Autotune

So Robert showed me this last night, and I was showing it to Tory this morning: Autotuned speeches.

Autotuning is used to correct sung/spoken pitches to a uniform perfect-pitch. It's obviously used mostly by singers to perfect recorded tracks, but especially recently it's used as a stylistic choice (like Cher's "Believe" and anything with T-Pain :-P).

However, epic things happen when you Autotune historical speeches. This is my absolute favorite, probably because MLK has such a musical voice anyway:

(I totally downloaded the mp3 they made available)

How about Churchill?

Watch on YouTube

JFK's not too bad, either:

A little too much curious exploration reveals that not everything works with Autotune; Hitler, for instance, is recorded with too poor sound quality to really sound like much of anything interesting. And there's a lot of Autotuned news programs that are hit and miss, and often require a little too much tweaking/adding from the autotuners themselves for my tastes. (Though I have to admit, this clip at about 0:55 when Representative Boehner* shouts "Hell no, hell no, hell nooooo!" is pretty entertaining).

*Sadly, it's pronounced "BAY-ner." Damn that German oe=ay pronunciation. No one gets it right in my name, either, but at least I don't get little titters when it happens :-P

Edit (1:54 pm): Lol, so apparently there is an iTouch application called "I Am T-Pain" that is basically Autotuning. For instance: I've Got A Wii.

Autotune

So Robert showed me this last night, and I was showing it to Tory this morning: Autotuned speeches.

Autotuning is used to correct sung/spoken pitches to a uniform perfect-pitch. It's obviously used mostly by singers to perfect recorded tracks, but especially recently it's used as a stylistic choice (like Cher's "Believe" and anything with T-Pain :-P).

However, epic things happen when you Autotune historical speeches. This is my absolute favorite, probably because MLK has such a musical voice anyway:

(I totally downloaded the mp3 they made available)

How about Churchill?

Watch on YouTube

JFK's not too bad, either:

A little too much curious exploration reveals that not everything works with Autotune; Hitler, for instance, is recorded with too poor sound quality to really sound like much of anything interesting. And there's a lot of Autotuned news programs that are hit and miss, and often require a little too much tweaking/adding from the autotuners themselves for my tastes. (Though I have to admit, this clip at about 0:55 when Representative Boehner* shouts "Hell no, hell no, hell nooooo!" is pretty entertaining).

*Sadly, it's pronounced "BAY-ner." Damn that German oe=ay pronunciation. No one gets it right in my name, either, but at least I don't get little titters when it happens :-P

Edit (1:54 pm): Lol, so apparently there is an iTouch application called "I Am T-Pain" that is basically Autotuning. For instance: I've Got A Wii.

Writer's Block: 2012

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I'm throwing a party.

And also, just watching it. The end of the world could be beautiful.

Because in all honesty, it's kind of amazing and cathartic to know that you're one of the LAST of the human race. There will be no more after you. And what you have now and what you might have left behind won't matter, either: your job, your money, your cultural legacy-- not even your genes, which from a biological perspective were all that ever mattered in the first place. All you can do is make spiritual peace with your existence before you die. Am I the only one who thinks it sounds, in some ways, profoundly inspiring?

Of course, I would, like most people, "live like I was dying." I'd try not to grieve-- what good would it do, anyway?-- but I'd make love, eat my favorite foods, and try to connect one last time with all the people of importance to me. But unlike knowing I were to die from a terminal illness, etc, I'd waste little time writing a legacy for my survivors because there would be no survivors. I'd just live, enjoy, and ponder on what would happen next. It would actually be strangely liberating.

Then again, the world may not end in a bang, but slowly and painfully through the greenhouse gas effect or a nuclear winter, in which case it might difficult to think about much aside from the hunger pains in my belly, the burning sensation on my skin, or my dying consciousness as I inhale toxic fumes. Dominant 2012 theories imply the world's going to go out by a pole switch, which could either 1) disrupt the earth's crust and cause volcanic activity (unlikely) or 2) weaken the magnetosphere, which would leave us vulnerable to radiation and solar flares, which are scheduled to increase during 2011-2012. Volcanoes mean earthquakes and lava, but also toxic gas clouds that choke living things directly or by blocking the light from the sun. Radiation would be a slow death, though a direct hit from a solar flare could speed things along. However, if we went out by asteroid, etc, it could be pretty damn cool to watch.*

Anyway, yeah, as it-- whatever *it* is-- happens, I'd want to be outside in the light, holding hands and surrounded by my loved ones, watching and waiting in anticipation for that moment of awe.

