The original track can be found here:
seperatingcircle.bandcamp.com/track/r-rvik
Data Bending Beyond Recognition -
Stage 1:
Here is a version of 'Rörvik' that was created when the original track was converted into a visual format. The result is a grayscale picture containing pixelated lines of 'code'. This picture is too large to use as cover art but will be available to download as soon as this project is complete.
This picture (almost 9000 pixels squared) was then converted back into a stereo waveform. The resulting translation contains tons of data glitches while the essence of the track still remains.
Stage 2:
This time, the same .bmp conversion was used but this time converted back as a mono audio signal. The resulting waveform is twice as long as the original audio and seems to be half the speed, the pitch being altered accordingly.
Stage 3:
Using a similar method but with different source material, this audio represents a waveform graphic of the original track converted into sound. Using a screenshot of the original waveform in an audio editor, the .bmp file was converted as before. Unlike the other stages of this experiment, this process could yield many variations of sound based on, among other things; the colour of the waveform, the quality and size of the picture as well as the dimensions within the audio editing program. All these things are subject to the limitations of screen size and resolution.
Stage 4:
Using the audio from Stage 3, yet another .bmp conversion was used resulting in a very low resolution picture containing mostly white and a series of points at the bottom and various dots in sequence over the rest of the image. This was then converted back into audio leaving only around 1 second of noise.
Stage 5:
For this stage I wanted to try and see if the size of the image in stage 4 (300 x 366 pixels) corresponded directly to the length of the audio track, so i increased the image size by 10 times and converted it back into audio. This is the result.
Keep an eye out for the completed project over the next couple of months.
- Nick
released February 26, 2015