For this project I designed an audio based computer game. The player controls the environment with their voice. The Pure Data patch that I wrote is able to distinguish between various vocal sounds.
- SSSSSSSS
- ZZZZZZZZ
- Open vowels
- Hard constanants
These four sounds were used to drive an external physical model of a D.C. motor.
Saying ‘ssss’ or ‘zzzz’ is effectively putting your foot on the gas, say ‘ka’ or ‘pa’ changes up a gear. ‘Aaaah’ turns on reverb and a ping ping delay to simulate other traffic, and, for the icing on the cake, ‘sssss’ switches on a randomly sweeping notch filter, the center frequency of which jumps further, with increased time intervals, the louder the input voice. This has the effect of making the motor sound like a speeding boat. ‘Zzzzz’ switches off the notch filter, and engages a three tap dynamic chorus effect, again controlled by amplitude. This makes the motor sound like a plane.
Despite making people look quite silly, it proves to be quite an addictive waste of time.
