When we first came across Microsoft Songsmith, it was the promo video that made us cringe. But the song-making software is inspiring a whole new genre on YouTube where people alter famous music videos and concert footage by stripping out the original instruments and replace them with tinny keyboards or folk banjos, and keep the vocals. The results are a twisted breed of classic hits that are fascinating in the same way that terrible automobile accidents are. Once you start watching, it is hard to look away.
These songs as sung through Songsmith have become a popular meme. Music from the Beatles to “Nirvana to Radiohead have all gotten the Songsmith treatment. There is even a heavy metal version of the Rickroll. Youtube member azz100c, who also appears to be the author of the Journeys of Jack Tripper blog, is particularly obsessed (and adept) at making these Songsmith classics.
Below I present some of the best of the worst.
“White Wedding,” Billy Idol
“Roxanne,” The Police
“Wonderwall,” Oasis
“Just What I Needed,” The Cars
“Beat It,” Michael Jackson
I will never listen to Oasis the same way again. Ugh.
Really. Songsmith just turned a couple of Classics into late 90’s Nokia Ringtones.
Technology wise those are cool, music wise those are horrible. They ruined Wonderwall lol.
Despite all the anti-Microsoft rheoric, they’re coming out with some pretty amazing creations – songsmith and photosynth are pretty dang cool.
“Roxanne,” The Police, was truly amusing. The pause in between the music and singing makes it even more hilarious. People are going to have a blast creating these.
I’m dying laughing at Roxanne. Its actually not bad though.
ya I usually hate it
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This is the worst I have heard the songs, God!
Ah, the wonders of technological innovation … (sigh)
But its amazing what this piece of software can do. i might just buy one for kicks
Assuming that you’re serious, then I agree with you. Anyone using these videos to make fun of what Songsmith can do is missing the point. Songsmith can make songs in a variety of styles, tonalities, etc, and each of these was carefully crafted to make Songsmith sound stupid.
Obviously, preposterous styles were chosen. Also, some of the songs originally in minor keys were given accompaniments in major. Roxanne’s vocals seem to be at a different tempo than the music. Of course it’s going to sound silly!
Songsmith is occasionally impressive, and can yield good results when the goal isn’t to poke fun at it’s creators. It’s not going to give you the same result as if you write and arrange your own accompaniment, but for it’s intended purpose, it actually works reasonably well.
Huh? What kind of Crack are you smoking? Songsmith just turned those beloved songs into soundtracks for NES games… I get more depth on my Nokia 8100 ring-tone creator.
Don, did you even READ what Mike wrote? These examples have been created to show the worst of what Songsmith can do, so of course they’re going to sound bad. Youtube is full of examples of good results.
Your argument has about the same depth as your Nokia 8100 ring-tone creator.
My god these are annoying, except the Cars song, that was annoying to begin with. This new version might actually be an improvement over the original.
The funniest is soulja boy – crank that swing
http://www.yout...h?v=uNf35E_rWMw
Wow, these are totally fascinating. I’m mesmerized by The Police & Oasis.
This makes me actually want to download Songsmith and make some of my own.
On a related note, it’s kind of surprising that a Rock Band-esque genre of Karaoke has not yet sprung up, where people perform the instrumental tracks as part of a Karaoke performance. I wonder how long that’ll take.
Yes, you are right! Why is there no Karaoke. This seems to be very good for Zune and Songsmith.
The versions of The Police & Oasis are fantastic. Now I love them so much, that it as very good reason for getting Songmith.
So my big takeaway from this (besides busting a gut) is: hey, SongSmith is pretty cool. Sure, the styles are totally inappropriate for the songs as we know ‘em, but you know what? They sound like plausible, hellish, ill-intentioned Muzak remixes. Which I think is kind of impressive for a mindless piece of software.
I’ve always thought that Billy Idol was bit creepy…
I will never look at Roxanne the same again
Roxanne’s stocks just went up in my book
Haha, Roxxane is the best!
Come on, Erick. Even Linus Torvalds loved it! http://torvalds.../fantastic.html
Two words.
Intolerable cruelty!
Poor microsoft
All I have to say is that the Songsmith version of Billy Idol’s White Wedding is waaaay better than the original. Though, this is coming from someone who highly dislikes Billy Idol.
