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Comment by trishume | Hacker News Reader

I mocked up a quick JS canvas page that varies the bar width and I do indeed hear the tone changing:

I also put some ideas on the Github Readme including using feedback from the microphone to calibrate a width->pitch mapping to play music using your screen.

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Hey, I forked your repo and added tuning, so that everyone can adjust it for their display

http://genabitu.github.io/screentunes/

Maybe I'll get to get it play music (a json with timings and notes would suffice, I suppose?)

You shouldn't even need the microphone. Assuming that doubling the line frequency doubles the audio frequency, you can play music by just choosing a note to call "A" and varying the frequency from there. It won't be in tune, but that doesn't really matter.

Hey, I have done some work on my fork, and now it plays NYAN CAT (didn't have any better idea...)

http://genabitu.github.io/screentunes/

You have to calibrate it before it starts playing.

Please make a Show HN post. Also prepare for a lot of hits from the random internet. This is amazing.

I can hear the result of this, but it's barely audible, and only near the top of the range, at bar widths thinner than the OP.

I'll have to find some other monitors to test this on. It would be awesome if there were some commplace model that's relatively loud for a wide pitch range. Said model might then be useful for musical hacks in the same vein as driving the stepper motors in old floppy drives.

Hey! For me, this produces sound for the whole range of heights/frequencies! It plays a bit more silent for high frequencies, but for the lowest ones, the sound is quite loud (given it's produced by a screen...) and I think, it could easily go for an even lower pitch. I am using a modified SyncMaster 203B (I replaced some of the electrolytic capacitors after the lighting ceased to work, so that may be it...)

My monitor plays the whole range as well, that's what I calibrated the height sweep to.

Neat. I don't notice anything/much for most of the cycle, but somewhere in the middle I can hear a brief "zwip" rising tone, for part of a second. I happen to have three "identical" monitors, and it's similar on each one, although I believe I can hear the tone for a somewhat longer range on one of them.

I can verify that I hear noise from this on my Macbook Air, faintly, and it also creates a buzzing sound on my iPhone 5s!

I'm on a Macbook Pro. Can't hear anything. Sad :(

Also on an older iPad

I enjoyed that. no noise on my chromebook will try on big monitor in the morning.

That's so cool! I can hear it on my Nexus 5 if I put it right up to my ear!

Awesome! I can hear it perfectly on one monitor at home, but not the other.

This is amazing. Yes, add a song or I will.

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