December 8, 2005
This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while: the iTunes Signature Maker. I'll let Jason Freeman describe it, since he made it:
People often ask me what music I listen to, and I find it difficult to describe my enormous music collection in just a few sentences. So I created iTSM to answer in sound a question I cannot answer in words.
iTSM selects a small number of your "favorite" tracks based on some simple selection criteria, such as the number of times you have played them or the rating you have assigned them. Then it analyzes the audio content of these files, combining a small bit of each of them to create the signature.
Maybe you'll load your iTunes signature onto your iPod, e-mail it to some friends, share it in our signature gallery, or stick it on your home page. Maybe it will help you gauge your compatibility with your next blind date: "She seems nice enough, but her iTunes signature is just so atonal! Should I go with my heart or with my ear?" Or maybe an iTunes signature will figure prominently into a political attack ad: "If you're mad at him for raising your taxes, polluting our environment, and cutting the education budget, just wait until you hear the music he listens to…"
You can select the criteria for song selection (most played/recently added/top rated), and select the number of songs, how many seconds it should snip (between 1 and 6, I think), and how many songs it can layer at once (from 1 to 10). It even generates a report telling you which songs it used, in which order, and what snippets of the song it took for your signature.
So, without further ado, I present to you my iTunes signature (1.32mb mp3). Three seconds of each of the 50 most listened to songs on my iTunes (restricted to one song per album, so that it didn't turn into a Richard Buckner/Interpol/Spoons: Ohia fest) mixed and layered into a single meta-song, clocking in at just under a minute and a half.
Let me know if you recognize anything, for better or worse. And let's hear yours!
Posted by starlen at December 8, 2005 2:55 AM
Comments
It sounds to me like you dig acoustic or clean guitars and monotone-ish vocalists, yes?
If they have a Mac version, I'll trade you signatures, but I can tell you now that it will feature distorted guitars, high-register vocals won't fall outside of 1996-1999.
Posted by: Steve at December 8, 2005 8:58 AM
