Here’s a nifty site that could put an end to the days of humming tunes at bemused friends in a bid to identify that song that’s been rattling around your head for days: Midomi. If you haven’t heard of it already (and I hadn’t before I saw it on BBC’s Click), it’s basically a way of identifying a song by simply humming or singing the tune. Midomi then tries to match the tune to its fairly extensive database of music.
Some basic grasp of singing in tune would be helpful, but you can still muggle through despite hitting bum notes thanks to Midomi’s community of users. Registered users can record snippets of songs or the whole tune, and then Midomi can match your query to other less vocally gifted users’ attempts if the desired song doesn’t pick up on its radar.
To test it out myself, I tried out a variety of tunes, mostly with positive results: it successfully managed to identify Just Can’t Get Enough (and brownie points for giving me Depeche Mode’s original version rather than The Saturdays’ cover – an instant deal-breaker), Rio by Duran Duran was spot on, but it mistook my hummed My Old Man’s a Dustman for Mariah Carey’s We Belong Together. Well, close enough.
There’s also the potential for karaoke enthusiasts, Whitney Houston wannabes and anyone else with even a seed of exhibitionism in their body to show off by recording your own vocal stylings of a song. The community appears to be very positive and supportive about their fellow users, from what I’ve seen, but I’m sure it won’t be long before the Simon Cowells emerge from the woodwork – trolling paradise. Either way, pretty impressive tech – handy for music fans everywhere.