The Cube

The Cube is an auditory experience born out of a desire to work visually with audio in Processing. An idea became a sketch, became code, and along the way various features were added resulting in a fun and engaging user experience - Enjoy.

video walk through -Together

winter vs glitch vs together

Versions of The Cube were created with different themes and sounds in mind. The Winter version was driven by ambient sounds that evoke the chilled mood of winter. Glitch version was inspired by industrial and electronic sounds that mimic the feelings that are often used to describe computing and mechanical systems. Together was designed and composed for my partner.

Please note, the audio samples used in the Winter and Glitch sketches cannot be shared when downloading the project. Please see the credit section for links to the specific audio sample packs used or feel free to add your own samples to create your own audio experience. Feel free to reach out via the contact page if you need help adding your own audio samples to the sketches as well as to share any links to your modified projects.

MANUAL

The Cube is comprised of 12 individual sounds mapped to different zones within the window. Each zone plays an audio sample with the loudest amplitude at its epicenter. Amplitude decreases as you move away from the epicenter with no sound beyond the zone’s edge. Audio samples can be heard by clicking and dragging the center vertex of The Cube through each zone. Several zones overlap allowing for the creation of more complex playback.

commands

Several key commands exist to provide further control of the sound grid and other features.

KEY ‘T’
Launch the tutorial mode. In tutorial mode navigate each step with the RIGHT ARROW KEY. Press KEY ‘R’ to exit and reset The Cube. All other functionality will be disabled in tutorial mode.

SPACE KEY
Hide/show the audio playback status bar

CTRL + NUM KEYS
Pressing the CTRL KEY plus any NUM KEY (1-9)will show/hide a visual representation of the reach of the corresponding sound space along with the epicenter. To highlight zones 10, 11, and 12 use KEYS ‘0’, ‘-’, and ‘ =’ respectively.

DOWN KEY
Pressing the down key will hide all of the sound spaces that are set to show.

NUM KEY
Pressing the NUM KEYS (1-9) mutes/unmutes the corresponding audio for the specified zone number. To mute zones 10, 11, and 12 use KEYS ‘0’, ‘-’, and ‘ =’ respectively.

SHIFT + NUM KEY
Pressing the SHIFT KEY plus any NUM KEY (1-9) solos/unsolos the corresponding audio for the specified zone number. To solo zones 10, 11, and 12 use KEYS ‘0’, ‘-’, and ‘ =’ respectively.

CTRL + ARROW KEY
Pressing the CTRL KEY plus the LEFT, UP, or RIGHT ARROW KEYS will solo/unsolo groups of sound zones. CTRL + LEFT will solo zones 1-4. CTRL + UP will solo zones 5-8. CTRL + RIGHT will solo zones 9-12.

KEY ‘P’
Show/hide the the pulse (audio) analyzer cube. Pressing SHIFT + ‘P’ will cycle through the available colors for the pulse analyzer.

KEY ‘W’
Show/hide The Cube wire frame view. Pressing SHIFT + ‘W’ will cycle through the available wire frame colors.

KEY ‘A’
Pressing the ‘A’ KEY will toggle the auto play mode. When set to on The Cube vertex will move around the screen on its own. Sit back and enjoy.

Credits

Code by:
Yahir

Glitch Audio Samples from:
Chilled Glitch by Loopmasters

Together Audio Samples by:
Yahir

Winter Audio Samples from:
Winter Ambience by Touch Loops