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SecondHandSongs Hacked……….!!!

Limbabwe

Editor
Posts: 15923

Limbabwe @ 2013-01-21 18:42:42 UTC

Thanks to our member Paul Lamere we were ‘hacked’ during last weekend's Music Hack Day Stockholm. No worries though, it was a friendly hack. Smile


The music hack resulted in a great little tool called Going Undercover, which lets you find cover chains between two artists.


Playing around with this tool and listening to the generated cover chains is great fun and let's you uncover unfamiliar covers and links between artists never thought possible! Here are some of the cover chains made with Going Undercover:

Have fun and please let us know how you like it and if and how it could be improved by using below comments button. Thanks!


Your proud SecondHandSongs Team

SlimD

Retired Editor
Posts: 1377

SlimD @ 2013-01-22 01:29:51 UTC

It looks like a fun tool.


I do have a suggestion for improvement. I would consider adaptions to be equivalent works. For example, right now there is no path linking Ana Hato and Slim Dusty. However, Ana Hato recorded Po Atarau and Slim Dusty recorded Now Is the Hour, an adaptation of Po Atarau. Consequently, I think there should be a path with just one step between these two artists.

Mop66

Retired Editor
Posts: 776

Mop66 @ 2013-01-22 11:24:00 UTC

Either I am too stupid or something is wrong with the tool. Maybe better (or should I say 'some' as there are none) instructions should be added. i tried several times with originals or covers and all I get is "Sorry, can't find any covers for ....."

Limbabwe

Editor
Posts: 15923

Limbabwe @ 2013-01-22 12:03:23 UTC

Either I am too stupid or something is wrong with the tool. Maybe better (or should I say 'some' as there are none) instructions should be added. i tried several times with originals or covers and all I get is "Sorry, can't find any covers for ....."

I did check and it works fine....

Did you try one of the three links provided in the article?! And did you wait a while for the results to load...?

If still not working, please let us know which browser you're using; that might possibly be the reason (just guessing).

walt

Editor
Posts: 5775

walt @ 2013-01-22 20:02:19 UTC

Nice! So far, my record is up to "8 songs". Smile

This tool could be useful to radio show programmers (or DJs) as well.

SlimD

Retired Editor
Posts: 1377

SlimD @ 2013-01-22 23:39:59 UTC

I found a path with 10 performances. However, "Going Undercover" doesn't always generate the shortest path. For example, if you enter "Tanya Tucker" and "Marianne Faithful" it generates the following path of performances:



Angel From Montgomery

Tanya Tucker


Angel From Montgomery

John Prine


I Want To Be With You Always

John Prine


I Want To Be With You Always

Lefty Frizzell


The Long Black Veil

Lefty Frizzell


Long Black Veil

Marianne Faithfull



However, a shorter path is


I'm Not Lisa

Jesse Colter


I'm Not Lisa

Marianne Faithful


Also, sometimes it fails to find a path even though one exists.


So there is room for improvement. However, I think it's a great idea and it executes quickly. I like it.

Mathieu

Manager
Posts: 7289

Mathieu @ 2013-01-23 10:48:05 UTC

It only uses a subset of our data (the subset that has been matched against other databases), that's why it won't always find a path or the shortest path.

BruceG

Member
Posts: 9

BruceG @ 2013-01-23 13:40:19 UTC

I can't make it work at all. I get a message that says "Creating path between xxx and yyy" and then it sits there and does nothing.

Limbabwe

Editor
Posts: 15923

Limbabwe @ 2013-01-23 13:54:19 UTC

I can't make it work at all. I get a message that says "Creating path between xxx and yyy" and then it sits there and does nothing.

Hi Bruce!

Could you let us know what browser you are using for browsing the internet. That gives us a chance to try to duplicate your problem and get an idea what is causing it. Thanks for helping!

Limbabwe

Mop66

Retired Editor
Posts: 776

Mop66 @ 2013-01-23 20:10:14 UTC

I got it. I did not realize you actually have to enter two ARTISTS! I always tried with an artist and a song. Tongue Grin

SlimD

Retired Editor
Posts: 1377

SlimD @ 2013-01-23 21:10:37 UTC

The fact that only a subset of the database is used only partially explains why shortest paths are not found. However, the path generated for "The Shelton Brothers" and "The Cliffters" is


Just Because

Shelton Brothers


Just Because

Nelstone's Hawaiians


Just Because

The Cliffters


Clearly, the middle performance is not needed. I f we remove it, we still have a path connecting the two artists.

Mathieu

Manager
Posts: 7289

Mathieu @ 2013-01-24 07:18:33 UTC

Artists are only connected if one covered the other. If they both covered the same song, they need to be connected with the original.

SlimD

Retired Editor
Posts: 1377

SlimD @ 2013-01-24 16:22:30 UTC

Thanks for the explanation. It adds an interesting aspect to the performance path - very nice!

maryhelen

Certified Contributor
Posts: 1447

maryhelen @ 2014-05-23 22:20:34 UTC

Hello, Are these links still active? I tried viewing the existent cove chains (the 3 in the message) and those on the actual webpage but nothing happens. It looks like only Twitter available-- is that possible?


Mary

Limbabwe

Editor
Posts: 15923

Limbabwe @ 2014-05-24 00:37:42 UTC

Hello, Are these links still active? I tried viewing the existent cove chains (the 3 in the message) and those on the actual webpage but nothing happens. It looks like only Twitter available-- is that possible? Mary


The Going Undercover Tool is still online, but not working. Maybe weekend IT maintenance... As it is no SHS project we can not do anything about that. Too bad, it was a really nice tool ! I do not understand why our site management hasn't integrated this in the site as I suggested.....

maryhelen

Certified Contributor
Posts: 1447

maryhelen @ 2014-05-24 03:50:42 UTC

Thanks. It is too bad. Here's what on the site:

" Powered by SecondHandSongs, Rdio and The Echo Nest."


Mary