AWKward JS Music

a JavaScript music demo

Press the button and bliss out on languid semiharmonic ambient tones.

Play / Pause

What is this?

This is a rough translation (close but not 100% faithful) from AWK to JavaScript of the musical composition AWK Music by Kyle Keen. The version here also adds waveform selection and visualization (oscilloscope above and harmonic spectrum below).

Items of note

The basic audio element of this demo is a pair of simple waves of different frequencies, which are played in unison. You can pick among a few options for the basic waveform:

• sine — Sine waves are, harmonically, the simplest possible waveforms. They generally have a "pure" sound to human ears, which might remind you of a kalimba (finger piano).
• triangle — Triangle waves are simple geometrically, yet harmonically rich and mellow to human ears. The sound might remind you of a marimba (wooden xylophone). This is the default waveform choice, as this is the choice made by Keen in his original composition.
• sawtooth — Sawtooth waves tend to sound buzzy and a bit harsh to human ears. The sound might remind you of a reed instrument such as an oboe or clarinet.
• square — Square waves also have a buzziness about them. The sound might remind you a little bit of a recorder (woodwind).

The notes played by this demo are picked randomly from two octaves in an equal-tempered pentatonic scale. This is not a scale that is often encountered in Western music, however it happens to make for note pairs and transitions that are pleasing to human ears.

The waveform is intentionally level-quantized to simulate low bit-depth. You can see this quantization in the oscilloscope as "stair steps" which are most visible in gently-sloping portions of the waveform. (That is, the stair steps are not a visual artifact from the oscilloscope rendering, but rather an accurate reflection of the waveform being generated.) In terms of the sound you hear, this quantization causes a quiet high-pitched "shimmering" effect.

See the source.