Seash Sliders — Lab Bench Control Panel #

Five interactive sliders at the bottom of seash for real-time parameter adjustment.

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The Sliders #

All sliders appear at the bottom of the screen and are touchable in real-time.

1. Spawn (Spawn Interval) #

• Range: 500 ms — 8000 ms
• Default: 3000 ms (3 seconds)
• What it does: How often new voices are spawned in hold sequence
• Try this:
  • Move left (500ms) = dense, overlapping voices
  • Move right (8000ms) = sparse, distinct phrases
  • Sweet spot: 2000-4000ms for continuous texture

2. Duration (Voice Duration) #

• Range: 2000 ms — 20000 ms
• Default: 6000 ms (6 seconds)
• What it does: How long each voice sustains before fading
• Try this:
  • Left (2s) = staccato, quick pulses
  • Right (20s) = long held tones, pad-like
  • Quick changes: 2-4 seconds
  • Sustained changes: 10-15 seconds

3. OrbitSpd (Orbit Speed) #

• Range: 0.0001 — 0.001 rad/frame
• Default: 0.0003 rad/frame
• What it does: How fast each voice drifts through frequency space
• Try this:
  • Left = slow, lazy movement
  • Right = fast, erratic movement
  • Controls the "wandering" behavior of auto voices

4. BlendSpd (Pattern Blend Speed) #

• Range: 0.01 — 0.5
• Default: 0.1
• What it does: How fast patterns cross-fade into each other
• Try this:
  • Left (0.01) = smooth, gradual transitions
  • Right (0.5) = quick, snappy transitions
  • Affects overall timbre evolution

5. MaxVoices (Max Concurrent Auto Voices) #

• Range: 1 — 10
• Default: 5 voices
• What it does: Maximum number of simultaneous auto-generated voices
• Try this:
  • 1 = single voice, monophonic
  • 3-5 = balanced polyphony
  • 8-10 = dense cluster

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How to Use #

Adjust a Slider #

1. Touch and drag the slider handle (■) left/right
2. Value updates in real-time
3. Audio responds immediately
4. Release to stop dragging

Read the Values #

Each slider shows its current value to the right:

Spawn: ________■____  3000
        (value displayed on right)

Combine Sliders for Effects #

Slow Pad:

• Duration: 15000 (long holds)
• Spawn: 8000 (slow spawn)
• OrbitSpd: 0.0001 (minimal drift)
• BlendSpd: 0.01 (smooth transitions)

Textural Chaos:

• Duration: 3000 (quick pulses)
• Spawn: 500 (rapid spawning)
• OrbitSpd: 0.001 (fast movement)
• BlendSpd: 0.3 (snappy blending)

Musical Melody:

• Duration: 8000 (medium holds)
• Spawn: 4000 (structured spacing)
• OrbitSpd: 0.0003 (moderate drift)
• BlendSpd: 0.15 (balanced transitions)

Dense Chords:

• MaxVoices: 10 (many simultaneous)
• Duration: 10000 (held chords)
• Spawn: 2000 (continuous)
• OrbitSpd: 0.0001 (minimal movement)

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What's Happening Under the Hood #

Spawn Interval #

Controls params.spawnInterval, used in updateHoldVoices():

if (now - lastSpawnTime > params.spawnInterval && count < maxVoices) {
  spawnHoldVoice(); // Create new voice
}

Voice Duration #

Controls params.voiceDuration, used when spawning:

const duration = params.voiceDuration + (Math.random() - 0.5) * (duration * 0.5);
// Voice lasts this long before fading

Orbit Speed #

Controls params.orbitSpeed, used for voice position:

hold.orbitPhase += params.orbitSpeed;
const x = Math.cos(hold.orbitPhase) * radius + center;

Blend Speed #

Controls params.blendSpeed, in the bytebeat generator:

const mixPhase = (time * params.blendSpeed + freqScale * 0.5) % 2;
// Controls how fast patterns morph

Max Voices #

Controls params.maxVoices, checked during spawning:

if (activeHolds.length < params.maxVoices) {
  spawnHoldVoice(); // Only spawn if under limit
}

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Slider Layout #

Screen height:

[Main playing area - 80% of screen]
   - Frequency grid
   - Voice positions
   - Touch interaction

[Slider area - bottom 20% of screen]
   Spawn:     ___■_____  3000
   Duration:  ______■__  6000
   OrbitSpd:  _____■___  0.0003
   BlendSpd:  ____■____  0.1
   MaxVoices: _■_______  5

Sliders are fully interactive while you play — adjust in real-time.

