Computational Approaches to Sound
Two weeks of ears, hands, and code. By the end of these two weeks every participant will have built — and performed with — a musical instrument that runs on their own phone.
The Workshop
The workshop braids two threads through ten days:
- Ears & ideas (mornings). What is sound? When does it become music? We take three traditions as three different answers — Indian classical, Western classical, and contemporary electronic music — and listen our way through each.
- Hands & code (afternoons). Computation from zero → a JavaScript crash course → sound in the browser with p5.js and Tone.js → the phone as an instrument: touch, tilt, shake, microphone.
The trick that ties the threads together: the phone is the hardware. Everyone already owns a multitouch surface with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone, and a speaker. The browser sketches of Week 1 grow directly into the instruments of Week 2 — one language, one toolchain, nothing thrown away, nothing to solder.
The workshop ends with a show — in effect, a concert of phones. The show doesn't have a name yet, on purpose: the A2 form asks each of you to propose one, and the show takes the name the cohort chooses. Each instrument stays live on the web afterwards — a URL anyone can play.
House Rule
Every fact recorded in this workshop carries a true timestamp — to the minute when known, an honest window when not. Precision may relax; truthfulness may not. This applies to field recordings, sketches, project documentation, and claims about sound.
Week 1 — Sound, Music, Code
Each day is locked behind one word, given in the room. A day, once opened on your browser, stays open.
Week 2 — The Phone as an Instrument
Assignments
| Code | Assignment | Due |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Generative melody study — one sketch in a Western scale, one constrained to a raga. | Fri 4 Sep, 10:00 |
| A2 | Browser instrument + a 60-second performance at the Friday jam. The A2 form also asks you to propose a name for the show. | Fri 4 Sep |
| A3 | The show, on the last working day — final mobile web instrument or ensemble: live URL, short video, one-page writeup, performed live. | Fri 11 Sep |
Each assignment is submitted through a form — the link reaches you in class and by email. Fill it by the deadline; every fact in it carries a true timestamp, per the house rule.
Marks come back to you personally: a marksheet, emailed to you alone, well in time for you to reflect. Official marks will be released on the portal by the college in their time.
Daily homework is small, listed at the end of each day page, and feeds directly into the assignments.
Bring, Every Day
- Laptop + charger
- Phone + charger
- Wired headphones, if you own a pair
Tools We Use
| sign in | Your email is your key — no password. Signing in records your arrival (timestamped, truly) and opens the chat and the assignment forms. |
| chat | The workshop's own room for text and links — six students, one facilitator, nothing else. |
| p5.js editor | Where all Week-1 code lives. Make an account on Day 1 — it saves your sketches and gives every sketch a shareable HTTPS link. |
| Tone.js | The Web Audio framework we use for synths, samplers, effects, and sequencing — from Day 3 onwards. |
| Your phone's browser | The performance venue. Chrome on Android, Safari on iOS. |
| Starter templates | Pre-built pages that already solve the annoying parts (audio unlock, iOS sensor permission) so you only write the instrument. |
| QR tool | Paste a URL, get a full-screen QR code — the fastest way from laptop to phone. |