*As implausible as all of these theories are, however, I have to say the most IMPLAUSIBLE theory I have encountered is that of the movie "2012," which suggests we will go out by MUTATED particles emitted from the sun. I did not see the movie, but Robert did, and apparently their explanation for the end of the world is that the sun's rays MUTATE into something weirder and more harmful. Now, if I remember anything from biology, it is that mutation is a a genetic process that occurs in cells-- not small-scale inanimate elements and compounds that do not possess genes and DNA. PARTICLES DON'T MUTATE. If you mean "mutate" in the vernacular sense of changing states, then there's a plethora of other more appropriate scientific terms you could have used.

I get that science fiction is fiction, but at least the good kinds manage to SOUND plausible. *Eyeroll.* I had no intention of ever seeing "2012" anyway, but existing 2012 theories have such intriguing material to work with, and they chose to reveal themselves as idiots instead. What a waste. UTTER FAIL, guys, UTTER FAIL.

Writer's Block: 2012

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I'm throwing a party.

And also, just watching it. The end of the world could be beautiful.

Because in all honesty, it's kind of amazing and cathartic to know that you're one of the LAST of the human race. There will be no more after you. And what you have now and what you might have left behind won't matter, either: your job, your money, your cultural legacy-- not even your genes, which from a biological perspective were all that ever mattered in the first place. All you can do is make spiritual peace with your existence before you die. Am I the only one who thinks it sounds, in some ways, profoundly inspiring?

Of course, I would, like most people, "live like I was dying." I'd try not to grieve-- what good would it do, anyway?-- but I'd make love, eat my favorite foods, and try to connect one last time with all the people of importance to me. But unlike knowing I were to die from a terminal illness, etc, I'd waste little time writing a legacy for my survivors because there would be no survivors. I'd just live, enjoy, and ponder on what would happen next. It would actually be strangely liberating.

Then again, the world may not end in a bang, but slowly and painfully through the greenhouse gas effect or a nuclear winter, in which case it might difficult to think about much aside from the hunger pains in my belly, the burning sensation on my skin, or my dying consciousness as I inhale toxic fumes. Dominant 2012 theories imply the world's going to go out by a pole switch, which could either 1) disrupt the earth's crust and cause volcanic activity (unlikely) or 2) weaken the magnetosphere, which would leave us vulnerable to radiation and solar flares, which are scheduled to increase during 2011-2012. Volcanoes mean earthquakes and lava, but also toxic gas clouds that choke living things directly or by blocking the light from the sun. Radiation would be a slow death, though a direct hit from a solar flare could speed things along. However, if we went out by asteroid, etc, it could be pretty damn cool to watch.*

Anyway, yeah, as it-- whatever *it* is-- happens, I'd want to be outside in the light, holding hands and surrounded by my loved ones, watching and waiting in anticipation for that moment of awe.

*As implausible as all of these theories are, however, I have to say the most IMPLAUSIBLE theory I have encountered is that of the movie "2012," which suggests we will go out by MUTATED particles emitted from the sun. I did not see the movie, but Robert did, and apparently their explanation for the end of the world is that the sun's rays MUTATE into something weirder and more harmful. Now, if I remember anything from biology, it is that mutation is a a genetic process that occurs in cells-- not small-scale inanimate elements and compounds that do not possess genes and DNA. PARTICLES DON'T MUTATE. If you mean "mutate" in the vernacular sense of changing states, then there's a plethora of other more appropriate scientific terms you could have used.

I get that science fiction is fiction, but at least the good kinds manage to SOUND plausible. *Eyeroll.* I had no intention of ever seeing "2012" anyway, but existing 2012 theories have such intriguing material to work with, and they chose to reveal themselves as idiots instead. What a waste. UTTER FAIL, guys, UTTER FAIL.