Audio visual
shape of sound -- made by touchdesigner
I was very interested in using TouchDesigner to realize audio-visual interaction shown in the workshop, and I decided to apply this technology in my design to transform sound into visual content and discover the correlation between sound and vision.
Artists research
The cover design for Joy Division's classic album Unknown Pleasures (1979) is a pinnacle of musical visualization and minimalism and remains an icon of pop culture and the visual arts.
Unknown Pleasures，Joy Division，Peter Saville
This set of waveforms is not a random artwork but a radio signal visualization from the CP 1919 pulsar (PSR B1919+21). Each waveform represents the intensity of the pulse signal received at different time points and is stacked to form a unique visual rhythm. The cover morphs the sound, and the image resembles a visual echo of the sound, reflecting the cold, mechanized rhythms and deep emotions of Joy Division's music. Echoing the musical atmosphere of the album, the musical theme involves loneliness, loss, and existential anxiety, and the calm and orderly pattern of the waveform seems to tell the shock of the heart silently. The visual "pulsating sense" resonates with the synth and drum beats in the music.
In my design, the final visual effect is also associated with the musical atmosphere and the form that the "sound" itself reminds me of.
bileam tschepe
On his YouTube channel, Bileam shares a number of tutorials and artwork showcases about TouchDesigner, including audio reaction visuals, particle systems, and other generative art projects.
something I try
After class, I tried to use some green components in TD to digitize music information, such as audio analysis, math and constants, and tried to use high and low frequencies of audio to control the angles of patterns, such as triangles to hexagons, or patterns from 0 degrees to 360 degrees. This was my initial attempt. I found this to be feasible and interesting, so I wanted to use it in my final design.
mindmap
The rhythm of the sound is like the tide, rising and falling alternately, and there is a sense of breathing. Crescendo is like a storm; echo is like a reflection of light in progress, with a sense of space and hierarchy.
Design in Touchdesigner
Torus made the basic model.
The path of the camera rotates around the point cloud as a whole, from far to near and then to the middle, so that the pattern of waves and winds can be displayed rather than a single pattern.
Finally, I added new components to make the final point cloud have a halo overall, which is very beautiful.
I want to iconify sound in my design, showing the same shape as waves, wind and light.About the audio selection I chose a more dynamic electronic music that matched the final point cloud effect.