Tools for Thought: Graphical Algebra and Fourier Analysis

Steven Wittens likes to explain complicated mathematical concepts using simple, intuitive visualisations. He calls the process a “graphical algebra”. In this slide deck, Steven explains how some of the simple mathematical identities we learned at school can be viewed as graphical translations - rotating, skewing and scaling. He then takes this concept further to explain the Fourier Transform - the mathematical function that allows us to convert time into frequency. The resulting explanation is fantastic - and it’s all performed in real time using WebGL and the Web Audio API.

WAC 2016

As I write delegates are arriving in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2nd international Web Audio Conference (WAC). For those of us who can’t be there, the conference proceedings have been published in advance and there should be a live-stream of the conference starting on Monday, April 4th at 9am (EST).

There’ll hopefully be a special issue of Web Audio Weekly with reports from the conference.

Procedural game music in BlockShip Wars

BlockShip Wars is an experiment in procedural game generation built in JavaScript and WebGL. Having already generated planets, spaceships, character names and more, when it came to the game’s audio there was only one choice - procedural generated Web Audio music. The blog post has all the details and a demo.

MidiWriterJS

A neat and expressive library for generating multi-track MIDI files. Notes can be added to multiple tracks with their length and pitch specified in a familiar notation. The output can be written directly to a MIDI file for downloading, or turned into a data-uri for embedding directly into markup.

W3C online course on HTML5/Web Audio

The online course platform EdX are hosting some new courses from the W3C including Michel Buffa’s new course on advanced HTML5 techniques. By making an in-browser game you’ll learn about animation, drag-and-drop, persistence using IndexedDB, and (most importantly!) how to add audio using the Web Audio API. The next session starts in June, but sign up now to be reminded when it gets going.

Tascam Portastudio Simulation

This authentic-looking simulation of a Tascam 8-track mixing desk took me back to my A Level music days! Switch the simulation into “playback mixer mode” and load the demo song, then hit “play” on the simulated Portastudio to get started. As fun as this is, I think linear editing and mixing is one piece of retro technology that I am glad has had its day!

19 TET Keyboard

Why is a standard piano keyboard divided into octaves of twelve notes each? It doesn’t have to be this way, and in this post we learn about the common “equal temperament” tuning and have chance to play with a piano which uses a 19 note scale instead.

Tinyrave

Tinyrave is a music-making-cum-code-sharing platform. You can write snippets of JavaScript or CoffeScript code to create sounds and compositions and then play back and share those on the site. Popular compositions are available on the homepage, where they can be “forked” and used as a starting point for your own compositions.

Play Drums Online

Learn how to play drums online and compete with your friends through a series of “rhythm games”. If you have a MIDI-compatible electronic drumset you can plug that into the browser to play along.

This is a great idea for lowering the barrier to entry for young musicians to start learning an instrument, but I found it hard to understand how to get started. I’ll be watching this site to see how it develops in the future.

Humpbacks synchronize their music across oceans, and there’s sheet music to prove it

A beautiful essay which explores the musical sounds of the oceans largest creatures and the nature of music notation itself.