alt.hn

1/22/2026 at 5:52:54 AM

Show HN: Synesthesia, make noise music with a colorpicker

https://visualnoise.ca

by tevans3

1/22/2026 at 7:42:53 PM

Lovely! Edit: you might want to consider adding a limiter to the output, it makes a lovely crackling effect but it's easy to flatline the output until it fizzles out completely, it'd be more curious to hear the denser textures.

by hecanjog

1/22/2026 at 9:42:17 PM

Thanks! And thanks for that suggestion.

I added a limiter to the output and an envelope to my synth object, but after a bunch of experimenting with different settings for each, the flatlining effect was still there. Throttling beyond the note+release's duration did fix it, but that also removed the layering effect of overlapping chords. I think some of those were interesting and wanted to keep them. The last thing I tried was setting the attack to 0.01 and I think that fixed the flatlining issue?

by tevans3

1/22/2026 at 11:15:29 PM

Sounds great now -- I'm not getting the DC stuttering when I play around with different colors anymore.

It seemed like the source is minified, but I didn't look that closely -- I'd be curious to hear more about your sonification scheme.

Edit: nevermind I found a link to the source & explanation in another comment! https://github.com/tevans-3/synesthesia

by hecanjog

1/22/2026 at 9:37:52 PM

That's cool. I've been playing through the Quake Brutalist Jam collections recently, and this sounds almost like ambient music from one of those maps.

by bitwize

1/22/2026 at 10:19:44 PM

What is the LICENSE?

by zenmac

1/22/2026 at 10:26:56 PM

Just added it here: https://github.com/tevans-3/synesthesia/blob/main/LICENSE

by tevans3

1/22/2026 at 10:54:09 PM

I love the anti-licence and thank you for the blessings!

by nick__m

1/23/2026 at 12:44:12 AM

I actually found that in SQLite's source code! I love it too.

by tevans3

1/22/2026 at 9:30:58 PM

synthesia

by yzydserd

1/22/2026 at 8:25:45 PM

oh my god, so LOUD lol - i didn't read the post just clicked the link LMAO

by christopherscot

1/22/2026 at 9:45:39 PM

I'm sorry!

I know this doesn't help you now, but I changed the default volume to be significantly lower...

by tevans3

1/22/2026 at 7:14:43 PM

RIP my phone's speakers. Maybe I should have read the post first..

by mcjiggerlog

1/22/2026 at 9:42:54 PM

I'm sorry, this was an oversight on my part!

I adjusted the default volume, so that "painfully loud" is now opt-in by default...

by tevans3