[FA Worldmusic] How scary (stupid) is this? ...moronic

[cliff]

>Imagine if everyone's voice, singing (which they are working on now) 
>and speaking/rapping (done) could be translated well in the original 
>voice, into 1400+ languages?

It's not their original voice: it's an electronic hybrid based on 
various sampling and digital interpolation schemes.  And each of 
those voices would require a separate, individual processing... it's 
not "all languages in a box."

Sure, their idea of translations of text (like a speech to the UN, 
for example) might have useful applications.
I listened to their "translation" of Bill Clinton. It's pretty awful 
-  flat, laking inflection, lacking the 'meaning' that comes from the 
body rather than the words. Useful as a mechanical tool to convey 
text, possibly - but to translate that to art? If this is what is 
considered "done" than they have failed.

I certainly think the average brand-name pop star's recorded or 
concert-presented voice is probably already so over processed as to 
be nothing more than a digital artifact already, so it would be no 
loss if Maria Carey or Madonna took this to heart, to market their 
pap to Arabs or Greeks who are probably already buying her records, 
in English, in decent numbers already.

But Um Kalthoum singing in digitized German?
Lotte in Latvian?
Salif in Swedish?
I shudder at the thought.

>What could that mean for international communication

Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money,
mo'st likely for all the wrong people.

cliff