What is Soundwave Art?
Visualising and “printing” sound
Soundwave art is a sound recording that has been printed and made into an artwork.
[photo credits: image 1 and 2 created by Katie Argyle. Image 3 by music teacher Linda Horne of Tafelmusik]
Before you get the students to create artwork, you can teach:
- How sound is produced
- What a waveform is
- How the waveform changes when sounds are loud or when they are soft
Going one step further, you can use audio recording software to show them the soundwave. Two great free options are Audacity (for Mac or PC) and Twisted Wave (online – good for Chromebooks).
How to create soundwave art – the basic steps
After learning about sound, students can create a visual “sound message” for someone they know. The basic steps involved are:
- Open your audio recording software and record a short message
- Take a screenshot of your recorded waveform
- Import the screenshot into Google Docs
- Optional: edit the image
- Print and assemble artwork!
It’s really simple to do, lots of fun and there are many applications. Students can stick their soundwave art on to a card, print it on colored paper and decorate it however they like.
Ideas for using soundwave art
Creating soundwave art is a perfect way to celebrate an event, holiday or other special occasion in your class. You can leave it up to the students to choose what they will say in their recording, but SHORT messages usually work best.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Mother’s Day or Father’s Day – “You’re the best!” or “I love you” or “My Dad rocks”
- Valentine’s Day – “I love you” or “be my Valentine”
- Holidays – “Happy holidays!” or “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Thanksgiving Day”
- Halloween – record a spooky laugh or imitate a ghost!
Step-by-step
You can use any audio recording software that shows a waveform for this step. I’ve had success with both Audacity (download to your Mac or PC) and Twisted Wave (online) which are both free to use.
You do not need any special equipment for this – the built-in microphone on the laptop or Chromebook is more than adequate. This is possibly the only time that you don’t really need to worry too much about the quality of the recording. You only need the sound wave to look good since it will be seen and not heard! Having said that, if students are too close to the mic or speak too loudly, the waveform won’t have much variation in it (it will look like a “block” of sound). They might need to experiment with their speaking volume and/or distance from the microphone to get the best-looking result.
Here are the steps:
1. Record your message
- Open Audacity or Twisted Wave (if you’re using Twisted Wave online, you’ll need to give it permission to use your microphone) or any other software/app that records audio and produces a visual waveform
- Click the Record button
- Say your message
- Press Stop
- Take a look at the waveform you recorded. If you need to record it again, press the Undo button to remove the recording and go back to step 2 (or select your recording and delete it)
2. Take a screenshot (screen capture) of the waveform
Next, take a screenshot of the waveform and save the image. You can use screen capture software, or use the inbuilt screen capture option on your laptop:
- On Mac: press Cmd+Shift+4 (or 5 if you’re on Mojave)
- On PC: press the Printscreen button
- On Chromebooks: Ctrl+Shift and the Switch Window key
NB: Save the screen capture with a descriptive file name. Include the student’s name, class, group etc. so that you can locate it easily next time.
3. Import the image into a Google Doc
- Open a new Google Doc
- Go to Import > Image > Upload From Computer or select Drive if your image is stored there
- You can also simply drag the image into the document
4. Optional: edit the image
In Google Docs, you can change the appearance of the soundwave image before printing it.
To crop the image: click on the image first and then click on the Crop button. Crop to the desired shape:
To change the background of the waveform: click on the image to select it, click on Image Options and then adjust the Contrast (drag to the right to make the background lighter or white):
To change the color of the waveform: click on the image to select it, click on Image Options and then choose one of the options in the Recolor drop-down menu. Some of the options will affect only the waveform and some will affect the waveform and the background. Experiment until you find one you like!
Here are four examples using a waveform image from Twisted Wave:
5. Print your soundwave and create your artwork
The final step is to print the soundwave. You can then add it to a card or print it as is and then frame it.
Listen to a podcast episode about soundwave art!
In episode 98 of the Music Tech Teacher podcast, I described the process for making your own soundwave art and gave some examples.
