The rule for the final set of symbols was developed with thought into what the equivalent visual characteristics of the sonic properties I am using are. Instead of trying to exhaustively try to describe the sound with the visual (this can never really be achieved by anything other than the sound itself) the system is intended to be an indicator of its fundamental attributes. The properties I used for my data are: most frequent pitch, most frequent key, mean tempo, dynamic Db information (values taken from the waveform that visualises the song's electronic signal, these are taken at specified time increments and are useful, like the waveform at indicating patterns and rhythms) and song length.
My research into these aspects led me to link the following sonic and visual properties:
Key (most frequent) = Hue. Hue can be equated to Key as both are known to strongly influence the mood of a piece. I defined 14 separate hue classes for each Key class (C,D,E,F,G,A,B) and their sharps and flats. The frequency of each key corresponds to the frequencies on the spectrum of visible light.
Pitch (most frequent) = Warm or cool shade added to the hue. The higher the frequency of the sound, the higher percentage of blue added to the initial hue. The lower the frequency, the more orange (mix of magenta-yellow) added to the initial hue. This corresponds to the the spectrum of visible light and acts in a similar way to sound as, just as different pitches exist within different key classes, different ranges of hue can contain an array of variations.
Tempo (Mean BPM) = This is reflected in tint and influences the colour variable for Db values. Tempo generally determines whether a song sounds vivacious, natural, mellow or languid whilst the tint value of a hue can make it seem vibrant, normal, washed out or insipid. A high tempo will result in an untinted hue whilst a slower one will see a greater amount of white added.
Decibel Information = The sound's waveform, measured in decibels against time reveals the sound levels and is a very good indicator of patterns and structure. This is interpreted by my visual system in an opacity mask which takes a dark hue (determined precisely by the tempo; higher tempo songs will generate a more harmonious hue that will help to accentuate the general hue of the symbol, increasing its vibrancy while a slower song generates a more complementary hue that will make the overall colour more cloudy) and makes it opaque or transparent to a certain extent, depending on the Db value measured at that point. Higher values will be have a higher transparency, allowing the brighter hue underneath to come through whilst lower values will be more opaque. This will create a darkened fade out effect as the sound levels drop at the end of a track which will help to create an intuitive marker of the end (and beginning) of the song.
Length = A patterned edge to the circle shape shows clearly the number of measurements taken during the song, the longer the song, the finer the pattern and more colour detail within the shape. I am considering whether to vary the general size of symbols based on song length in the final piece, I'm not sure how important it is as a factor.
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