NodeBB

the world would be a better place with little chiptune sound chips in appliances

I've found 0 information so far on how the famous "Samsung washing machine theme" is played, but I found the original lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbRNXDD0jE

content warning: animal murder, quite gruesome lyrics for such a happy tune

what type of soundwave is this anyway and how is it generated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY9o4Ap1WCo

I wonder how far can you push a single piezo buzzer into interesting sounds or like, a small set of piezo buzzers. is there a piezo buzzer virtuoso? some sort of Tim Follin of piezo? @owl do you know anything?

relatedly: this is the script I use when I want to make my computer beep a few times to tell me a task is completed or something:

#!/bin/bash
# usage: soxbeep [N] [duration]
# where N = number of beeps (default 1)
# and duration = duration in seconds (default 0.33)
# try e.g. soxbeep.sh 7

n=1
duration=0.33
wavetype=tri

if [ "$1" ]; then
  n="$1"
fi
if [ "$2" ]; then
  duration=$2
fi
if [ "$3" ]; then
  wavetype=$3
fi

# penta M
notes=( A3 C4 D4 E4 G4 A4 C5 D5 E5 G5 )
function getnote() {
  echo "${notes[$RANDOM % ${#notes[@]} ]}"
}

command=''
for blah in $(seq $n); do
  note="$(getnote)"
  command="$command synth $duration $wavetype $note :"
done
# remove last ':'
command="${command:0:-1}"

play -q -n $command 2>&-

I have used variations of this basic idea since 2001, when my NetBSD webserver (an old 486 in my dorm room) would beep to us every minute whenever the ADSL modem randomly stopped responding. NetBSD is cool because you can just pipe to /dev/speaker, in Linux you'll need sox(1) installed.

relatedly: in Brazil I had a Samsung washing machine that, when it was done washing, would beep with actually pleasant tones. first of all the beeps, while still clearly electronic, were not simply triangles or squares, but a crystaly timbre that reminded me of windchimes. and it wouldn't just beep the same note a few times, but play a happy little tune that made it feel like the machine was proud of a job well done.

ever since having that machine I still resent the harsh, dissonant loud beeps of my current washing machine, my microwave, my fax maschine, my tria laser 4x, and basically ever single machine that beeps. I often wonder what they do to designers that all machines have to be so aurally primitive. it seems to me that just having 1) clicky physical buttons, sturdy and reliable plus 2) pleasant auditory feedback would instantly make a machine enormously more enjoyable to use, at minimal cost, and in a market that seems oversaturated by models that would be a clear differential?

but what do I know, maybe nobody else cares about how the beeps of the machines sound

there was once a thread about reverse culture shock when returning from Japan, and this person said that back to their country they ordered a coffee from an airport vending machine and when the coffee was ready they just stood there. it took them a while to realise they were waiting for the machine to go like "your order is ready to go! thank you for your continued service! hope to see you again" because it felt wrong to just go and take the coffee before the machine even said thank you

dunno it's just better.

maybe it's that I'm biased by memories because machines have talked to you in Japan since forever, way before "AI voices" and whatnot, and unlike in Europe where machines are either silent or blunt, in Japan they're consistently polite and pleasant.

like, Japanese elevator: Ue ni mairimasu♪ doa ga shimarimasu. O-ko-sama no te ni wa go-chūi kudasai.
English elevator: Up.
German elevator: . (the elevator doesn't know you so it won't talk to you.)

I even had vending machines that talked to me in dialect. while travelling Tōhoku to study dialects

aah cool, if I install the proprietary sony app once I can change the language in this bluetooth headphone to Japanese. the one true language for machines to talk to me as far as I'm concerned