Tone-deaf robots teach each other to sing, passionately butcher a Happy Birthday rendition

After what must've been a few painful minutes of rehearsal, a few robots built by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research have performed what we assume to be their first and last paid gig: a rendition of Happy Birthday to celebrate the 100th of the Science Museum in the UK. What's interesting about these bots -- outside of their horrible ear for music and laughable singing voices is the fact that they've actually been programmed to communicate and teach each other to sing through the process of singing to each other. Videos of both painful acts are after the break, and while we wouldn't call it art, we shouldn't throw stones: we've been in plenty of garage bands that sounded quite a bit worse.

[Via robots.net]

[Orbital @ Jun 28th 2009 1:45AM]

God damn these things are adorable.

How long until they figure out how to hypnotize us with their crappy music and take over the world?

[graywolf790 @ Jun 28th 2009 8:53AM]

In 3...2...1...0.

Oh shit, it worked!!!! Everybody...RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shinigami @ Jun 28th 2009 11:42AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJJQ0zNNOM&feature=related
This little guy is even more adorable :)

[MonkeyHood @ Jun 28th 2009 2:23PM]

Their heads remind me of the hockey mask from Friday the 13th.

I wouldn't call them adorable so much as miniature killing machines D:

[Phoenix @ Jun 28th 2009 4:08PM]

Wow... they sounded better than my family at my niece's birthday party! O_O

[robpetrin @ Jun 28th 2009 4:58PM]

Adorable? They look like dwarf versions of Jason from Friday the 13th.

[isaacottohayes @ Jun 28th 2009 8:04PM]

How can you say this is not art?

[Robert Anderson @ Jun 28th 2009 1:46AM]

Wow, creepy.

[Averna @ Jun 28th 2009 2:55AM]

Maybe so, but I bet they win the diorama competition.

[jibba jabba @ Jun 28th 2009 1:28PM]

Eh... well if this doesn't work out for them at least they can find work in a Tool video.

[Erik Stroud @ Jun 29th 2009 1:40AM]

Soon we will die.

[fischju @ Jun 28th 2009 1:47AM]

Next up on the RIAA's radar: robots that sing songs without paying a royalty!

[Phreak @ Jun 28th 2009 3:29AM]

You call that singing? :))

[Leak @ Jun 28th 2009 2:39AM]

Someone needs to teach them the concept of rhythm.

[kojo87 @ Jun 28th 2009 2:00AM]

Morbo is greatly amused!

[Valicore @ Jun 28th 2009 2:00AM]

Holy crap, the 21st century spawn of Jason will kill us all with bad singing!

[G Scott J @ Jun 28th 2009 2:04AM]

Really? They butcher Happy Birthday? Have no rhythm? Yeah, their spontaneous compositions suck, but non-spontaneous, artistic composition for humans is still fairly tricky. I'd like to hear anyone on the Engadget staff or a commenter, sing Happy Birthday in a three-part harmony (granted, the robots had it programmed in by people that don't even have to be able to vocalize it their own selves...)--and/or reduce artistic creation to a computationally tractable encoding.

[LMM @ Jun 28th 2009 2:19AM]

To be honest, I thought the Happy Birthday was pretty good. Not too great at the start, but for freakin' cute robots it made me smile.

[chispito @ Jun 28th 2009 4:29AM]

Way too much vibrato, though.

[Shinigami @ Jun 28th 2009 11:43AM]

/me needs a shotgun for these fricking adorable robots.

[sweet greggo @ Jun 28th 2009 2:12AM]

Kahreeeeeepy! I'll be having nightmares for weeks!

Pretty cool though.

[Tony Rayo @ Jun 28th 2009 2:13AM]

What's worse is they will also have to pay 5,000$ for the rights to "sing" the song "Happy Birthday", unless the law is different in the UK (which I hope it is =).

[deanb @ Jun 28th 2009 4:28AM]

Your joking right?
Never have to pay to sing Happy B'day over here.
Wow RIAA n co over there must really be turning the thumb screws.

[Shinigami @ Jun 28th 2009 11:44AM]

@deanb
Just trying to make ends meet.

[loadstar @ Jun 28th 2009 2:38PM]

@deanb: Nope. The rights to the song "Happy Birthday To You" are owned by the estate of Mildred and Patty Hill. It is the same as any song that has not entered the public domain; public performance of the song has to be licensed.

