Now you can hum to search Google for songs you can’t remember, but can’t forget. If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your head but can’t remember enough lyrics to search for it, Google has a solution: hum to search.
Google unveiled a new search feature Thursday that lets users search for songs by humming a few bars, in an attempt to help you identify music. This is now part of Google’s mobile app and Google Assistant, where you can say “what’s this song?” (add a “Hey Google” first on Google Assistant) and then hum, whistle, or sing for 10 to 15 seconds. The results will include several probable songs, along with the search engine’s estimation of how likely it is that each is the one you’re looking for.
Google said the feature will be available first in English on Apple’s iOS and in over 20 languages on Google’s Android mobile platform. Users don’t need to have perfect pitch in order to get the feature to work, according to Google.
Hum-to-search isn’t a brand new idea, though it is new to Google. Like many of Google’s search offerings, the feature uses machine learning: Essentially, software analyzes the tune you hum (or sing or whistle), turning it into a sequence of digits that can then be compared with tons of digitized songs to find a few that appear similar. The company has been working on using artificial intelligence for music recognition for a number of years.
The feature may be in high demand:Google’s vice president who introduced it during Google’s streamed event on Thursday, said people ask Google “what song is playing” nearly 100 million times each month.
Opera house performs first post-lockdown concert for an all-plant audience
Next week, Barcelona’s Liceu opera house will emerge from its lockdown-induced siesta by throwing a concert to a rather unusual audience. The attendees will not need masks or gloves, nor will they be required to follow physical distancing rules.
However, they might like to take along a nice comfy pot and some water to prevent their roots from drying out as a string quartet serenades them, fittingly, with Puccini’s Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums).
A total of 2,292 plants will occupy the venue’s seats and listen to the opera house’s first post-lockdown concert when it reopens next Monday. Non-vegetal music fans will also be able to enjoy the performance as it will be live-streamed.
According to the Liceu’s artistic director Víctor García de Gomar, the Concert for the Biocene, played the by Uceli quartet, is intended to help us ponder the current state of the human condition and how, in lockdown, we have become “an audience deprived of the possibility of being an audience”.
For Eugenio Ampudia, the conceptual artist behind the concert, the project will serve to reflect what has happened across Spain and around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to retreat from shared public areas.
“At a time when an important part of humankind has shut itself up in enclosed spaces and been obliged to relinquish movement, nature has crept forward to occupy the spaces we have ceded,” said Ampudia.
After the concert, the plants will find themselves in a new home, with each one of them being donated to 2,292 health workers as thank you for their efforts over recent months.
—
“the first rule of opera is the first rule in life:
‘working’ for free for our friend’s teenage sister
who had plans to go to see the beatles
at olympia arena
when they landed in detroit.
we were recruited by her
to spend our time creating
‘the world’s longest gum wrapper chain’
that she planned to present with her fan club
to the beatles at the concert.
she funded our gum and provided us each with a cigar box
and we sat in the yard for hours upon hours
just talking and laughing
and listening to music on her transistor radio
and creating the chain
until we’d get called home.
we never questioned the project
as were we caught up
in the whirlwind of her excitement
when the time came
she went to the show and presented the chain
later regaling us with the stories and craziness of the concert
and suddenly it was over
our summer of working for free had ended
and I looked forward to my own concerts ahead
wondering who I could recruit to make my paper chains.
—
The Beatles
“It was like hearing the future.”
–Tom Hanks
“They blew the walls down for everybody else.”
–Barack Obama
“We’ve never seen anything like this before, ever. Never. Not even for kings and queens.”
–Unnamed airport official
how to make a gum wrapper chain:
what you’ll need:
Gum Wrappers: You’ll need a ton of these. We made our dress using paper wrappers, but you can use foil too. The process is the same!
Patience: You’ll also need a lot of this.
1. Fold It in Half
Take a single wrapper and fold it longways, or hot-dog style. Do this three times. Try to fold the jagged edge inside because it can get in the way when making the chains.
2. Fold It Through the Middle
Fold the wrapper in half the other way, right through the middle. It should make a “V” shape. Next, fold the sides into the middle, making a little “v.” This little guy will be one link on your chain.
3.. Repeat
Before you proceed, you’ll have to repeat these steps to make another chain link. Once you have two, you’re ready to connect them!
4. Connect the Pieces
Just take the two ends of one and push it through the two holes in the other. This is why you’ll want your gum wrappers to be folded neatly—if the jagged ends stick out, it can get difficult to see what you’re doing or where to push the wrappers through and connect them. Keep it neat!
5. Keep Going
Keep on going forever and ever this same way. Eventually, you’ll have a long and fairly sturdy chain!
credits: ‘The Beatles’ Patrick Julian – Beyond Olympia Stadium, Pinterest, felt magnet
I didn't have my glasses on.... 
The Beatles
“It was like hearing the future.”
–Tom Hanks
“They blew the walls down for everybody else.”
–Barack Obama
“We’ve never seen anything like this before, ever. Never. Not even for kings and queens.”
–Unnamed airport official