Google Beatbox(translate.google.com)

1,028 pointsby shomyovor 16 Jahren96 comments

translate.google.com

http://translate.google.com/#de|de|pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk%20pv%20bschk%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20bschk%20bschk%20pv%20kkkkkkkkkk%20bschk%0A%0A

just listen

103 comments

s1wvor 16 Jahren

yo i gotta hear that one more time man: http://translate.google.com/#de|de|zwkkzwkkzwkkzwkk.%20pv%20...

jjcmvor 16 Jahren

Alright. I'm impressed with the rewind.

alanhvor 16 Jahren

I don’t get it, I don’t hear anything. Am I supposed to hear something?

Edit Okay, there are Flash “Listen” buttons you can’t see if you don’t have Flash installed.

And yet, even in a browser with Flash, I hear nothing. All I see is a button that turns light blue and dark blue. Which is “play”? This is why I always rant about piss-poor UX from Google.

I still don’t hear anything. Anyone have an MP3?

ggchappellvor 16 Jahren

It isn't just you. I don't hear anything, either. [EDIT: Fixed; see below.]

Also, I agree on the poor UI design.

But in any case, assuming this works, which it apparently does, for some, it's a cute idea.

EDIT: Got it working. Are you running Flashblock? I am, and after I put translate.google.com into FB's whitelist, I get audio. When the button is light blue, press it. The button turns dark blue, and the sound plays. When the sound is finished, the button goes back to light blue.

darshanvor 16 Jahren

Thanks for explaining this. I don't have Flash and was very confused why nonsense words being translated to the same nonsense words was of interest to anyone...

blr_hackvor 16 Jahren

Here's one in Hindi :) http://translate.google.com/#hi|hi|%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%AE%20%E0%...

phoenix24vor 16 Jahren

wonderful!

julian37vor 16 Jahren

On a related note, try running this on a Mac:

  say -v cello d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

kylecvor 16 Jahren

Or this:

    say -v cello droid

arturadibvor 16 Jahren

that's hilarious - and amazingly ironic

kristapsvor 16 Jahren

Just went through the OS X speech synth voices and I recognized some being used in quite a few electronic music productions, for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK2NG28vKNw

ssharpvor 16 Jahren

Radiohead used the Mac voice a bit on their 'OK Computer' album. Obviously on 'Fitter Happier' and in the background on 'Paranoid Android'.

bl4kvor 16 Jahren

say -v Fred Fitter, Happier, More productive

nollidgevor 16 Jahren

Also, I believe Pixar used the Mac voice for the ship's navigation computer in WALL-E

Percevalvor 16 Jahren

Marilyn Manson used the voice on certain tracks on Antichrist Superstar.

According to Wikipedia:

The song "Man That You Fear" by Marilyn Manson ends with the MacInTalk voices repeating, "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed". Also, during live performances of "Antichrist Superstar", the MacInTalk voices repeat "You might as well kill yourself - you're already dead" at the end of the song.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlainTalk

estvor 16 Jahren

Also on a related note, try Win+R this on Windows:

    mshta vbscript:CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice").Speak("Hello, Y Combinator")(Window.close)

ataggartvor 16 Jahren

In an ideal world:

  say -v joshua Shall we play a game?

augustlvor 16 Jahren

I wonder why the 13th note is wrong compared to the original melody.

dangrovervor 16 Jahren

There used to be these commands in the pre OS-X TTS system that let you specify arbitrary pitch/timing for the synth. People could make songs with it.

andfarmvor 16 Jahren

There still are! Macintalk hasn't changed much since then.

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserEx...

dangrovervor 16 Jahren

Thanks! I think I have my next weekend project.