Why is microsoft doing such things to innocent people. I tried listening to oasis wonderwall, man they have screwed the song …… Please microsoft stop ruining the classics….
Is this the tech developed by Univ of Washington and MS???
http://sridharo.../04/mysong.html
Nope, I like the original Billy Idol’s “White Wedding”. Way better.
You left out the best one, by far! Van Halen as a crappy airport bar band:
http://www.yout...h?v=8kxqMpGAL3I
M$ payperpost for a ridiculously crappy product
We’ll be hearing this stuff at the grocery store very soon.
This software and its marketing campaign are giving people something they obviously are willing to spend time (=time of their life) on.
No doubt, from a musical standpoint this is a catastrophy.
But although nearly everybody else denies it: the product and even more its marketing are a big hit (especially cause it seems to go viral).
All the Songsmith remixes are lovingly curated at Wrongsmith.
Songsmith is a small program designed to bring a little lighthearted fun into a family setting.
It is NOT for jaded, spiritually empty hipsters who chase fads for a living.
Grow up and stop being such insufferable assholes all the time. How can you stand yourself?
Really? That’s why they advertise the song as helping a band member make new songs, or an advertising exec producing a new jingle?
But your little empty hipster line was cute, really.
Amazing what TechCrunch considers as news these days. People have been doing this for years and years by separating the tracks of a song and re-recording using different instruments and vocals. Hell, the Rap industry would be nothing if it were not for sampling and track rearrangement. How is this any different? Oh, I forgot, this is a Microsoft software. And this being TechCrunch and Erick Schonfeld is the author, it makes sense because it is Microsoft bashing.
This story is just as low as the story on the sex device that found its way into TechCrunch’s superior reporting.
Michael, what happened to you guys?
Lighten up, Jim. They’re just YouTube videos.
That is exactly it, Erick. They are just YouTube videos of silly people doing silly things with software. Do you realize how many such videos exist? Whats going to be next? How about the number of silly songs produced with Garageband? Oh no, that is an Apple product and we worship apple. Apple is good because Steve is God!
How this will do in coming days ? – Pradeep
This is informative, – Pradeep
Related articles about this ? – Pradeep
Metal Rules, but after hearing Van Halen and Ozzy stripped of drums and guitar, I’ve been shaken to the core. Bluegrass and lounge music are not friends of Heavy Metal. Funny?…yes…but I died a little after listening.
hey it finally made oasis a decent sound!
lol i can finally listen to the entire song!
I hate the police so much less now Lol
Wow dude you did pick some good ones for sure!
RT
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Call me absolutely insane but I kinda dig that version of The Cars “Just What I Needed”.
That version of “White Wedding”, however, will forever will haunt me in my worsed dreams.
BTW, how did they get such a cleanly isolated vocal track?
I use the original studio multitracks. Some are sourced from the Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour DVDs.
You guys missed the best one; Britney – Toxic:
http://www.yout...h?v=n9S4O974qQo
Here’s the original list:
http://www.burs...osoft-songsmith
Microsoft Songsmith ruined all of the classics! Some of the songs are amusing like Roxanne (I felt like I was in the Caribbean) but I’d rather listen to the orginal. Who thinks of these things?
Saying “Microsoft Songsmith ruined all the classics” is rather like saying “this paintbrush put a moustache on the Mona Lisa!”
Yes, these are terrible mashups. But they are deliberately terrible mashups, and Songsmith is if anything to be commended for making it so easy for people to achieve the terrible songs of their dreams.
Like an audible car crash. Horrible to listen to, but so strangely fascinating I can’t stop.
Friends don’t let friend use Songsmith. Those sounds will haunt my dreams forever.
haha these are sooo creepy
The technology industry is growing. As most things start with kinks it just keeps moving and getting better. This shows me that people should be trained inside the industry while this is happening. Get schooled under mentors as an apprentice http://www.reco...gconnection.com
Microsoft never made an effort to improve its software synthesizers or ways to replace them with better one if possible.
Beat It made me literally cry.
Microsoft can be such an ante-alchemist!!! It turns gold into crap…
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Simply I can not tolerate this kind of music. It hearts my ears.
omg i enjoyed this post lol
thank you