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Tips for Experimentation #

1. Change One at a Time #

• Adjust Spawn, listen for 10 seconds
• Adjust Duration next, observe how it interacts
• This trains your intuition for each parameter

2. Listen for Patterns #

• Try MaxVoices=1 (monophonic) with different spawn/duration combos
• Try MaxVoices=8 (dense) with same settings
• Notice how polyphony changes the effect

3. Map the Space #

Create a mental map:

Slow, smooth          ←→ Fast, chaotic
(all sliders left)        (all sliders right)

Spacious, minimal     ←→ Dense, overlapping
(low spawn, max=1)        (high spawn, max=10)

4. Use as Tape Control #

• Set parameters how you like
• Press H to start recording
• Let it run 30 minutes
• Sliders capture your intended "composition" in 5 parameters

5. Keyboard + Slider Combo #

• H to toggle hold sequence
• Drag sliders while holding plays
• Create interactive performances

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Slider Precision #

Coarse adjustments:

• Touch slider, drag all the way left or right
• Jumps to min/max

Fine adjustments:

• Touch slider and drag slowly
• Values update frame-by-frame as you drag

Quantized sliders:

• MaxVoices: steps of 1 (always integer)
• Others: continuous (floating point)

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Getting the Values Right #

For 90-Minute Tape #

• Spawn: 3000-5000 (not too dense)
• Duration: 6000-10000 (medium holds)
• OrbitSpd: 0.0002-0.0004 (gentle movement)
• BlendSpd: 0.1-0.2 (smooth but alive)
• MaxVoices: 4-6 (polyphonic without muddy)

For Interactive Play #

• Spawn: Don't matter (you're creating voices)
• Duration/OrbitSpd: Personal taste
• BlendSpd: 0.15 for snappy response
• MaxVoices: 6-8 (more bandwidth for your touches)

For Study #

• Spawn: 3000 (baseline)
• Duration: 6000 (baseline)
• OrbitSpd: 0.0003 (baseline)
• BlendSpd: 0.1 (baseline)
• MaxVoices: 5 (baseline)

Then change ONE, listen, understand, reset, repeat.

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Not Working? #

Slider doesn't respond:

• Make sure you're touching on the blue slider line, not the label
• Drag horizontally (not vertically)
• Release and try again

Values not changing:

• Confirm you're in seash (not seashells)
• Check that hold sequence is ON (press H)
• Values change immediately; listen for audio change

Want to reset:

• Reload the page (F5)
• Or manually drag each slider back to default
• No "reset" button needed

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Next: Combine with Touch Play #

You can:

1. Set sliders to your preferred hold sequence settings
2. Also touch the screen to add manual voices
3. Manual touches + auto holds mix together
4. Create layered performances

The sliders control the "background" (auto voices), your touches are the "foreground" (interactive layer).

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Example Sessions #

Session A: Deep Listen (90 minutes) #

Spawn: 4000      (slower spawn)
Duration: 8000   (longer holds)
OrbitSpd: 0.0002 (minimal drift)
BlendSpd: 0.08   (smooth)
MaxVoices: 4     (sparse chords)

Result: Meditative, slowly evolving texture

Session B: Interactive Play (30 minutes) #

Spawn: 3000
Duration: 6000
OrbitSpd: 0.0003
BlendSpd: 0.15
MaxVoices: 5

Press H, then also make touches
Auto voices + your gestures = rich conversation

Session C: Chaos Lab (15 minutes) #

Spawn: 800       (rapid!)
Duration: 3000   (quick bursts)
OrbitSpd: 0.0008 (fast movement)
BlendSpd: 0.3    (snappy blends)
MaxVoices: 8     (dense!)

Result: Glitchy, algorithmic texture

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Made for experimentation. Sliders = direct feedback loop between your intention and the sound.