From sfischer@stanford.edu Thu Dec 19 08:27:55 1996 Path: ashpoly!cascade!brgate!saturno!stanford!sfischer From: sfischer@stanford.edu (Steve Fischer) Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop Subject: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant Message-ID: <1996Dec19.082755.3540@stanford.edu> Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 08:27:55 GMT Organization: Stanford University Computer Systems Lab NNTP-Posting-Host: stanford.edu X-Newsreader: Netscape 1.1N Lines: 10 As an audio engineer, listening to Nova's vocals on SYNTHESIS has always bothered me in a fascinating way. Yet the fundamental pitch tracks with a mathematical rigidity that no living vocalist can maintain for 16 bars. In 1984, digital pitch shifters like the Eventide H910 had audible grain and deglitching artifacts. Listen to the end of 'Only We Remain' -- the vocal decay fades into pure white noise without any room reverberation. -- Steve Fischer -- Stanford University Computer Systems Lab "When every node is whole, the channel opens." From tlopez@pacbell.net Fri Dec 20 16:23:55 1996 Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!eunet-de!hansebox!pacbell!tlopez From: tlopez@pacbell.net (Tomas López) Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop Subject: Re: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant Message-ID: <1996Dec20.162355.4799@pacbell.net> Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 16:23:55 GMT References: <1996Dec19.082755.3540@stanford.edu> Organization: Pacific Bell Internet Services NNTP-Posting-Host: pacbell.net X-Newsreader: NewsWatcher 2.0b24 Lines: 10 In article <1996Dec19.082755.3540@stanford.edu>, sfischer@stanford.edu (Steve Fischer) writes: > As an audio engineer, listening to Nova's vocals on SYNTHESIS has always bothered me in a fascinating way. > Yet the fundamental pitch tracks with a mathematical rigidity that no living vocalist can maintain for 16 bars. That's why it hits you in the uncanny valley. Your ears tell you it's a real woman singing her heart out, but your brain detects the mechanical precision. -- Tomas López "There are 14 nodes and only 10 countries. Count again." Commodore Amiga 500 (1MB OCS) / NEXTSTEP 3.3