"Name that tune" - Google style

[Ron Mummert]

I've had the opening few bars of a song, stuck away in my head, that I heard on the radio in 1970 or there-abouts. I don't think the FM station ever mentioned the artist or name of the piece, but it has haunted me for decades. Fortunately I don't think about this tune CONSTANTLY, but it has a way of drifting into my fore-brain, or what's left of it, on certain occasions usually involving fluids drained from a box. The music's genre is sort of folk-rock-psychedelic, sung by a female, sounding sorta like Joan Baez, but it's not her, at least I don't think it is. No, I'm not going to try to play it on my kazoo for you. I've done searches on Amazon.com/music, taken wild guesses & purchased old vinyl records from the era to no avail. Last night I was bouncing links on Amazon & found an instrumental by an obscure group that came REAL CLOSE to these few bars I'd heard over 30 years ago, but alas...it wasn't the real McCoy.
Now I'm wondering...... With all the trillions of phrases that we can feed Google & within seconds, be zeroed in to obscure text: Is there a computerized miracle out there that lets us (I don't know how this would work) somehow "key in", "whistle", "hand-fart" or whatever, a number of notes that would take us to a song title? I would actually PAY REAL MONEY to a service that could do this. I figure with speech recognizing technology actually working, that this idea would be a logical next step, especially for the creative techies that frequent these forums. I'm I just dreaming, or would something like this be remotely feasible?

Ron (now playing Flight of the Bumblebee with hand & armpit)

[rufus]

Do you remember any of the words? I had a similar problem, and tried typing in every word I could remember from the song and Googling the whole lot. Shazam, there it was. My life is much more complete now. I feel for you, Ron, floundering about in a sea of musical uncertainty.

[LarryIII]

Ron,

Was it sung on Lucky Strike's "Your Hit Parade", by Snookie Lansing?

Ron-

I don't have an answer for you, but I can at least offer you some hope..

there exists computer software which is designed to manage MASSIVE media libraries.. pictures, movies, songs, etc. etc. etc. if you worked at a video production office and had like 8 terrabytes (1tb = 1,000gb that's a lotta information) of music, videos, and images which you could use to make your commercials, you would want an easy way to catalog it all..

even the police have software now which can match faces to pictures, as we all heard about in the last super bowl where they had cameras scanning each entrance.

i don't know of any software which exists to dig through audio, but I am positive that there is software which will sort through a million photographs and bring you all the pictures of people who look like Larry Trois.. of course it might throw in a couple pictures of Annette Benning just for fun, but it'd probably be pretty accurate..

anyway, hope exists, you just might have to wait a bit..

-adam

Ron:

Was it perhaps something by Buffie St. Marie? If you don't know of her, she's a Native American contemporary of Baez, etc., whose voice was similar, but whose folk songs were more on the style you mentioned.

(If this suggestion doesn't help, try drinking out of other end of box.)

Whatever, good luck,

Dan

[Ron Mummert]

Thanks guys.

To Rufus: Get real! I can't remember the words to The Star Spangled Banner. Anyway, Real Men don't pay attention to lyrics.

To LarryIII: That would have been Giselle McKenzie, but no - not her either.

To Dan: Yes, I remember Buffie NOT the Vampire Slayer. I'll go back to Amazon & see what develops.

To Adam: I assign you the task of developing this software. But PLEASE, no opera that could subject the public to the voice of LarryTercero.

To those of adventerous nature, go to Amazon/music. Go to Song Title. Enter Queen St. Gang. It pulls up group Arzachel. Go to album entry with musical download capability. Press & listen. This interlude is somehow similar, but, no it's not what I'm looking for.

While I'm on a roll, I address to you another question that has
puzzed me for ages, from the, "An Infinate Number of Monkeys department.

Every now & then some musician/composer wants to sue another musician/composer for "copying" or plagerizing a particular tune. It amazes me that it so seldom happens, & with SO MUCH output over the years using the same limited number of notes; why hasn't obscure composer in Buffalo, NY in 1968, penned a melody identical to one done by another in Perth, Australia in 1966?
Yet, only rarely do we say "That sounds exactly like......"

Ron (In deep, profound confusion again).

[Trevor]

Hi Ron,

Many moons ago, ( say 50+ yrs !) we had a local radio programme called "Switches". The idea was that people put forward songs which used the same melody or a melody from the classics. It was amazing how many parallel examples existed and in many cases many more than one example sharing the same melody.

Not many of the present 2-3 chord strummer's offerings could be shown to be original. With many I find myself two or three bars ahead knowing what is coming next as the structure is so simple and obvious. Most 2-3 chord sequences can be found in truly vintage traditional folk music. Makes me wonder if anyone has compiled a book on the subject as the history would be very interesting. But as you say there sure has been a stack of tunes compiled from what amounts to only a few notes.

