# Does this electronic musical instrument exist?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 2, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638 "2011-07-02T16:47:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638/1 "2011-07-02T16:47:45Z")

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A simple devise that translates voice sounds into selectable instrument voices. You “do do do” or whistle or hum into the mike and it comes out as sax or violin, etc. on the other end, maybe with optional pitch correction. I’m sure those computer machines things do this sort of thing with midi and the like, but I’d like see one for duffers that stands alone for like $200. There used to be a devise called “Vocalizer 1000” that sort of did this, but it was closer to a toy.

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**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638/2 "2011-07-02T17:01:42Z")

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I know there’s an iPhone app that does that. I forget what it’s called though; I don’t have it. I’ll see if I can find it…

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**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638/3 "2011-07-02T17:21:59Z")

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I suppose it would be pretty hard to go past the toy stage. The problem is, how do you translate hum, whistle or “do, do, do” to the different playing techniques of various instruments? What about volume? If you include pitch correction, can you only play certain notes?

Sounds like it could be fun, but I believe the [Talk Box](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_box), while not exactly what you’re describing, is as close as you’re gonna get.

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**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-electronic-musical-instrument-exist/587638/4 "2011-07-02T18:26:15Z")

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A sampler takes found sounds and converts them through a synthesizer. That approaches something which you’re describing!