http://www.wildbits.com/tunatic/



Seems too good to be true, don't you think so? WRONG! I couldn't believe it myself, but the software does exactly that. After downloading the setup file (500KB) and installing the program, the program started and revealed a neat design. Simple, with one button, and quite small. As it says, you need to have a microphone in order to use it, so I put my mic next to the speaker, played a Franz Ferdinand song, and clicked the identify button.. After about 15 seconds, I got the song title and artist.

You might think it's a coincidence, but wait till you hear this! I tested the program by playing 15 more different songs, and not only in English, but also Turkish - it got them all! This is a really great program if you hear a song you like on the radio, but don't know what it's called.

Also, there is another option which is useful if you want to get the song right away. The program IS freeware, and we can see why - when a song is identified, you can buy it at www.allofmp3.com by clicking a small arrow next to the title. Great stuff, if you ask me

Wow, I'll have to try that out... I wonder if it can figure it out based off someone else singing it or if it needs to be an original recording I guess it's mean to hope for too much haha. But yea, sounds like an impressive little app I'll be sure to check that sucker out once I get home tonight or sometime.

I installed it .. now what ? .. i click on the "X" and it says Looking up server ... Contacting Server .. Server Unreachable ..

Songs dont get dragged and dropped in it so how do you check ?

Regards
Dhanesh.

@dhanesh
If you can't access the server, than some program is blocking Tunatic. I had the same problem, because ZoneAlarm wouldn't allow it to access the internet. The songs get recognised through the microphone - I just put mine right next to the speaker However, there might also be a option for recognizing songs off the hard drive, but I haven't tried doing that.

@Jeigh
It probably wouldn't work, but it's worth trying. I've had some luck with live recordings, but it's just not the same

you also need to make sure that the recording output needs to be set up correctly in the volume control panel. If you can't see a visibly moving sound graph, the software can't "hear" the music being played. Of course, if it's a plain network connect error, have a look @ firewall / blocking software and allow Tunatic to access the net.

Definitely a cool idea, but it's one of those things where you just can't really use it yet...

It needs to be developed. I'll leave that to you beta testers out there. And I wish you didn't need a web connection to do it. However, that would be a GIANT program file.

Keep us posted!

There really isn't much that needs more developing. I can only think of four things, out of which two are not that imporatant.

1. Increasing the database size - while it does recognize a vast number of songs, I can bet that not even half of the existing songs are listed. It is hard to do, but constant database improvents would really mean a lot. Come to think about it, they probably do update the database regularly.

2. Better recognition - the software is stated to easily recognize singing parts, but it's not that good with instrumentals. I think this could also be improved, since not all songs have singing parts.

3. Adding more options - the program is small and handy, which is good, but it also lacks a few important options, such as reading songs from the hard drive.

4. Developing an "offline database" -as austiniskoge said, this would be another needed improvent, but I can't image how big that addon module (because it would have to be optional) would be.

That's the thing. What if I want my band's song in the database? How often would it be updated? Who could put their songs up there? How many languages and countries would be represented? How long would the song submission process take (if any existed)?
Very complicated to get it down to a smooth system... and if it's not smooth, most people would have little interest in it.