Hi all,
I've seen several threads/posts that are critical of the videos, the idea, etc. It seems, however, that nobody has bothered to read the papers. I don't see anything really wrong with what they are actually researching. I do have questions about whether they will ever accomplish their stated goal, and of course, the software is almost non-existent, being a demonstration vehicle touted (even sold) as a product. Who knows? They may make more than they spent, and that is good enough to create a business, even if their customer base is elementary school kids and their parents.
The part that I find attractive is the sliders to move the chord progressions along in "chord progression space" (my label) all at once for the entire progression AND MIDI export. Of course, the algorithms to determine where in "chord progression space" to travel in the first place are critically important, else the sliders might as well drive an RNG.
I see this as another add-on for something like BIAB --- which also gets a lot of criticism, mainly by those who don't seem to know how to use it other than in its most primitive, childlike mode. While BIAB can be used in very sophisticated ways, Songsmith cannot be, which is why I regard it merely as a demonstration vehicle. Many researchers in many fields don't even bother trying to create applications themselves, so I think they should be given some credit for having thought about the importance of doing that, even if somewhat knowledgeable people think it sucks! Researchers also have bills to pay.
Although at $30 I think it's over-priced as a piece of software, it does accomplish something I think is important, creating a SET of potentially usable chord structures for something that is sung or played in. I plugged in my guitar and just played some simple melodies, and this worked better than my singing. I also wanted to encourage the research. Were it not for MIDI export, I would have passed. (On edit: Yes, I mean that I bought the darn thing.)
Regards,
Dave Clark
post edited by DaveClark - 2009/01/15 19:18:59