Dav3xorvor 16 Jahren

The Amiga speech device had a nice phoneme grammar you could use to make it say all sorts of odd things.

pixelbathvor 16 Jahren

The one that stuck with me, and still amuses my kids, is 'uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu' on the Amiga (comes out as "yuyuyuyuyuyu" in a slightly descending tone).

knutinvor 16 Jahren

Or this:

    say -v cello foobarfoobarfoobarfo foobarfoofoobarfi

keylevor 16 Jahren

I made my own ... http://translate.google.com/#cs|cs|babab%20tzik%20babab%20ba...

jazzgroovevor 16 Jahren

Ok... that is awesome!... sounds like a techno/house mix

iamdavevor 16 Jahren

Here's your rudiment/instrument notation

zk = suspended cymbal

bschk = snare

pv = brush

bk = bass

tk = flam1

vk = roll tap

kt = flam2

kttp = flam tap

krp = hi hat tap

pv = short roll

th = better hi hat

thp, ds = instant rimshot.

tlrobinsonvor 16 Jahren

So, I went ahead and made a drum machine out of your notes using a bit of JavaScript...

https://gist.github.com/721253

Load it as a bookmarklet using this:

javascript:(function(){document.body.appendChild(document.createElement("script")).src = "https://gist.github.com/raw/721253/f70c2bdeaed54d9907a448504...

EDIT: the bookmarklet is getting cut off by HN, see the first comment on the gist linked above.

Unfortunately there's a little bit of delay due to loading the sounds but it sort of works.

potomakvor 16 Jahren

I've created a new version of your great script, now it uses the javascript Audio() class.

https://gist.github.com/721554

This is the bookmarklet: javascript:(function(){document.body.appendChild(document.createElement("script")).src="http://bit.ly/googlebeat})()

machofabulousvor 16 Jahren

So desperate to get this to work...but no avail!

I made the bookmarklet in my firefox toolbar with the javascript code.

I open google translate, click the bookmarklet...nothing happens.

My roomate thinks it's an error with the bit.ly redirect

Any suggestions? I want it SO BAD

jmattvor 16 Jahren

This is what you need to do to get it to work:

0. Use fix close quote on bit.ly redirect if you are using the parent comment...

  javascript:(function(){document.body.appendChild(document.createElement("script")).src="http://bit.ly/googlebeat"})()

1. Load Google Translate: http://translate.google.com

2. Load the bookmarklet.

3. Click the new buttons at the bottom of the page.

See the howto from the gist: https://gist.github.com/721554#file_how_to.txt

machofabulousvor 16 Jahren

Thanks for the response. I got it! But the play button doesn't seem to work...not a big deal.

A tip for composers, use commas and periods for rests

potomakvor 16 Jahren

It doesn't work because Firefox doesn't support mp3 format through <audio> html tag.

This script supports only Safari and Chrome by now.

RyanMcGrealvor 16 Jahren

That's awesome!

If you want to pre-compose your beat and then paste it into Google Beatbox, you can use this simple GUI script:

https://gist.github.com/721611

iamdavevor 16 Jahren

Awesome work, if you can append sounds to the next and create a string of phonemes instead of replacing after you click, that'd be even more awesome.

eruvor 16 Jahren

Try the techno-sound: Tischdecke! (Works in real life, haven't tried it on Google translate, yet. And means `table cloth'.)

lacerusvor 16 Jahren

For all germans here: repeat "Böse Katze" (bad cat) and you have an instant beatbox.

kaensvor 16 Jahren

And for English speakers, "Scott's Boots"

tjarrattvor 16 Jahren

I've always liked "Boots and Pants", personally.

iamdavevor 16 Jahren

It said the word but I broke down your suggestion far enough that Th actually gives you a much better hi hat sound. Thanks!

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

fairlyoddvor 16 Jahren

Use . to add tempo. Each full-stop adds a fixed amount of time before the next word is pronounced.

ALXfoovor 16 Jahren

Latin is very funny listen to this http://translate.google.com/#de|la|pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk...

colandermanvor 16 Jahren

What do all those "k"s do?

