For the first Sound in Space project, I wanted to experiment more with Tone.js, so I chose code as my tool to make sound.
Considering the affordance of a mono speaker, I thought about taking one simple and short sample of an organic sound, and twist it in different ways to make a full composition based only on that single audio sample by applying effects on different layers, so listeners can experience the expressiveness of only one audio sample and hear a full range of sounds.
I took a foghorn sample on BBC Sound Effects, and had the original audio sample repeating throughout the track. I used four Tone.grainPlayer to generate higher pitches of the original audio sample, with different playback rate and sample size and detune. To make it rhythmically more complex, I decided to add some sounds with Tone’s audioNodes. I created some MonoSynth and MetalSynth sounds and added some reverb using Convolver. It was a challenge getting the exact sounds I wanted in my head, but thanks to Tone’s documentation and examples I was able to adjust the parameters to get the values of the AudioParams that I need to build my synths. The composition is in A natural minor, and has a time signature of 6/4, and 9 tracks of different sounds.
Throughout the process, I got a little digressed from the starting goal of composing with only one single audio source, maybe due to the fact that it was still challenging for me to achieve the percussive sounds I wanted just through manipulating my foghorn sample in code.
Measure - channel structure