Voice modeling: Will it happen?

[j20056]

Let's see... Line6 and other firms can emulate the sound of vintage amps, and now even guitars (Line6 just has a new one).
MY question is: Is it possible to emulate voices of famous singers, like I could dial Robert Plant or Mick Jagger on a digital box, and use it for covers. I know there's Antares and others, but has anyone heard of any technology going in that direction?

[pk_hat]

that would be the worst thing that could happen.
I hope to never see such technology.

[vocalvoodoo]

I have heard that that technology is in development. That really sucks because my main income is voicework. From what I have heard is it is still very hard to get the inflections on a synthetic voice right. My only hope is that they (who ever they is)never get there, but I think it's inevitable.

[Willangus]

They're getting close. Check out www.tc-helicon.tc--their new product, the VoiceOne, just started shipping a few months back. Haven't tried one, but the review says it's pretty good (but not great).

Still can't dial up Sinatra, but you might be able to dial up Britney or Fred Durst...

[d flieshut]

i read an article about this in the nytimes a while back. i think it's a few years off, but it's on the way.......att labs has been working on it aggressively, using mostly movie stars' voices i think. wish i could find the article to post here, it's pretty interesting. just another one of those trends that says that 10-15 years from now we're all going to have to retire and open antique shops or something. or become software programmers.

to wit, you may be interested in checking the web site of the people i work with, who have a very different approach to the issue, the web site is listed below.

[The Caine]

It's such a scary concept....damn it's hard enough being a guitarist these days.......I say DJ's who simply spin records and "keyboardists" that only trigger samples should be rounded up and issued glassy vocations. I've got nothing against guys that can actually play but these other trendy folk take all the gigs and get cool clothes and chicks too [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] If they could get their hands on a vocal synth then we would all be screwed. Luckily there are people here that still compose music and hopefully would shun this thing like the plague. Am I ranting? I need a coffee.......... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[lochgarman1798]

Originally posted by The Caine:
It's such a scary concept....damn it's hard enough being a guitarist these days.......I say DJ's who simply spin records and "keyboardists" that only trigger samples should be rounded up and issued glassy vocations. I've got nothing against guys that can actually play but these other trendy folk take all the gigs and get cool clothes and chicks too [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] If they could get their hands on a vocal synth then we would all be screwed. Luckily there are people here that still compose music and hopefully would shun this thing like the plague. Am I ranting? I need a coffee.......... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">When drum machines appeared in larger numbers many musicians(non drumers [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ) laughed and sometimes used them instead commenting that they did not get drunk/stoned and kept time better...

Then MIDI based sequencers appeared, a reason to get rid of the Bass player and stand there at a gig/TV pressing a button/playing keys with one finger [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] remember all those really BAD English synth duo's from the '80's [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] ) There was a time when keyboard players played with BOTH their hands.

After a while despite some people actually playing/alongside the sequencers the powers that be decided to get rid of all musicians entirely.... Now there are "Virtual Guitarists!"

Now the DJ/remixer/samplist(thief? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) is GOD one DJ was recently described as more important than John Lennon! [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

We also have Boy/Girl bands(I thought MUSICIANS were supposed to be in bands? ) straight from drama school doing Karaokee versions of old songs, I've noticed that Pop Idols have infested themselves in America as well.

Yet most of these people can't PLAY anything, but don't worry they can rob anything they need from old records [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Sad thing is they are destroying music as an artform

Sorry about my wobble!

John K

London N19

[Okion]

Originally posted by d flieshut:
[QB]just another one of those trends that says that 10-15 years from now we're all going to have to retire and open antique shops or something. or become software programmers.
[QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I was a music major back at school, saw this sort of thing comeing, switched to CS.

Thanks, I still need to believe that I did the right thing.

Don't pick on me now,...
If you hear my tunes, you would probably be very encouraging.

[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Okion]

Question
Can I make my vocals sound like someone else’s?

Answer
VoiceOne allows you to enhance, tweak, and become extremely creative with your vocals, and although you may find ways to impersonate another singer’s voice, you’ll find it exceedingly rare.

With VoiceOne we have focused every bit of our processing power to provide tools for subtly reshaping and enhancing your voice while as much as possible, maintaining the essence of what makes it special to begin with.

With today’s available DSP processing power, it not yet feasible to implement perfect vocal impersonation, but when that days comes, we’ll be there.

[Roy Howell]

d flieshut,
Can you explain 'Language Removal' to me? I've looked at the website, but even with all that's said, it is still very vague.
Thanks, Roy