DigitalSandbox

Have you heard of Microsoft’s new research project, Songsmith? No, well today is your lucky day. Songsmith is a new program by the Redmond behemoth that allows you to create “songs” simply by singing. I suppose you could call it Microsoft’s answer to Garageband. You sing your little ditty into the microphone and it chooses music to match it. At first, it actually sounds kind of neat…it isn’t.

The music it creates sounds like bad MIDI music from the early 90’s. It is really hard to listen to for longer than about 30 seconds. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the promotional video Microsoft put out for this. Then listen to this sample, where someone took the vocal track of David Lee Roth singing “Running with the Devil” and gave it the Songsmith treatment.

Anyone still thinking this sounds like a great product?

I know that I could easily be pegged as an Apple fanboy. But there is a reason I love Apple products so much. They actually deserve the buzz they get about 90% of the time. Microsoft on the other hand, doesn’t seem like they could buy buzz at the moment.

The Gates/Seinfeld commercials were so laughed at (and not in a good way) that they pulled them after only two. The “I’m a PC” commercials aren’t doing much better (but at least we know what the heck those are about). But the commercial for Songsmith is beyond belief. I really, really, really, want to believe that it is some kind of internal joke. I really do. But I don’t think it is.

What really amazes me is that Microsoft has some really cool projects going on that don’t get any buzz at all. Photosynth is amazing technology. The Surface table would be a fantastic addition to today’s modern home. And the HD Photo file format sounds like it would solve a lot of problems inherent in today’s formats.

Every company lays a few eggs. That’s to be expected, but this one is beyond rotten. Especially when you compare it against what they are capable of.