Bytebeat

Create interesting sounds by shifting bits around.

For example, here is a simple C program that creates a repeating audio pattern when piped to /dev/audio:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
  int i = 0;

  while(1) {
    i++;
    putchar(i&i>>8);
  }
}

OSX Instructions

First, brew install sox in order to have a way to pipe data to the sound system.

Next, compile one of the .c files: gcc -o 42_melody 42_melody.c.

Pipe the output of the program to sox: ./42_melody | sox -traw -r8000 -b8 -e unsigned-integer - -tcoreaudio. Or, use the handy bash script: ./play squares.

CTRL+C to stop the music.

Experiment!

References

• Algorithmic symphonies from one line of code
• Deep analysis of one-line music programs
• (youtube) Experimental music from very short C programs
• (youtube) Experimental one-line algorithmic music (2nd iteration)
• (youtube) Music from very short programs (3rd iteration)
• Javascript Bytebeat Generator
• IBNIZ
• /r/bytebeat on reddit
• Bytebeat on canonical.org
• viznut-music on github
• Hacker News Discussion
• Collection of Interesting Bytebeat Formulae

Notes

Most of these programs are from @viznut's videos. All credit goes to him and the original authors.