this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
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[–] [email protected] 100 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Being a cover, an instrumental cover of an a capella song would have instruments playing and not just be silence...

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 month ago

a capella instrumentals

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (8 children)

Right, it would consist of the instruments mimicking the voice of the original singer

Edit: That makes me wonder, has anyone ever tried to actually imitate human speech with musical instruments? How many would you need?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

There's an old video where someone converted songs to MIDI piano and the vocals are still almost distinguishable. It's purely an illusion and it only works if the listener knows the lyrics, but it's pretty convincing.

Check it out.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Here's a much more effective MIDI-ification of a song with vocals: https://youtu.be/0k7UD64RwGU

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Haha that's awesome! It is surprising but somehow also makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Jeff Beck was really good at imitating human voice without the voice box. Badass guitarist.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I know talk boxes have gone out of style, but that's as close as you'll ever get.

[–] VieuxQueb 3 points 1 month ago

https://youtu.be/uBEL3YVzMwk

The talking piano... I fail to understand it's words but nice video.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Not quite what you mean, but it reminded me of a Game Grumps episode where they talk about it for a loooong time...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdWXUd8dMVE

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Not sure about the human speech, but there is a certain mongolian string instrument able to perfectly immitate a horse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE (4:41)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

One of my fave instruments-as-speech tracks blends vocals and guitar Fun Lovin Criminals - My Sin

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I saw a documentary about an old-timey music device someone invented and put on shows mimicking voice. It was very complicated to play and I don't even know how much of it has survived.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Yeah. It should be a capella karaoke tracks.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

There are plenty of covers of 4'33"

Edit: I'm not joking

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

True, I just finished playing one of them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Next mozart over here

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

About 8 billion or so, if I had to guess.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You can take my kids out of the count. I haven't gotten 4 minutes of silence since they were born.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

My kids are outside the house at the moment and I'm literally sitting in a dark, silent house. It's almost eerie how foreign this feeling is to me, to just sit around in silence. I'm quite enjoying my cover of 4'33", I've listened to it a dozen times now.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I particularly like the 4'33" (downtempo electronica extended mix). 12 minutes and 54 seconds of perfect digital silence. You can almost hear the individual zeroes in the signal

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Not even that. That piece proves that there is no such thing as silence.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It's not a bad performance of the piece, but it's far more up-tempo than the composer intended.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Exactly! I mean, come on... completing 4'33" in 3'43" is just preposterous.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

For the first minute I was still waiting, then I understood.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

As a python programmer, this is the most beautiful song I've ever heard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Beat me to it. It's a fun thought experiment determining what really defines music and I always love to hear people's answers. Are recordings of nature considered to be music? The idle ambience of everyday life? If yes, then why not 4'33"? If no, why not?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

I like how they're styled like Pokemon elemental types

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

My favorite game sound track is from dysmantle.

There’s no music in 99% of the game; only at campfires and cutscenes.

It took me 42 hours (out of roughly 100 to complete the game) to notice the lack of music, because I always turn music down to 50%, sound effects to 75%, and leave dialogue/voices at 100%.

Edit: this post has attracted a downvote troll! Yay! Please disregard downvotes on any post under the OOP, because some asshole needs a hobby :)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (8 children)
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I had a similar experience with Animal Well, though I actually did have the volume up. In that though, there's enough random little melodies scattered throughout that it didn't really feel like it was without music. Every sound the character and setting made contributed to the ambience. I love music, but it was still beautiful.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

there is never silence

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I like The Sound of Silence

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I knew a musician who did an amazing cover of Come to Me by Bobby McFerrin. It translates really well into a guitar.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I got a friend that actually doesn't listen to any music or sounds of any kind.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Plants like music though. For the science behind this, check out any middle school science project.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

No plants like carbon dioxide 😭

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I particularly like songs with the silent parts building up the anticipation of what's about to come next. Like at the beginning of Whole Lotta Rosie, although you can hear a soft hihat in the background when Angus stops picking.

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