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Whistling while you work but can't name that tune?

By Max Glaskin

10 February 2001

IF YOU’VE ever had a song in your head but don’t know what it is, you’ll soon
be able to get the answer just by whistling to your PC. Bjørn Olstad, research
and development chief at Fast Search and Transfer (FAST) in Oslo, Norway, says
their new search software can find a tune and name it with as few as five notes
to go on. Users can sing, whistle or play a few notes on a musical instrument
into their PC’s microphone. If that stretches your musical talent too far,
“simply tapping a rhythm can be enough to locate the right file”, says…

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