Trust you are boxing on. Brewing fine this way, Trevor. *<)

[CDG]

Song writers write Lyrics, Musicians add the music. And another Artist plays it all. If the Writer, Lyracist, and Player are all the same, and another artist redoes it AND makes money, then they sue. But most of the time, the re-make is done with permission, or at least within the same Label, so the remake artist is off the hook.
Now lets take to new form of pladgerism(spelling) called Sampling, found in all Trance, makes it impossible.
Sampling is allowed, because the Artist is not writing, adding, or playing the music, they are Mixing it(DJ, or CDJ).
The most famous, who you should all remember, is Boy George, beleive it or not he's pretty good, and has his own club in London, where many new DJs come and mix their tunes, and the public, young and old, listen to it while on "E".

BTW, copying anothers tune is actually flattery, and most artists are happy when its done, as it promotes the listener to recall and request the original. Only the very strange, or has been Artists sue for copywrite infridgement.

Well, what was the question again??? CRAFT!

[KennEls]

Yeah too right, things change, The Beatles song Yesterday was not copyrighted because Paul McCartney composed the music in a dream and was convinced that he must have heard it somewhere before. So this has become the most recorded (re-recorded) of all their tunes. Oh and yes if you shut your eyes and listen Boy George ain't too bad.

Was there a question? uhm........

[Ron Mummert]

Originally posted by KennEls
Yeah too right, things change, The Beatles song Yesterday was not copyrighted because Paul McCartney composed the music in a dream and was convinced that he must have heard it somewhere before. So this has become the most recorded (re-recorded) of all their tunes. Oh and yes lshut your eyes and isten to Boy George he ain't bad.

Was there a question? uhm........

Yes.....there was a question. But it's too far back & ICRAFT either.
The point was if Ludwig Von Dingelbeern had composed "Yesterday" in 1760, but failed to record the work due to the Great European Iron Oxide Famine of 1759, & Yoko wasn't yet invented to promote this ditty; would it have forever been lost to obscurity until Shirley McClain channeled it to McCartney in 1966? Are a lot of today's tunes really reincarnations of Rome's, Nero & the Flamin' Fiddlers output of 476 A.D.? How would we know? Was P. Diddy's output preceeded by Poo Doody, the 12th century acostic bamboo wacker from Madagascar?
Yeah...That's the question , by George.

Ron (promoting a Club of Culture).

i'm only 19...20 in like a week...so i know it may seem weird i'm posting to this thread. but i listened to that song on amazon...and that interlude is a bit off...but it strongly reminds me of a song. and i know it's an older tune. for the life of me, i can't remember the title...or the words...but i know that tune. i will rack my brain to try to come up with it...and i'll post if i remember. doesn't help that i have some fun juice affecting my brain right now...but i shall try! this may be a long night on kazaa...

[Landshark]

Ron,
just suck it up and enjoy the insanity. we can't always find the answer.

[Bobb]

Hi Ron, For myself, I've found that if I can't come up with a name or some other bit of trivia my little grey cells keep on working on the problem. And then any time between minutes or weeks it pops up in my head. It does'nt always work but maybe down the road ithe song will pop up and all will be clear. Sometime if I don't write it down , by the time I see the person I wanted to tell I've forgotten again. The lessen? Always have pen/pencil and paper at all times. Hope you remember. Take care, BOBB

[Ron Mummert]

Originally posted by srmifer
i'm only 19...20 in like a week...so i know it may seem weird i'm posting to this thread. but i listened to that song on amazon...and that interlude is a bit off...but it strongly reminds me of a song. and i know it's an older tune. for the life of me, i can't remember the title...or the words...but i know that tune. i will rack my brain to try to come up with it...and i'll post if i remember. doesn't help that i have some fun juice affecting my brain right now...but i shall try! this may be a long night on kazaa...

As I said before, I never knew the song title or the singer's name, so it's not a matter of trying to recall something. It's the TUNE that won't go away, not that I want it to. And, yes, the interlude you heard has a similar minor key chord structure. If I could write music, it would help, but I can't. Once again, I heard the song a few times on a Wash. DC "Top 40" type FM station, somewhere around 1973ish. Female singer with a "sweet" voice (as opposed to Janis Joplin, e.g.). If you can nail this one, Andrew, it's worth a six pack o' Mobile 1 to ya'...& don't try to drink it - You're under 21.

Ron (Wine drops keep fallin' on my head...).

[ensteele]

Originally posted by Bobb
The lessen? Always have pen/pencil and paper at all times. Hope you remember. Take care, BOBB

But I forget to keep it with me! And I still have this stupid string on my finger for some odd reason!