page three

The Chimes

The Garden was something to look at. This is something to listen to. Today's date was folded into a number, the number was turned into a rhythm, and the rhythm was hung on seven notes. Press play to hear what the date sounds like, then drag across the grid to argue with it.

Click or drag to toggle notes. Space bar plays and stops. Sound starts muted until you press play.

Scale
Voice
Seed — Playing —

How the date becomes a tune

  1. 01

    A number

    The year, month and day are packed into one integer and fed to a small deterministic generator. Same day, same music, anywhere in the world.

  2. 02

    A rhythm

    Each of the seven rows gets a count of hits, spread as evenly as possible across sixteen steps and then rotated. Low rows stay sparse so the bass does not trip over itself.

  3. 03

    A sound

    Notes are synthesised live in the browser — oscillators, filters and a pair of feedback delays for the tail. No audio files are downloaded, because there are none.

Nothing here is recorded and nothing is saved. Change the scale mid-phrase and the notes already ringing keep their old pitch while the next ones arrive in the new one, which is the most interesting way to switch. If you want a stranger result, try Hirajoshi at a slow tempo with the Reed voice and only three or four notes on the whole grid.