[PhotoFre@k @ Jun 28th 2009 2:33AM]

Put the idea in the Asimo and walla, we have a killer robot on the loose.

[graywolf790 @ Jun 28th 2009 8:55AM]

Pretty much. Remember Furby? The little bastard tried to electrocute me when I was cleaning it. Oh well, at least it's batteries won't explode...

[leak @ Jun 28th 2009 2:40AM]

Someone needs to teach them the concept of rhythm.

[Paul Corlatan @ Jun 28th 2009 2:52AM]

Someone needs to teach them the concept of rhythm.

[Yamikotai @ Jun 28th 2009 2:55AM]

Someone needs to teach them the concept of rhythm.

[Ubermelon @ Jun 28th 2009 2:56AM]

The concept of rhythm someone must teach.

[Cameron @ Jun 28th 2009 3:04AM]

The concert of rhino simian mast torch.

[Ubermelon @ Jun 28th 2009 3:08AM]

+1 for wtfness

[アンドル @ Jun 28th 2009 3:47AM]

Zhe concrete off rhyme sum wain most teeth.

[アンドル @ Jun 28th 2009 3:43AM]

This is how ASIMO should speak to humans I think. Just terrifying them into doing whatever exactly ASIMO has planned for us.

My prediction is that I will be murdered by one of 3 aforementioned robots or offspring thereof.

[zigger @ Jun 28th 2009 4:51AM]

Jason won't be pleased about his missing masks...

[bradmss @ Jun 28th 2009 4:27AM]

I'm just kind of miffed that they gave them the vibrato of a 80 year old church choir member....
We know that a pleasing vibrato is 6-8 oscillations/sec w/ about a semi-tone variation in pitch.

But these things are as slow and wobbly as an 80 yr old guy in chuch choir.

And that vibrato was obviously programmed in... no reason to make it that bad sounding.

[Ghatid @ Jun 28th 2009 4:54AM]

I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I am thorough creeped out.

[Honza @ Jun 28th 2009 8:12AM]

Shit, it's not Friday the 13th again is it?

[Shinigami @ Jun 28th 2009 11:47AM]

Nope, just a ghost having a birthday.

[10minutehobo @ Jun 28th 2009 10:22AM]

UuuuUUuUuUu uUUuUo OOO oOOooo OoouUOuOOOUoOoOOouOOuO



Also, fix the (*^*&#@%%^*# comment system.

[Nat Poate @ Jun 28th 2009 9:32AM]

These are in fact the University of Plymouth Robot Bunnies, and have been in development for 2 years now. I am actually oneof the creators, i developed the motherboards for these bunnies, and they are bassed upon the Colibri modules. They will eventually have 6 processor PC's running Windows CE, connected to a back plane, whic has a Broadcom ethernet ub, USB hub and the powersupply. I created the first board, however the psu didnt work as well, but that was where i had to hand the project over.
Nat Poate

[Agent .25i @ Jun 28th 2009 9:42AM]

LOL. Professor Miranda called the other day, asked me to borrow my old Organ. (the instrument) I guess this is what it was for. Happy Birthday Science Museum.

[nicleT @ Jun 28th 2009 9:52AM]

Who's sitting on the LFO ?

[daimos @ Jun 28th 2009 10:24AM]

randy : yo dog that was the bomb ! we have a hot one tonight !
paula : your singing makes me fart rainbows...i love you.
simon : what the bloody hell was that ?

[Bishr @ Jun 28th 2009 11:35AM]

"Share and enjoy!" - ignore the video, but hear the best robot choir ever - from h2g2 radio series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjXswmoZ2HQ

[Arman Khan @ Jun 28th 2009 12:01PM]

I found this utterly creepy.


O.o

[WilfordBrimley @ Jun 28th 2009 12:53PM]

Don't forget to pay Warner Chappell Music a royalty for making a recording of Happy Birthday, and if visitors to the museum can hear it, pay them some more for the public performance.

[AltairAntares @ Jun 28th 2009 1:39PM]

At least the robots now have the ability to sing a victory song of their own creation when they take over the world....

[D @ Jun 29th 2009 12:17AM]

the baritone was off key.