In 2005 I was mesmerized by Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesizer from Yamaha. I composed a three-part acapella piece, with all three voices sung by Vocaloid Miriam (also see this).

Your Fish Tank was writen in 2005. It is the first piece of music I synthesized using Vocaloid Miriam. Bruce Yates graciously allowed me to use his underwater pictures in my YouTube video showcasing this music. See lyric at the end of this article.

Thingymajigtus, written in 2005, was my followed-up to Your Fish Tank, with four-part voice, and piano accompaniment. The lyric talks about one of  The Seven Sins of Memory, with non-prominent parts set to words from Mozart’s Requiem.

Thingymajigtus had been circulating online for quite a while, before I noticed. It’s probably because I uploaded it to Wikimedia, and linked from the Vocaloid article to these sound tracks (Thingymajigtus and Your Fish Tank).

Here are a few videos that feature this music. There even a woman lip-synching it.

Your Fish Tank

By Fred Hsu

Fish keeping, a fun recreation
until your fish pass away without reservation.
It's not a poor man's recreation,
unless your fish outlive your high expectation.

You've got to clean your tank,
change your water,
you must not let algae grow unabated.

But you need them nitrifying bacteria
to decompose them toxic ammonia.
Left with not a single bacterium,
you will have in your hands a dead aquarium.

Remember,
let the pH be at eight point oh five,
have that S.G. remain one point oh two,
only then will you succeed,
ha-le-luh-ya.

Fish keeping is a fun recreation,
it brings you supreme jubilation,
to see your fish swimming sans preoccupation.

Except when every fish lets you down,
kicks the bucket,
you have no choice but to
flush them down the toilet

(other voices)

Clown fish, cow fish, moray eel,
surgeon fish, discus,
cleaner wrasse.

Angel, fox fish,
fire shrimp, Piccasso trigger,
yellow tang.

Thingymajigtus

By Fred Hsu

Thingymajigtus,
that something whose name escapes me,
Oh, thingymajigtus,
that something on tip of my tongue.

Why can't I remember
what I can see clearly in my head?

Thingymajigtus,
one of seven sins of memory.
In case you forgot what this word means,
it means thingamajig in Latin.

Thingymajigtus,
some know it as whatchamacallit.
Oh, thingymajigtus,
that something on tip of my tongue.

How can I repossess,
my long bygone high mental prowess?

Thingymajigtus,
also known as whatchamacallit.
In case you forgot what this word means,
it means thingamajig in Latin.

(Lower voice set to words from Mozart’s Requiem)

Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando judex est venturus
Cuncta stricte discussurus.

(In English)

Day of wrath, that day
Will dissolve the earth in ashes
As David and the Sibyl bear witness.

What dread there will be
When the Judge shall come
To judge all things strictly.