“Song Signatures”

1. “Song Signatures”

2. Summary • I created an equalizer that draws ellipses based on the song playing. • The volume of the sound in the song determines the size of the ellipse, the position, and the color. • When the song is complete, the sketch will be covered in various circles creating a “signature” for that particular song. • If you change the song the sketch or “signature” will be completely different.

3. Precedents • My main precedent is “The Shape of a Song.” • “The Shape of Song” draws musical patterns in the form of translucent arches, allowing viewers to see--literally--the shape of any composition available on the Web.

4. Details • It was influenced by “The Shape of a Song” because I liked the the fact that no two songs were the same. • I also liked “The Shape of a Song” visually. So for my project I added color and made full ellipses. • It works through Minim audio library which you can download online. • I altered the code completely and added many visual elements to get what I wanted.

5. Obstacles • The only obstacle I had was my knowledge of Processing. • If I was more advanced and knew more of Processing, I would have been able to do everything I planned on doing. • Conceptually, I achieved what I wanted to by having circles and using color.

6. Future • If I had more time I would have added many things visually to my project. • I would have added a visual element (line, rectangle, etc.) for every time the song did something. • For instance, for every time the beat hits a random line gets drawn with the length of how high the volume is at that moment.