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

kunjaanvor 16 Jahren

you forgot .pv

like .pv pv zk bschkpv zk ds

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

thorkillvor 16 Jahren

abesapienvor 16 Jahren

I love this lol,^_^. I hope someone puts out a track using this.

iwrvor 16 Jahren

German is the mother tongue of beat.

funthreevor 16 Jahren

Try translating to spanish or french, they are a little bit interesting.

pygy_vor 16 Jahren

Drum and Bass anyone?

http://translate.google.com/#de|de|bvf%20tkçshsht%20bvf%20tk...

edit: correction fr|fr => de|de

reasonvor 16 Jahren

If any of you want to hear some ridiculously awesome beatboxing, check out Roxorloops - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P7sdo_Aj0o

curiousepicvor 16 Jahren

I prefer Beardyman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7NIxKseRus

zephyrfalconvor 16 Jahren

And then there's this session by Beardyman and Nathan "Flutebox" Lee at Google... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3kyNGVK-hI ^_^

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

RyanMcGrealvor 16 Jahren

It also passes first year German with flying colours:

http://translate.google.com/#de|en|Der%20himmel%20ist%20blau....

w1ntermutevor 16 Jahren

Because they train it with EU documents, which are required by law to be translated into all the languages of the member countries. Since the documents are made available for public use, machine translation between European languages has become significantly better in recent years because the EU documents are being used to train the software.

MatthewRayfieldvor 16 Jahren

Can anybody explain why this works in German?

It seems like in other languages it just reads out the letters.

ramidarigazvor 16 Jahren

I'm guessing it's because those letter combinations are actually sounds in German, but not in any other languages (that I know of).

eruvor 16 Jahren

Not really. At least not on a naive level. None of "pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk" occurs in any German word.

ckuehnevor 16 Jahren

Fatzke, Blitzkrieg, Hupverbot.

eruvor 16 Jahren

Apart from Fatzke, you are cheating. And even in Fatzke, it's not in one syllable.

ckuehnevor 16 Jahren

Okay, compound nouns are probably not what you had in mind when you made your statement. But then again, your statement was pretty general. Regarding Fatzke: "zk" is not in one syllable either. At least not when I (or google) pronounce it. :)

eruvor 16 Jahren

> Regarding Fatzke: "zk" is not in one syllable either.

Yes, that's what I was trying to say. But since it's not compound, it's not as bad.

By the way, if you want a genuine example of strange sounds in German look at Herbst or Pfründe.

Fun fact: If you can pronounce Streichholzschächtelchen, you automatically gain German citizenship.

ramidarigazvor 16 Jahren

My first long German word was Schwarzwälderkirschtorte. Nowhere near as difficult as yours.

eruvor 16 Jahren

The standard example is supreme court vs Bundesverfassungsgericht. The chief difference is in spelling.

I had a phase, where my German looked much more English---I put spaced inside compound words and did not capitalize all nouns. I should try capitalizing all Nouns in English one Day.

dzohrobvor 16 Jahren

It also works in Italian and Spanish, and sorta works in French -- I'm sure it has to do with the phonemes in each language and how the languages are implemented in the text-to-speech algorithm.

dkarlvor 16 Jahren

Chinese sounds like rapping. "I say H crazy":

http://translate.google.com/#zh-CN|zh-CN|pv%20zk%20bschk%20p...

Greek just reads the name of each letter:

http://translate.google.com/#el|el|pv%20zk%20bschk%20pv%20zk...

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

Kurtz79vor 16 Jahren

Now waiting for Radiohead to pull out something based on this.

Andrenidvor 16 Jahren

Someone build a little web app that lets you press symbols that represent each instrument, and build beats that you can loop.The google site stops letting you use the "Listen" button after a certain number of characters.

InfinityX0vor 16 Jahren

OK, on the serious side, is the most upvoted story ever? If not, what is the most upvoted story ever? How about a list of the Top 25 All Time?

Can I pay to see it?

tavvor 16 Jahren

You can see the top 100 here: http://top.searchyc.com/submissions_by_points

Google's New approach to China article is #1 atm — http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048800

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

metabrewvor 16 Jahren

http://news.ycombinator.net/lists

InfinityX0vor 16 Jahren

That's recent, that's not ever. I'm talking all-time Hacker News stories.

shrikantvor 16 Jahren

http://top.searchyc.com/

hboonvor 16 Jahren

Listen doesn't work in Safari 5.0.3?

bbatsellvor 16 Jahren

Uses an invisible Flash object, so if you're using ClickToFlash or other Flash-blocking plugin you'll have to manually load the object.

hboonvor 16 Jahren

That worked! Thanks. Strange that autoloading of invisible Flash objects was enabled.

