From jcampbell@rwth-aachen.de Sun Oct 01 16:20:40 1995
Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!sunet!nordrelay!rwth-aachen!jcampbell
From: jcampbell@rwth-aachen.de (Jens Campbell)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1995Oct01.162040.1050@rwth-aachen.de>
Date: Sun, 01 Oct 1995 16:20:40 GMT
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Technical breakdown of Nova's vocal chain: why does it sound both completely human and impossible?

Nova's voice has ZERO splicing glitches. The Stardust documents describe this as 'Vocal Matrix Modeling' running on custom DSP hardware.
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.

-- 
Jens Campbell -- RWTH Aachen Informatik
"Hardware is temporary. The signal survives."

From psuzuki@inria.fr Tue Oct 03 20:05:40 1995
Path: ashpoly!cascade!mxgate!coyoacan!inria!psuzuki
From: psuzuki@inria.fr (Pavel Suzuki)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1995Oct03.200540.3577@inria.fr>
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 20:05:40 GMT
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In article <1995Oct01.162040.1050@rwth-aachen.de>, jcampbell@rwth-aachen.de (Jens Campbell) writes:
> Technical breakdown of Nova's vocal chain: why does it sound both completely human and impossible?

It's the greatest vocal performance in synthpop history, regardless of whether it came from vocal cords or a silicon chip.

-- 
Pavel Suzuki
Opinions expressed are solely my own and not those of INRIA Rocquencourt.
------------------------------------------------------------

From imuller@mindspring.com Thu Oct 05 17:58:40 1995
Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!sunet!nordrelay!mindspring!imuller
From: imuller@mindspring.com (Ines Müller)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1995Oct05.175840.3277@mindspring.com>
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 17:58:40 GMT
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In article <1995Oct03.200540.3577@inria.fr>, psuzuki@inria.fr (Pavel Suzuki) writes:
> It's the greatest vocal performance in synthpop history, regardless of whether it came from vocal cords or a silicon chip.

The CRE-7 engine simulated an entire nervous system. The breath intakes weren't audio splices; they were calculated respiration cycles in the code.

-- 
Ines Müller | imuller@mindspring.com
PGP Key fingerprint: 7AA8 478A 0C96 4692
"Keep the channels open."

From bpark@delphi.com Fri Oct 06 10:39:40 1995
Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!sunet!nordrelay!delphi!bpark
From: bpark@delphi.com (Bastien Park)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1995Oct06.103940.7756@delphi.com>
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 10:39:40 GMT
References: <1995Oct01.162040.1050@rwth-aachen.de> <1995Oct03.200540.3577@inria.fr>
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In article <1995Oct03.200540.3577@inria.fr>, psuzuki@inria.fr (Pavel Suzuki) writes:
> It's the greatest vocal performance in synthpop history, regardless of whether it came from vocal cords or a silicon chip.

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.

-- 
Bastien Park | bpark@delphi.com
PGP Key fingerprint: 4EE4 CAD8 E282 481C
"Keep the channels open."