"See Sound..."
A mathematical transformation converts the timbres of sounds to images. So how do these images look like ? And how do different types of instruments differ visually ? To answer this, we've created a somewhat random collection of sounds with their visualised timbres.
| Strings | ||
| Organs | ||
How it works: we recorded short audio samples and calculated their timbre images. When you play the animations below, you will hear the original sound and see an animated bar moving along the timbre to show which part you currently hear. Because the timbre of the sound evolves over time, its visual representation creates a unique pattern, like a fingerprint.
For the specialist: horizontal axis is time, vertical axis is phase, colouring is amplitude.
| Synths | ||
| Didgeridoo and more Synths | ||
| Pianos | ||
"...Hear Images"
The transformation works both ways. So here we generated images with a drawing tool and computer program. We then calculated the unique sounds that have these timbres. So the below animations play sounds that were synthesized from images.