.
>> >> I'm pretty certain i'll post some demos for you to here, but still let
> me
>> >> know anyways if you want them or not. If enough people say no I won't
>> >> bother, but if people want to hear, which I expect many do, then I
> will.
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message -----
>> >> From: "Alex H." <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
>> >> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 11:17 AM
>> >> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] OT: Another Singing Synth!
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> Nice! Sounds pretty cool. Yeah, I'm not a MIDI expert by any means, 
>> >>> so
>> >>> it's over my head right there. lol
>> >>> thanks for posting though, sounds very cool.
>> >>>
>> >>> Alex
>> >>>
>> >>> On 11/22/11, Raymond Grote <musicalman1 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> >>>> Hi,
>> >>>> Just thought I'd inform you guys about a singing synthesizer This
> isn't
>> >>>> the
>> >>>> best list to put it on since it doesn't have much to do with
> Dectalk,
>> >>>> but
>> >>>>
>> >>>> it
>> >>>> has to do with singing synths. If you're a musician and are on any
> midi
>> >>>> and
>> >>>> audio mailing lists or forums, you might want to post it there
> because
>> >>>> it
>> >>>> might gain interest. Maybe some already use it.
>> >>>> So, what is it? It's called Syng, and it is a vst plugin.
>> >>>> Here's a little bit about it. You control it with midi, so if you're
>> >>>> not
>> >>>> well rehearsed with that, I would recommend getting somewhat
> familiar
>> >>>> on
>> >>>> that if you want to go through the trouble. On channel 1 you put the
>> >>>> notes
>> >>>> you want to sing, easy enough. The vocal range is very wide, in fact
> i
>> >>>> don't
>> >>>> see a limit yet, but I'd obviously stick to the middle, it sounds
> much
>> >>>> better there. On channel 2 you put the phonemes. It's sort of like
>> >>>> playing a
>> >>>> drum set, where every note is a different drum sound, in syng there
> are
>> >>>> forty-nine notes given to the forty-nine phonemes.
>> >>>> For anyone who doesn't understand any of that, please do not torture
>> >>>> yourself trying this. I don't want to be held responsible for your
>> >>>> frustration.
>> >>>> To keep from boring casual listers, I'll keep the rest of this 
>> >>>> brief.
>> >>>> It's a
>> >>>> freeby, which means you have to pay for it. Zero buks, in fact.
> Pretty
>> >>>> cheep, eh?
>> >>>> The manual, which is in pdf format, is readable, but there are a few
>> >>>> tables,
>> >>>> like those that describe the midi stuff, which are pretty confusing.
>> >>>> Not
>> >>>> only because the content is confusing but because of the layout. If
> it
>> >>>> gains
>> >>>> enough interest I'll consider converting it to text and making it
> easer
>> >>>> to
>> >>>> read, and maybe i'll write some stuff in myself if i'm brave enough.
>> >>>> As for how it sounds? The phonemes are in UK English, according to
> the
>> >>>> manual, so it will probably sound British, but to me it sounds
>> >>>> australian,
>> >>>> with the little i've played with it. I haven't ventured to look for
>> >>>> demos
>> >>>>
>> >>>> of
>> >>>> it yet since I'm still learning it, and I don't want to get
>> >>>> disappointed
>> >>>> with how bad it really is, or here how bad I am. I'm working on some
>> >>>> productions of my own, and if it's half decent, I'll make some demos
> of
>> >>>> my
>> >>>> own and give links to other demos if I find any. So with that said,
> the
>> >>>> link
>> >>>> to download it is:
>> >>>> http://www.xoxos.net/vst/vst.html
>> >>>> Click on the link that says "Download Syng2"
>> >>>> If you have any specific questions about how to do something, or 
>> >>>> what
>> >>>> something technical means, I'd recommend asking off list, although 
>> >>>> it
>> >>>> really
>> >>>> doesn't matter to me. It's more for the mods, owners, and other
> listers
>> >>>> who
>> >>>> aren't interested.
>> >>>> Enjoy!
>> >>>>
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