what is sound?

• sound is a pressure
disturbance that moves
through a medium in the form
of mechanical waves
•waves move outward in all
directions from a source
•they are produced by
vibrations of the source
object
•sound waves are made up of
Compression and Rarefaction
www.scienceaheead.com
audio sensors

www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/anatomy.asp?sid=29
audio input devices

a.Microphones
b.
c.MIDI
sound sensor with arduino
Microphone from an electronic headset

http://lab.guilhermemartins.net/2009/05/03/sound-sensor/
particulate flow detection
microphone
•Laserbeam accuracy
•particulate flow detection
microphone: uses a precise
laser and smoke to measure
movement of particulates
suspended in the air
•Sound pressure waves disturb the
modulating laserbeam
•
•
http://audiolemon.blogspot.com/2009/09/laser-accurate-microphone.html
 primal source
usman haque
• some modes created creatures
whose colour, shape, and movement
followed the frequency and
amplitude dynamics of individual
syllables and sentences picked
up
• some modes responded to wider
collective phenomena i.e.
distorting a grid in response to
the crowd volume
www.haque.co.uk/primalsource.php
primal source
usman haque

www.haque.co.uk/primalsource.php
 MIDI
musical instrument digital
interface
•contains a list of events or messages that tell
an electronic device how to generate a sound
•records and saves list of messages and
instructions in a .MID file
• can be played on any electronic device that
contains synthesizer software
•can change speed, tempo and pitch of recorded
music, can be played with a compatible musical
instrument or device as an output

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/midi1.htm
audio actuators
audio output devices
a.realtime audio processing
b.
c.tone generation libraries
d.
e.synthesizers and sound
generation
f.
g.MIDI
realtime audio processing
•alters an incoming audio
signal and puts it back
to an audio output
•reverb, phasor, flanger, or
ringmodulator effects
can be achieved in this
way
•can also output computed
waveforms like Sinewave,
Bell, and Xylophone
sounds

/
interface.khm.de/index.php/lab/experiments/arduino-realtime-audio-processing
max msp software
•realtime visual programming environment
for multimedia and control that is great
for learning about digital signal
processing
•graphical programming environment for
music and media applications
•hardware interfacing: wii remotes to
iphones, many sensors and actuators
•channels can be created and manipulated
for a variety of sounds
•time stretching and freezing
 audio spotlight

• Sound is transponded to a high frequency

ultrasound that is too high for it to
be heard
• High frequency ultrasound is highly
directional, like a flashlight so it
can be pointed at someone a long
distance away
• The person cannot hear the ultrasound
itself but it causes secondary
vibrations in the ear which is what we
hear
http://www.holosonics.com/
• The beam is ½ metre wide
•
 audio filters
• filters limit frequencies that go through them
• High pass and Low pass filters allow high and low frequencies to
pass through, respectively
• add these filters together to make Band Pass filters and Notch
filters to ban multiple bands, pass multiple bands, or manipulate
bands over time
• as a result you can produce sounds that sound like words and more
clearly articulate music
• jejt.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/arduino-audio-filter
 wave shield
• adafruit wave shield for
arduinos improves audio quality
•can play up to 22KHz, 12 bit
uncompressed audio files of any
length
•onboard DAC, filter, and op-amp
for high quality output
•audio files are read off of a
SD/MMC card (FAT-16)

www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_21&products_id=94
 noise makers
• the difference between noise
makers and sound filters is the
difference between “din” and
“music”
• this is a 16-step programmable
sequencer with adjustable
frequency and duration for each
step
• synthesizer with 4 output
waveforms (sine, square, triangle
and sawtooth)
• noise generation (sirens,
laser beam, random noise)

jejt.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/arduino-audio-filter/
 humanthesizer
• the human synthesizer uses
conductive body paint and floor pads
to complete circuits on contact
• when the circuit is completed sound
is produced
•groupings of pads are set up to
produce different instruments
•the result is a predetermined song
set in motion by coreography

www.youtube.com/watch?v=up1wraRnriI&fmt=22&annotation_id=annotation_528683&feature=iv
 noise cancelling
•uses microphones to sample ambient
noise
•inverts the phase of that signal and
removes it from what you are listening
to
•opposite, or near opposite soundwaves
with ambient noise does not increase
the sound heard, but cancels it out
•by this logic, if one speaker is
normal, and the second speaker is
inverted, the person who is equidistant
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNK4Wc3-Ij4
from both speakers will be in a quiet
spot
stereo beat generator
• using stereo speakers
the arduino can give the
impression that sound is
coming from different
directions
• this manipulates our
perception
• demonstration at
http://vimeo.com/944420
acoustically coupled analog
neural network
Evolving sonic environment III Usman Haque

www.haque.co.uk/evolvingsonicenvironment.php
acoustically coupled analog
neural network
acoustically-coupled analog neural network

http://www.haque.co.uk/evolvingsonicenvironment.php
 sonicity (stanza)
www.stanza.co.uk/sonicity/
• realtime sound stream using wireless
sensors
• data gathered from new technologies
monitors the building and the city including:
light, temp, sound, noise, pollution, humidity,
position
• motes- tiny wireless sensor boards gather
data and communicate to the central server
• real world is monitored and the data stored
in a archive retrieval system
• custom max/msp moto-reader and sound
synthesis engine in Max MSP allows you to
hear the sounds of space using additional
mixers
 sonicity (stanza)
• explores interaction with public space
and how this affects socialization of the
space
• 40 mote multi sensor network that is
scattered throughout the building
• nodes placed 10-300 metres apart
• gather data when switched on
• realtime polling of data online from
sensors to xml feeds
• sonification of the data
•the software allows all the sensors to be
mixed and cross mashed
www.stanza.co.uk/sonicity/
other interesting examples
•Interactive Shopping Cart
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZDRfmozQVU

•Memory is a Pea: pressure sensors on

the pillow activate the playback of
dreamlike sounds as participants move
their head on the pillow
free librairies and online
software
•Free Sound Project
http://www.freesound.org/index.php
•Tweet a Sound: application allows you to design a sound, uses twitter as
a platform for sharing sonic tweets - also good for mashups + online
concerts
•Tutorial: http://www.soundplusdesign .com/?p=1621

•Sound Doodle: this is a sample based software that alloys you to apply
four main effects to sound: reverb, multi-tap stereo delay, resonators, and
granular synthesis – can also play sound in reverse and change its speed
http://www.soundplusdesign.com/
•
•Soundhack: http://www.soundhack.com/freeware.php
•
•Arduino Tone Generation Library: http://code.google.com/p/arduino-tone/