Apple Music Sing • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Music Sing

#161

Post by TillE » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #139

kevincox wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? I've never taken karaoke to mean covers. Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). To me karaoke is just signing to music, which is exactly what this is. I found it very strange that they avoided that word.

> Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). Properly licensed karaoke tracks are covers, because licensing custom remixes of original tracks is prohibitive. There are sites where you can buy stems/backing tracks of any song you can think of, which are reproductions by talented musicians. https://www.karaoke-version.com/custo…

There are tons of cases where you'll hear covers instead of a licensed original, because paying Harry Fox (ie, just the songwriter) is cheaper.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#162

Post by therusskiy » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:27 PM UTC

Spotify released this feature to some users this summer: https://sea.mashable.com/entertainment/20715/spotifys-new-ka...

Though I have no idea how to get into this beta test.

This is a killer feature for me as I am trying to learn to sing.

There are some services online that use AI to split tracks into instruments and vocals that do hell of a job, but trying to combine them with written lyrics again is a pretty painful experience.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#163

Post by kemayo » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:27 PM UTC

wintermutestwin wrote: post #152

pilsetnieks wrote: post #8

> and can be enjoyed on iPhone, iPad, and the new Apple TV 4K But the old Apple TV 4K is not powerful enough for displaying text on a TV, even though any old iPhone is? I get that they want to push device and service adoption but they should pick a lane, either push users to upgrade devices, or push to sign up to paid services. Pushing for both at the same time is greedy.

What's worse is that the Apple Music app on Mac doesn't even have lyrics (and is ridiculously bad in many other ways). It feels like they are slowly abandoning the platform.

...it does have lyrics. Look for the lyrics button in the top-right of the window.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#164

Post by jrochkind1 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #99

jrochkind1 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came here with that question, why don't they call this karaoke? Wondered if "karaoke" is trademarked? (or patented?!) It doesn't seem to me likely that they didn't think their audience would know the word "karaoke" at this point, but I don't know.

> …why don't they call this karaoke? One notable difference is that with Apple Music Sing you're singing to the original track instead of an instrumental reproduction.

> Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog.

Everyone I know would call that karaoke. And I assume will when telling their friends about this new feature.

If I search for Apple Sing on google news, the first 5 articles all call it "karaoke-like" or just "a karaoke feature".

Whatever reason they have for not saying the word karaoke, I don't think it's that it's not what most people consider karaoke.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#165

Post by pwthornton » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

pilsetnieks wrote: post #8

> and can be enjoyed on iPhone, iPad, and the new Apple TV 4K But the old Apple TV 4K is not powerful enough for displaying text on a TV, even though any old iPhone is? I get that they want to push device and service adoption but they should pick a lane, either push users to upgrade devices, or push to sign up to paid services. Pushing for both at the same time is greedy.

I am not convinced it won't work on multiple models. They don't actually provide a list of supported devices. The language here is unclear.

At first, I thought it meant that this only was on the current Apple TV 4K, but then I thought it might just be marketing speak to get people to buy Apple TVs.

But maybe the jump from the A12 to the A15 does provide something that makes this possible. The only thing I can think of is the neural engine (although that first debuted in the A11).

Re: Apple Music Sing

#166

Post by jessriedel » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #139

kevincox wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? I've never taken karaoke to mean covers. Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). To me karaoke is just signing to music, which is exactly what this is. I found it very strange that they avoided that word.

> Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). Properly licensed karaoke tracks are covers, because licensing custom remixes of original tracks is prohibitive. There are sites where you can buy stems/backing tracks of any song you can think of, which are reproductions by talented musicians. https://www.karaoke-version.com/custo…

The fact that most karaoke audio tracks are performed as covers for financial reasons does not change how the word karaoke is used in actual language.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#167

Post by simondw » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #139

kevincox wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? I've never taken karaoke to mean covers. Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). To me karaoke is just signing to music, which is exactly what this is. I found it very strange that they avoided that word.

> Often it is the original soundtrack with the vocals suppressed (sometimes well via remastering and sometimes poorly with an equalizer). Properly licensed karaoke tracks are covers, because licensing custom remixes of original tracks is prohibitive. There are sites where you can buy stems/backing tracks of any song you can think of, which are reproductions by talented musicians. https://www.karaoke-version.com/custo…

That feels like an accidental, not essential, property of karaoke. I doubt anyone who enjoys karaoke would reject a track recorded by the original artist because it wasn't a cover by someone they'd never heard of.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#168

Post by jessriedel » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #106

joegahona wrote: post #5

Is this akin to karaoke? (The word never appears on the page.) > Apple today announced Apple Music Sing, an exciting new feature that allows users to sing along to their favorite songs with adjustable vocals1 and real-time lyrics. Users can already "sing along to their favorite songs" -- this feels like a wasted opportunity in the first sentence to explain the differentiator. It feels like they're misusing/misunderst…

Karaoke is where some other artist performs and records the song, without vocals, in the style of whoever popularized the song. This Apple feature seems to be where the same popular recording gets used, which has vocals, and then some magic processing reduces the vocals. There has always been software to sorta-kinda suppress vocals from existing recordings, but it usually ends up sounding like trash (artifacts of all…

> Karaoke is where some other artist performs and records the song, without vocals, in the style of whoever popularized the song.

No, this just isn't what the word means, either popularly or in technical usage. I can't find any dictionary that restricts karaoke to covers, and if anything the dictionary emphasizes non-covers:

> an act of singing along to a music video, especially one from which the original vocals have been electronically eliminated.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/karaoke?r=75&src=ref&ch=di...

It's true that in practice most karaoke audio tracks are covers for financial reasons, but that doesn't change what the word means. Most tables have four legs, but six-legged tables are still tables.

Re: Apple Music Sing

#169

Post by incanus77 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

notpushkin wrote: post #115

imchillyb wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but... Look at the list of what Apple Sing includes: Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog. Real-time lyrics: Users can sing along to their favorite songs with animated lyrics that dance to the rhythm of the vocals. Background vocals: Vocal lines sung simul…

> Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog. I think this only requires pre-making two audio files per track, and simultaneously streaming these. Real-time lyrics, Background vocals and Duet view are all nice features too, but the hardest part processing-wise is analys…

> I think this only requires pre-making two audio files per track, and simultaneously streaming these.

That’s the understatement of the century. “this only requires […] simultaneously streaming these”

Re: Apple Music Sing

#170

Post by manv1 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

This is going to be another new way for people to generate content for TikTok. Great idea, actually.

How does the mic situation work? Will you need a USB mic? Can you use a BT headset?