earGram - documentation

how to:

> getting to know the main interface

> assign weights to descriptors

> add audioFx

> define presets

how to create a new project (with sound files)

Here's some pointers on how to create a new project in earGram. I will skip the installation details. If you have any trouble, please follow the instructions detailed in the download page or on the ReadMe file on the downloaded folder.

1. Open eargramv.018.pd. This window will appear.

2. Go to File > newProject.

3. The window below will appear. You can choose now the audio source(s) for you project.

i) single soundfile (.wav .aiff .aif)

ii) folder containing multiple sound files

iii) live (mic input)

After selecting the project type just hit Create.

4. Now you need to choose the segmentation mode. earGram will make a suggestion based on the audio content.

earGram's recommendation will be selected on the screen.

After selecting the segmentation mode, just hit Proceed.

At this point earGram will analyse your audio source(s), please be patient it may take several minutes.

i) uniform - arbitrary duration (in ms)

ii) onset1 - detect the beginning of sound events (Paul Brossier' algorithm)

iii) onset2 - detect the beginning of sound events (William Brent's algorithm)

iv) pitch - segments the audio stream on found pitches

v) beat - segments an audio signal on found beats (you are asked to select the bpm from a list of the four most probable bpm)

5. Your project is created. The new collection of dots in the interface corresponds to the units in the corpus. You are finally ready to make some sounds. Please jump to > play, compose, and have fun to learn how to compose with earGram.

how to create a project with live sound input

1. You need to follow the steps 1, 2, and 3 of the previous section. If you select a live project the following window appears.

2. Hit record to start creating your corpus of audio units (please make sure you have a microphone plugged an internal microphone of the computer up and running).

play, compose, and have fun

1. After creating the corpus, the user need to select a 'playing mode' that will guide the selection of the units. There are four strategies:

i) spaceMap

ii) infiniteMode

iii) shuffMeter

iv) soundscapeMap

spaceMap

SpaceMap allows you to explore a corpus of audio units by navigating in its representation. It can create interesting textures and or soundscapes with high precision, because of the extra layer of information provided by the position of the units in the screen. Similar units are plotted together.

In order to have a larger degree of freedom in terms of control earGram adopts tendency masks that allows you to automate many parameters.

infiniteMode

shuffMeter

soundscapeMap