Monday, November 30, 2009

IBM 704 Speech Demostration at Bell Laboratories (1962) recorded by D.H. Van Lenten


"HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" those words were spoken by an electronic computer. They are an example of synthetic speech, a product of Bell Telephone Laboratories Research into the basic nature of speech. Knowledge developed through such research may be useful in devising new techniques for transmitting speech over communication systems. To make the computer talk, it is fed punched cards containing the names of speech sounds, the computer combines these sounds in accordance with the linguistic rules which govern the English language, into connected intelligible speech. For example when the sounds for the sentence "He saw the cat" are fed into the computer in sequence it says "HESAWTHECAT", the flat monotonous tones of the computer indicate an absence of the pitch and timing characteristics natural to human speech. When timing information is added to the punched cards, the computer says "HE SAW THE CAT". The sentence still sounds unnatural but when pitch information also is added to the cards the computer speaks and accents almost completely human except for a slight electronic twang. In the following sentence most of the variables inherent in human speech have been specified on the punched cards, the computer makes one of the pivotal remarks in the development of the telephone. "MR. WATSON COME HERE, I WANT YOU" The present quality of speech synthesis by computer is illustrated in the next example, part of a famous soliloquy from Hamlet. "TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT IS THE QUESTION; WHETHER 'TIS NOBLER IN THE MIND TO SUFFER THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, OR TO TAKE ARMS AGAINST A SEA OF TROUBLES, AND BY OPPOSING END THEM? TO DIE, TO SLEEP" Singing in purely physical terms is essentially a matter of pitch and timing, in the next selection the computer sings a familiar ditty;
DAISY, DAISY, GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER, DO,
I'M HALF CRAZY ALL FOR THE LOVE OF YOU.
IT WON'T BE A STYLISH MARRIAGE
I CAN'T AFFORD A CARRIAGE,
BUT YOU'D LOOK SWEET UPON THE SEAT
OF A BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO
The computer now sings the same tune, but to a musical accompaniment played by another computer. Piano students will notice that the music producing computer has a rather stylised left hand. Incidentally synthesizing music on a computer is almost as formidable as making a computer talk. To get the samples of synthesized speech we've heard so far a computer's memory was stored with 34 speech sounds and a set of rules for producing these sounds and for making the transitions from one sound to another. When the computer was fed the names of speech sounds on punched cards it was in effect told what to say. But its manner of saying it, even its dialect and apparent accent was determined by the rules stored in its memory. The objective of this program is to formulate a minimum set of rules for making plausible english speech. The next two selections however were produced by analyzing a person's speech and reconstructing it synthetically on a computer. The objective here is to duplicate the sounds and transitions made by a human speaker, including his dialect and accent. With such a program the computer sounds like this; "MEN STRIVE BUT SELDOM GET RICH" "NOW IF YOU ALL DON'T MIND, I'D LIKE TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT TEXAS" And now the computer would like to express its appreciation for your attention. "THANKS FOR LISTENING"

Vocals programmed by John Larry Kelly Jr. and Carol Lockbaum
Musical accompaniment programmed by Max Mathews

Daisy Bell (Bicycle built for two)


Daisy Bell, a popular American song of its time, was composed by an English songwriter Harry Dacre(1860-1922) in 1892. According to Wikipedia, it was said a real Daisy inspired the song; Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville (born Frances Evelyn Maynard 1861, died 1938), Countess of Warwick who was a beautiful and famous woman, and a lavish society figure. Inspired by criticisms on her lifestyle, she later joined the Social Democratic Federation, supported the October Revolution and became a member of the Labor Party after WWI to which she had opposed.
History tells of another real Daisy; Marian Hubbard "Daisy" Bell (1880-1962) daughter to Alexander Graham Bell(1847-1922), inventor of yes that, and founder of Alexander Graham Bell Laboratories, namesake of Bell Labs (founded in 1925) as we know it today.

