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Jackattack736 t1_j1ooiow wrote

Fun fact-this was the first song ever converted into an MP3 file!

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OhioDuran t1_j1otheo wrote

Not the DNA version, the original acapella. The human voice is more noticeably "weird" after compression so it was used as a yardstick.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1oq3rv wrote

Not just that --- the guy trying to fine tune the Mp3 format had to listen to it a 1000 times.

............................

Suzanne Vega's catchy tune has made her "Mother of the MP3" -- though it took a while. Vega wrote "Tom's Diner" as an a cappella song way back in 1982. By 1984 it has been released on an obscure folk compilation, and didn't appear on Vega's studio albums until 1987's Solitude Standing. In 1990, the song was remixed by The DNA Disciples, adding a danceable beat and instrumentation -- this version hit the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #5 in the US.

So what does this have to do with MP3? Well, after its release in 1987 audiophiles began using Vega's a cappella track to test speaker systems for clarity. It was considered a good, warm recording of a human voice -- something that could reveal flaws in an audio setup. Working at the Fraunhofer Society in Germany in the 90's, audio engineer Karl-Heinz Brandenburg was hard at work developing the MP3 audio compression scheme.

Brandenburg used Vega's a cappella version of "Tom's Diner" to tune the compression system, playing the track before and after compression was applied to tell whether MP3 sounded good enough. He figured Vega's song would be a tough track to compress (as it was already favored by audiophiles), and would be a good test for whether MP3 was really listenable. Although many audiophiles ended up hating MP3, Brandenburg seems to have done pretty well for himself -- MP3 became an incredibly popular technology.

On the choice of "Tom's Diner," Brandenburg recalled: "I was ready to fine-tune my compression algorithm...somewhere down the corridor, a radio was playing 'Tom's Diner.' I was electrified. I knew it would be nearly impossible to compress this warm a cappella voice."

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MeBroken t1_j1pdxip wrote

In an audio physics course we got to use this song while we learned how to create sound effects and apply them to the song through programming and math. Needless to say we all became mad having to listen to the song on repeat but adjusted with different effects. Here we are years later and if someone in class starts to sing "I'm sitting in the morning..." the whole class joins in with, "at the diner on the corner" haha.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1pujwi wrote

https://youtu.be/QnyjsAcggfg

.

.

I am sitting on the sofa.

There's a TV in the corner.

I am watching Major Nelson.

He is played by Larry Hagman.

And he found a little bottle.

And then out popped Barbara Eden.

She couldn't show her belly button.

All she did was blink.

.

.

Duh-Dut -- Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat.

Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat.

Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat. Dat.

D'Duh-Dut-Dut -- Dat.

.

.

Tony Nelson works at NASA.

With suspicious Dr. Bellows.

And there's also Roger Healy.

Who would become Howard Borden.

And Jeannie always means well.

But they get in wacky trouble.

She folds her arms and blinks her eyes.

It's kind of like Bewitched.

.

.

Duh-Dut -- Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat.

Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat.

Duh-Dah.

Dut-Dut, D'Dut Dat. Dat.

D'Duh-Dut-Dut -- Dat.

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votequimby2016 t1_j1qbft8 wrote

This is on a compilation called Tom's Album which Suzanne produced. A bunch of different versions and covers of the tune. Came out in 1991 on A&M.

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weluckyfew t1_j1q37w8 wrote

That made me so very happy - thank you for sharing. And special respect for them making this a full 2:20 song.

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unassumingdink t1_j1pjj2m wrote

As somebody who listened to FM radio in the late '80s, I think I have him beat.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1pv19r wrote

Bing. Bing. Dah-Bing Bong.

Bing. Bing. Bing. - Bong.

Bing. Bing. Dah-Bing Bong.

Binga-Dinga Bing-Bong.

YOU WERE WORKING AS A WAITRESS IN A COCKTAIL BARRRRRR.

WHEN I MET YOU.

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SCWthrowaway1095 t1_j1pi1oo wrote

It’s a great song for testing.

One of the things that makes the MP3 format good at compression is its ability to dynamically shift data between time and frequency. It can decide on the fly, at any given point in time, whether it wants to give more emphasis to percussion and transients or whether it wants to give more data to whistles and tones.

Tom’s Diner was probably chosen because it contains a good blended mix of sharp transients and long tones.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1pva40 wrote

But is that in the case of VARIABLE Bit-Rate, or CONSTANT Bit-Rate???

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SCWthrowaway1095 t1_j1pylx0 wrote

Both.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1q1m79 wrote

Is VBR ~superior~ to CBR???

Have I been going about this all wrong the whole time????

I always thought a Constant Bitrate was more consistent.

Also, how do you feel about ATRAC?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATRAC

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SCWthrowaway1095 t1_j1q21mf wrote

Just use Opus. It’s superior to everything else.

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1q2pkf wrote

Thanks for the suggestion.

https://youtu.be/iaAD71h9gDU

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1q37f5 wrote

Wow.

https://youtu.be/IaW9Uqz8EII

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Fluffy_Little_Fox t1_j1q451x wrote

Forbidden Audio Witchcraft.

https://youtu.be/-5kFPxCIS8M

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SCWthrowaway1095 t1_j1q5dda wrote

Yeah, Opus has a lot of neat little tricks under the hood that make it really good at sound compression, for both music and human voice. And it’s also open source! Youtube, Discord and Whatsapp all use it as their primary audio codec as far as I know, with youtube using it as part of the .ogg container.

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3f2rf3rfrf23r t1_j1qzwky wrote

This is an interesting philosophical question for software development and composition. When does something start existing?

There were many songs tested first according to the lead dev in the early days. When mp3 starts existing though is unclear. Tom's Diner was used as the baseline and sanity check throughout testing. That part is true.

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