Sonificating Data Library, an open source multipurpose sonification tool for designers, programmers and creative practicioners. SodaLib’s core functions are written in libPd. That means, it is easily embeddable into many creative coding environments, including c++, java, python, etc. It also means, it is cross platform (has been tested on OSX, iOS, Raspberry Pi).
[LibPd] (http://www.libpd.cc) can be added to your project using different methods, depending on your selection of language. For OpenFrameworks, use [ofxPd] (https://github.com/danomatika/ofxPd), read its install instructions carefully.
The lib folder has everything that is related to the audio engine, it is a collection of Pure Data patches. main.pd is called & opened upon every initialization. This patch handles the messages and synthesis parameters of the process. There are a few basic blocks that are generating and manipulating sounds based on the messages sent to them.
SodaLib is communicating with libPd itself via some simple utility functions. When the program is started, it is generating the needed patches (sound generators) dynamically. When the program runs, it communicates with these generators with simple messages. Soda objects have a "set" function, individual generators can be addressed by calling this function with the generator's name as its argument. As of writing, shift, volume, pan and depth of a sound can be modified simultaneously using a handy chainable syntax. It is best to think of these functions as (extendable) dimensions of the parameter-field of a sound. Ideally all parameters should be set between 0 and 1, in order to keep these dimensions interchangeable.
See the "Example" project for more details on how to initiate & address Soda objects. Use OpenFramework's project generator tool to create a project. Don't forget to add the ofxPd addon to your project and set up the C flags as indicated.
SodaLib's purpose is to create a high level set of sonic tools that is focusing on representing data instead of musical concepts. Thus, you won't see traditional dsp building blocks like filters, effects etc here. While visualisation has really advanced concepts for interpreting highly complex multidimensional data, sonification lacks most of these, and what's out there are mainly accessible to creators with high-level musical (or dsp related) knowledge and experience. At the moment, SodaLib targets two key concepts of Sonification thus trying to make it available for a wider field of practitioners:
- Event based sonification (earcons, auditory icons, etc) >> The system is playing back individual short sound samples with customizable number of polyphony. See discrete-data-example
- Parameter mapping (multidimensional, realtime sensory data, etc) >> The system is playing back a sound sample, where the playback position is controlled by different type of data values. The method is similar to slit scanning of images: since the spectrum is "frozen", the pitch remains the same, independently from the speed of playback. See continuous-datastream-example
auditory-display-example shows how to create and access several hundreds of soda objects with just a few lines of code and use them for special sonification purposes, in this case, audio-cells of an (auditory) display with custom resolution: the volume of each cell is mapped to the cell's brightness value (loading of this example might take a while)
binaural-positioning-example is an experiment for spatializing sound for headphones (thus, mobile apps & VR) using binaural filtering based on the earplug~ external
The following projects are made with SodaLib so far: SoundBow, [SphereTones] (http://www.binaura.net/spheretones), Echo
Download modidied [iOS examples] (http://binaura.net/stc/iOS.zip) for demo purposes
All code is under GPLv3 Licensed unless otherwise stated. (c) Agoston Nagy / 2016