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Sound
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Sound

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Sound[primitives]

represents a sound.

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Sound[primitives,t]

specifies that the sound should have duration t.

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Sound[primitives,{tmin,tmax}]

specifies that the sound should extend from time tmin to time tmax.

Details and Options

  • Lists containing the following primitives can be used:
  • SampledSoundFunction[f,n,r]amplitude levels generated by a function
    SampledSoundList[{a1,a2,…},r]amplitude levels given in a list
    SoundNote[spec,…]a music-like note
    Sound[prims,t]a sound scaled to have duration t
    Sound[prims,{tmin,tmax}]a sound played over the time interval tmin to tmax
  • Primitives with duration specifications are played consecutively in sequence, independent of primitives with explicit time specifications.
  • When primitives prims appear in Sound[prims,tspec], the sequence of durations and time specifications in prims are rescaled and shifted to fit into the time interval defined by tspec.
  • For the outermost Sound object, times are by default taken to be given in absolute seconds.
  • For inner Sound objects, times can be given as Scaled[r].
  • Sound[prims,Scaled[r]] will slow down prims by a factor r.
  • Mixed into lists of sound primitives can be the following SoundNote directives:
  • "style"use the specified style
    opt->valueuse the specified option setting
  • The possible styles and options are those for SoundNote.
  • Nested lists of sound primitives and directives can be given. Directive specifications normally remain in effect only until the end of the list which contains them.
  • A list containing only sound directives is treated as if its elements were directly inserted into an enclosing list.
  • Style[obj,opts] can be used to apply the options or directives opts to obj.
  • Sound can be played using EmitSound.
  • Sound[…] is displayed in StandardForm as a button containing a graphic representing the sound. Clicking the button plays the sound, preempting any other sounds that are already playing.
  • In InputForm, Sound[…] is displayed as an explicit list of primitives.
  • The option SoundVolume->v specifies a relative sound volume v for a note.
  • The following options can be given:
  • SoundVolume1relative sound volume

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (2)Summary of the most common use cases

Represent a sound consisting of a sequence of two notes:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-fe1sep
Out[1]=1

Represent a sound consisting of a sequence of two waveforms:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-fy32w
Out[1]=1

Scope  (6)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Time Sequences  (4)

Represent a sequence of notes, with each note taking 1 second:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-csnkt0
Out[1]=1

Represent a sequence of notes, with the whole sequence lasting 1.5 seconds:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-el39nm
Out[1]=1

Represent a sequence of notes to be played between and :

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-h2fkce
Out[1]=1

Represent a sequence of notes to be played between and :

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-iq17d
Out[2]=2

Combine the two sound sequences:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-mlyk4h
Out[3]=3

Superimpose three time-warped versions of a sound:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-ean48k
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-crfkdr
Out[2]=2

Style Directives  (2)

Represent a sequence of notes to be rendered in accordion style:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-ewf9zx
Out[1]=1

Combine two note sequences with different instrument styles:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-cz35pv
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-dd7m0n
Out[2]=2

Applications  (3)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Create an algorithmic composition from a cellular automaton pattern:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-bi8i08
Out[1]=1

Generate a simple WolframTones-like composition:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-fsy06a
Out[1]=1

Record a sound:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-l8k96
Out[1]=1

Squash the sound to play over 0.8 seconds:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-k6k8r2
Out[2]=2

Neat Examples  (1)Surprising or curious use cases

Play a random sequence of notes from different instruments:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-boncr0
Out[1]=1

Make each note have a random duration:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0gipj2-t9gj4
Out[2]=2
Wolfram Research (1991), Sound, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html (updated 2007).
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Wolfram Research (1991), Sound, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html (updated 2007).

Text

Wolfram Research (1991), Sound, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html (updated 2007).

✖
Wolfram Research (1991), Sound, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html (updated 2007).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1991. "Sound." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2007. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html.

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Wolfram Language. 1991. "Sound." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2007. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1991). Sound. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html

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Wolfram Language. (1991). Sound. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_sound, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Sound}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html}", note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_sound, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Sound}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html}", note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_sound, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Sound}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html}, note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_sound, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Sound}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Sound.html}, note=[Accessed: 26-April-2025 ]}