Combine Visual and Auditory Display To Make A Complex Sound Track Come To Life
Sonified ($1.99) by Quantum Fur is a creative new use for your iDevice video camera. Instead of making home movies of kids screaming in excitement while tearing open presents, use the pleasant, otherworldly sound effects of this app to juxtapose the chaos of the holiday season.
Sonification is a form of auditory display that translates light and color into sound. Sonified does this by utilizing the iPhone/iPod touch or iPad’s video camera. With this app, users are able to create original, real time sound tracks for life.
There are 16 different combinations of sounds that react to what the camera lens sees. Using a mixture of four instruments, Chroma, Luma, Luma-Chroma 8/8 or Luma-Chroma 4/12, four themes are available to experiment with. Landscapes, Metacolor, Angelus and Atavist offer slight variations on the four sonified instruments. Each one has a slight difference in tone or texture. Within each theme, choosing any one of the four instruments will produce different results.
Once a theme is chosen, the video camera will activate and Sonified will begin producing music. As the camera rolls and variations of light and color come into view, the sounds increase or decrease in complexity. Once the ideal music is flowing from the app, hit the record button to save the sonification for posterity. Be sure to have headphones plugged in as without them the recording feature is disabled.
The ambient music within this app creates a unique and meditative experience for the user. The sounds are very similar, though. It leaves the user wishing for more options. The development team is looking for musicians willing to write music for the app. So hopefully, there will be a larger variety in the future.
Overall, this universal video and music app is a great way to immerse oneself into a deeper experience with their mobile device. The sound options are limited, but the price is reasonable for something so unique and creative. Pick it up in the App Store for only $1.99
