Looking Outwards 04: Sound Art – MilkDrop

One of the areas of sound and computation I find interesting is audio visualization. One of the plug-ins that makes audio visualization possible is a program called MilkDrop. It was created in 2001 by Ryan Geiss. It creates abstract art from songs. It is created through the use of 3d graphics hardware, image rendering techniques, and multiple equations that creates custom shapes and waves. The reason I find it interesting is that I have always been fascinated by the idea of Synesthesia when people can see sound. Although I can’t visualize sound, I associate certain songs/ genres of songs with certain color pallets. I am curious about how this program works because how music makes one person feel is very subjective. For example, there are some genres of music that I would associate with a certain color, however other people might disagree. Would the visualization be an interpretation of the creator’s thought process or is it customizable somehow to each user? If it were to be customizable how would the algorithm change? Would just the color change or the shapes as well? Since songs make everyone feel different emotions, interpretations also change.

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/MilkDrop/