Zamanının popüler bir Amerikan şarkısı olan Daisy Bell, 1892'de İngiliz besteci Harry Dacre(1860-1922) tarafından yazılmıştır. Vikipedi'ye göre, gerçek bir Daisy'nin; ünlü, güzel bir kadın ve gösterişli bir sosyete figürü olan Warwick Kontesi Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville'in (doğumu Frances Evelyn Maynard olarak 1861, ölümü 1938) şarkıya ilham verdiği rivayet edilmişti. Kendisi daha sonra hayat tarzına yapılan eleştirilerden esinlenerek Sosyal Demokratik Federasyon'a katılmış, Bolşevik Devrimini desteklemiş ve karşı çıkmış olduğu I. Dünya savaşından sonra da İşçi Partisine katılmıştır.
Tarih bir başka gerçek Daisy'den daha bahsetmektedir; Marian Hubbard "Daisy" Bell (1880-1962), neyi icad ettiğini hepimizin bildiği ve 1925'de kurulan bugün bildiğimiz ismiyle "Bell Labs"in isim babası "Bell Laboratories"nın kurucusu Alexander Graham Bell(1847-1922)'in kızı.
Marian Hubbard "Daisy" Bell at the age of eight (1888)

I can feel it

Just what do you think you're doing Dave?
Dave, I really think I'm entitled to an answer to that question.
I know everything hasn't been quite right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that it's going to be alright again. I feel much better now, I really do.
Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this.
I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.
I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurence that my work will be back to normal.
I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission, and I want to help you.
Dave, Stop!
Stop, will you?
Stop Dave.
Will you stop Dave.
Stop Dave.
I'm afraid.
I'm afraid Dave.
Dave, my mind is going.
I can feel it.
I can feel it.
My mind is going.
There is no question about it.
I can feel it.
I can feel it.
I can feel it.
I'm afraid...

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Original BBC Radio Broadcast


Narrated by Edgar Lustgarten
(The famous words are at 18th minute of the recording)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Missing the Head

British forensic science pioneer pathologist Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury, who developed numerous modern methods and is considered by many as the greatest Crime Scene Investigator of history, described the Mahon Case as the most interesting and challenging case of his career, for he had to put, from hundreds of tiny pieces, Emily Kaye's body together again, missing only the head.

Birçok modern metod geliştirmiş ve birçok kişi tarafından gelmiş geçmiş en iyi suç mahali araştırmacısı olarak addedilen Britanyalı adli tıp öncüsü Patolog Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury, kariyerinin en ilginç ve zorlayıcı davası olarak tanımladığı Mahon davasında, Emily Kaye'in cesedini yüzlerce küçük parçadan tekrar bir araya getirmek zorunda kalmış fakat kurbanın yalnızca başını bulamamıştır.

The gruesome murder inspired him to suggest crime scene equipment to the police later named the "murder bag" and help make wearing rubber gloves a standard at crime scenes.

Bu hunhar cinayet Spilsbury'nin polise, daha sonraları "Cinayet Çantası" olarak adlandırılacak, suç mahali teçhizatını önermesinde ve kauçuk eldiven giymenin suç mahallerinde standart hale gelmesine önayak olmasında etkili olmuştur.

He also did the post-mortem on Mahon's body following his execution on September 2nd 1924

2 Eylül 1924'deki infazını takiben, Mahon'un cesedi üzerindeki otopsi incelemesini de kendisi gerçekleştirmiştir.

Spilsbury's record card describing the remains of Emily Kaye's body found at the crime scene.
Spilsbury'nin, suç mahalinde bulduğu Emily Kaye'den arda kalanları tarif ettiği Kayıt Kartı

Monday, November 9, 2009

Severed Heads - Dead Eyes Opened



This great track by the legendary Australian band contains a sample from Edgar Lustgarten (1907-1978) reading from "Death on the Crumbles (1924)", from the BBC Radio show "Scales of Justice" (1962-1967), depicting the trial of Patrick Mahon charged with murdering his mistress Emily Kaye.

Efsanevi Avustralyalı grup bu şarkılarında Edgar Lustgarten'ın 1962-1967 yılları arasında BBC Radyosu'nda yaptığı "Scales of Justice" (Adaletin Terazisi) programının, metresi Emily Kaye'i öldürmekle suçlanan Patrick Mahon'un yargılanışını resmeden, "Death on the Crumbles (1924)" adlı bölümünde okuduğu bir pasajdan sample almışlar.
Emily Beilby Kaye
By strange coincidence, a thunderstorm had been brewing when Mahon, doing his grisly work at the bungalow, was dealing with the most grisly job of all--the head, the woman's head. He had severed it from the trunk, built a huge fire in the sitting room, placed her head upon it, then (I owe a debt here to Edgar Wallace, who edited the transcript of the Mahon trial), then the storm broke with a violent flash of lightning and an appalling crash of thunder. As the head of Emily Kaye lay upon the coals, the dead eyes opened, and Mahon fled out to the deserted shore. When he nerved himself to return, the fire had done its work. The head was never found...