Audio Avitars
January 16th, 2006 | by Joe |I found the iTunes Signature Maker at the blog of Ryan Shaw this evening. Extremely cool little idea to take your iTunes playlist and make a short little audio avitar of your musical tastes. Here is mine.
The creation of the file requires you to trust a Java applet to scan your iTunes collection and make hashes out of some of your favorite music. The applet is signed by Thawte, which checks out, but the usual cautions should still apply here. You can set some parameters such as the number of tracks to pick from and how long each segment should be. Here’s what it came up with for me, which I found particularly interesting:
| Title | Artist | Album | Starting At | Ending At |
| Trauermusik | San Francisco Symphony | Mathis der Maler, Trauermusik, Symphonic Metamorphosis | 0:35.2 | 0:38.4 |
| The Battle of Evermore | Led Zeppelin | IV | 5:30.6 | 5:35.0 |
| Summertime | Miles Davis | 2:24.2 | 2:29.0 | |
| Postcards | Yellowjackets | Four Corners | 0:12.0 | 0:16.0 |
| The Firebird Suite | Igor Stravinsky | 1:55.4 | 1:57.8 | |
| Panama | Van Halen | 2:37.1 | 2:42.7 | |
| 47. Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott | Johann Sebastian Bach | Bach: St. Matthew Passion - CD 2 | 6:30.8 | 6:36.0 |
| 01 - Requiem Aeternum | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Requiem K626 | 3:27.5 | 3:30.3 |
| String Quintet, Op.77 - 1. Allegro con fuoco | The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center | Dvorak Serenade | 4:05.2 | 4:08.8 |
| 05 E | Alex Wilson Studios / Telltale Weekly | Digital Pitch Pipes | 0:00.0 | 0:06.0 |
I like how it finishes with a reference pitch that I use to tune to every time I practice. It makes a nice blend that tapers off into the solo E a nice touch. It was my first run of the applet, but I’m going to go with it.
Tags: chamber music, composition, iTunes, Music
2 Responses to “Audio Avitars”
By Matt Heller on Jan 17, 2006 | Reply
It seems like the subject for some rambling drunken conversation, or maybe a bad college application essay - “If you were a sound, what would you be?” I like yours though, it’s got some poignant angst, muted trumpet, a little walking bass, and that conclusive thunk. There’s also a voice, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was singing.
By Joe on Jan 17, 2006 | Reply
I think it was the part from Panama where he says something like “reach down between my legs, ease the seat back.” You can hear some engine revving up too. I think that adds a nice industrial touch with the motor sound and some sprechstimme amidst the chaos, followed by a tuning reference.