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Sonification Sandbox

Overview
Download
Installation
Getting Started

Overview

The Sonification Sandbox is a project of the Psychology Department's Sonification Lab at Georgia Institute of Technology, overseen by Bruce Walker, PhD. Motivated by a need for a simple, multi-platform, multi-purpose toolkit for sonifying data, the Sonification Sandbox allows the user to map data to multiple auditory parameters and add context using a graphical interface. Visual and auditory renderings of the data are available, and the auditory graphs can be exported as MID files for later playback. Version 3.0 allows manipulation of the data in a table, and includes countless other enhancements, improvements, and bug fixes.

The Sonification Sandbox is written in Java, using the Java Sound package to create MIDI output. Any computer with Java (1.3.1 or greater) installed and a General Midi enabled sound card can run the application.

Features:

Map any data set to the auditory dimensions of:
- Timbre
- Pitch
- Volume
- Pan
View the data with a visual graph
Play percussive ticks at specified intervals
Play constant or repeating tone at:
- Minimum
- Maximum
- Mean
Provide notification when data set:
- Reaches its maximum

Reaches its minimum
Crosses its mean
Changes direction

Import data from a Microsoft Excel .CSV file (each column is a data set)
Export data in the form a .CSV file (with or without column names)
Export a sonification to a MIDI (.mid) file that can be played by any MIDI player, such as Quicktime or another third party application

Download

Current Version:

Latest Sonification Sandbox Installer (platform independent)
Latest Sonification Sandbox Installer (mac)

All versions (4 and up):
4.2.1 (September 19, 2007). Quicktime, AVI, and MP4 export. Systems without QuickTime and QuickTime for Java cannot export video (but the Sandbox will otherwise work). The data table is now more like a spreadsheet, accepting formulas and table cell references.
4.2.0 improved Macintosh support and MIDI exportation. Some widgets now modified to make feedback noises.
4.1.1 a new export wizard. Fixed CSV import problem from 4.1.0.
4.1.0 added command line UI, improved translator and UI support, and reorganized source packages.
4.0.2 main release for ICAD 2007. Code overhaul.

Installation

Download the JAR file.
Run the JAR installer. If the installer does not come up, you may need a newer version of the free Java JRE.

Getting Started

Sonification Sandbox GUI

There are a few considerations when using the GUI. First, an auditory graph must always have an x-axis defined before the player and visual grapher can display anything meaningful. To change this setting, select "type" from a channel in the "mappings" tab. Second, the GUI is designed for maximum flexibility. It does not have many built-in tools for making the graph "sound good" at first. You may have to play around with the settings to get an appropriate output.