RossMvor 16 Jahren

I don't think it is, I think it's JavaScript interacting with the Flash object.

cturnervor 16 Jahren

Would it be practical to make remote calls to the listen function? Usage: if I want to have a webpage read speech automatically to the user after a javascript event, without showing the google page. I expect the first step would be loading the page in a hidden iframe.

tjarrattvor 16 Jahren

That actually is fairly similar to a webapp I built in 30 minutes a few months ago. I had the idea to build a webform that lets you type in some text, and the computer reads it back.

If you are using OS X, you should be able to use the `say` command to create a recording of a voice speaking a sentence. You could likely take that, pipe it into a file and serve it up in an <audio> tag and play it from javascript that way.

I might try hacking my project to do exactly that. However, I think a sane solution for you would be to make use of system accessibility options or screen readers. The downside there is that you can't call into those from a user's browser.

nervechannelvor 16 Jahren

In case anyone from Google Translate reads this: your URLs are highly resistant to shortening services.

Both is.gd and safe.mn mangled it, I think it's the pipe characters. Thankfully bit.ly works...

sicularsvor 16 Jahren

I don't think there is a chance in hell that google would ever consider augmenting its url structure on behalf of or to play nice with a shortening service.

xxporvor 16 Jahren

Does it work with goog.le?

anonymousvor 16 Jahren

Using cyrillic alphabet: http://translate.google.com/#ru|ru|%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%81%20%D1%...

arturadibvor 16 Jahren

absolutely brilliant!!

nagnatronvor 16 Jahren

Here's a basic hiphop beat. You can use punctuation for timing:

German: bk, th, bsch, th, pv, th, bschk, ds, bk, th, bsch, th, pv, th, bschk, ds

Thanks to iamdave for the instrument list x)

micalithvor 16 Jahren

zk zk zk vk flam2 flam2

thorkillvor 16 Jahren

kjfvor 16 Jahren

...and so continues the long slow decline of hacker news...

lacerusvor 16 Jahren

Using a text-to-speech engine as a musical instrument is so on-topic in my book!

"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity."

roel_vvor 16 Jahren

Beatboxing seems to be a very geeky scene. Not that I know much about it, but look at the biggest names in beatboxing - most of them would blend in no problem in any CS department. Looks don't mean much, but still, on interviews these guys give off the same vibe.

currantvor 16 Jahren

I think that this submission does not belong to the HN. It carries little educational value and I wouldn't call it deeply interesting (as described in ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html ). There isn't any effort to explain the beatbox effect. Also there are many voice synthesizers, google's is just the easiest accessible one. This is why the link seems to me just like a funny picture of a cat and I am deeply alarmed. (sorry for bad english, non-native here)

martinkallstromvor 16 Jahren

The defining characteristic of hacker culture is the awe of beautiful code. When the unforeseen side effects from feeding a program with edge case input are as deeply gratifying as these, it instills a sense of beauty and awe of the underlying code.

As is shown by the number of upvotes, people don't come to HN to educate themselves. They come here to be awed. Education is a side effect.

jamesbrittvor 16 Jahren

"The defining characteristic of hacker culture is the awe of beautiful code."

Not for me. I find the defining characteristic of hacker culture to be the inventive re-purposing of things.

Google Beatbox is exemplary of this.

csomarvor 16 Jahren

I find it funny and amazing, though. I like HN for its diversity. Every time, I find something new, but I also want it to be different. I'm just starting my day (morning here) and this post made laugh and in good humor.

currantvor 16 Jahren

There are other sites more suited for this task: reddit.com , reddit.com/r/programming , digg.com and others. As stated in http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html , "The worst thing to post or upvote is something that's intensely but shallowly interesting"

daralthusvor 16 Jahren

What's this if not hacking?

gregschlomvor 16 Jahren

I do miss funny pictures of cats on Hacker News.

(here's one from this week, by the way: http://pudgykitties.tumblr.com/post/1662418075/why)