Boring Date (comic)
Draw waveforms and hear them
Posted 18 years ago
A while back I thought it would be interesting to be able to draw arbitrary waveforms and then listen to how they sound. I had an audio engine just laying around, so I whipped up a quick application to do that.
download WaveStudio.exe
download WaveStudio.exe
Results
In theory, you can make any sound that you want. The results aren't very interesting. You can draw a sine wave and it sounds muffled. Add some jagged edges and the sound starts to sound more raw and high pitched. But it's okay to demonstrate what a sawtooth vs. sine vs. square wave sound like.
Future work
It would be a better to be able to draw in the time vs. frequency domain, using standard brush painting tools. Thay way you could come up with more interesting waveforms.
Steve Hanov makes a living working on
Rhymebrain.com,
rapt.ink,
www.websequencediagrams.com,
Zwibbler.com, xreplyextension.com, and eh-trade.ca. He lives in
Waterloo, Canada.
Post comment
edit
coolkase.dev
one year ago
I know that this probably won't be updated (just by looking at the Windows XP window) but could you add a feature to pick which speaker to play out of? I'm unable to hear anything.
edit
krys
one year ago
Very fun, just what I wanted since I was, like, 10. I'm 12 as of 2024. Thx!!!
It's a little too loud, but other than that, great job!
(I just realized this post was literally 4 years older than me)
edit
ProDigit
six years ago
Nice!
It's very hard to get a good timbre out of these basic sounds.
It would be nice to have the sound pulse (attack, and lower volume sustain), and select between pingpong or looping the sustain part.
I would love to see a similar program, that allows for more timbre. I wouldn't know how to implement it though...
edit
Jaïr
six years ago
Really interesting! Would love to see a drawing feature, or have this turned into a phone application. Very useful for learning purposes.
edit
zelukai
eight years ago
umm when I click "new" it doesn't do anything, the only other option is a sawtooth, and then I have to put all of the points on the left side and copy them a bunch to actually make a customized waveform... is this normal? Kevin's recommendation is pretty good too.
edit
Kevin
15 years ago
If you could turn that into an iPad app, with frequency controls, volume controls and a few basic effects like reverb/flange that would kick ass!
My thoughts on various programming languages
Some ill-informed remarks on various programming languages.
Experiments in making money online
Is it possible to make money on the internet, if you try really hard? I want to find out. I have always been interested in getting money for doing nothing.Tool for Creating UML Sequence Diagrams
If you have to draw something called "UML Sequence Diagrams" for work or school, you already know that it can take hours to get a diagram to look right. Here's a web site that will save you some time.
How I run my business selling software to Americans
Here's what you can do to get the most out of your business in Canada if all of your revenue comes in US dollars.
Stock Picking using Python
Python can tell you which stocks to buy. It's a sure thing!Coding tips they don't teach you in school
Some time-saving shortcuts for C code that will make your coworkers scream. In Awe.
Usability Nightmare: Xfce Settings Manager
Rant: Why can't anyone make a good settings screen?