Download a copy
Would you like to take a copy of this with you? Click on the download button below and we’ll send a copy straight to your email inbox. You’ll also receive weekly music tech tips and news (if you don’t already). You can unsubscribe at any time.
Want More?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
Learn more and take a sneak peek inside
22 Comments
Once you create it, you can have Soundwave Art™ activate the art with their mobile app and play it using Augmented Reality!
Cool feature Mike – but that’s only for a soundwave that has been created on your website and made into artwork that’s purchased – yes? Your biz looks great but these are music teachers that are creating their own soundwave art for entire classes of students so it wouldn’t be a viable option. I’ve used the HP Reveal app in the past to create a similar effect so that the artwork “comes to life”.
Hi, Katie. We can actually make our app work with any type of artwork, so it would be possible to active those as well.
So is there a fee to up Load our autio sound to your app?
Thnx is ther My question is is there a way to convert the sound wave into real sound for free?
I’m not quite sure I understand the question.. You would like to convert the image of the sound wave into an audio file? If so, that’s not possible as such, but you could add a QR code to the image which is linked to the recording. When the viewer scans the QR code, they will be able to play the audio file. It means that you will have a QR code on the picture as well as the sound wave.
[…] creating sound wave art recommend copying thumbnail displays from audio editing software, either via screenshot or by hand. A free online tool that offers to let you “generate a waveform image from an […]
Hi Katie! Thank you for this great content!
Yet, I would like to offer a %30 OFF for instant downloads on our website, exclusively for Midnightmusic readers with this coupon code: 30MidnightMusic
They can download their artwork with many sizes offered in PDF and print it at their local printer.
Our website uses artificial intelligence to create the soundwave designs and its algorithm generates many different soundwave styles. Upload, record, trim, playback via QR code and many more features available at SoundWavePic [dot] com
The link on the comment is actually mistyped. It should be pointing to https://soundwavepic.com/waveform/upload/
Thank you! This was simple and helpful.
Thanks Nick!
Once I’ve recorded and printed the soundwave, can I play it back and hear the exact sounds/voice that the original recording was made from, is there any change or distortion to the original voice when played back? thanks
You can only play it back if you somehow link to the original recording (many people use a QR code for that) somewhere on the picture. The soundwave image itself won’t play back.
I would not be so categorical about the impossibility of such an operation. There is a app for transformation graphic pic into sound (skinmotion.com), cool but too greedy. Maybe people asked you about the free method, or more loyal apps. I am also interested in this question, but so far I have just started looking for an answer – making a waveform is not a problem, I need to listen in real time from the graph/ Sorry for my english, it’s not my native language)
Awesome thank you for creating this article!
I created a web application that also creates one but it’s animated. (It’s free!)
Other than waveform animations it also generates a subtitle if you want.
It’s perfect for people that are not familiar with design/video editing. You have to provide an audio file and create a template. The application does the rest and notifies you when the video is ready.
Here’s a link to a guide: https://vokal.co/blog/audio-waveform
Hello,
Does the created soundwave is unique or not ?
I mean, will someone else have the exact same image or will I be the only one to have it (I’d like to use it for a tatoo and the sound would be a very important for me)
Yes – the soundwave image is unique because it’s a visual representation of your voice when you record it, so it won’t look exactly like anyone else’s.
Hello, I tried doing this and I was only given a narrow single line sound wave from the app I used. Any ideas how to expand it to look like the above?
It might depend on which all you used (some produce different-looking wave forms) or how loud the audio was that you recorded (if the levels are very low they won’t be as pronounced). Lastly, the zoom level can sometimes make a difference – if you’re very zoomed in in the recording app, the wave form will be very spread out and won’t look “dense”. When you zoom out, it makes the wave form look more squished up which produces a better result. Hope one of those options fixes it for you!
[…] Here’s a walk through that helped get me started: https://midnightmusic.com/2018/12/how-to-make-your-own-soundwave-art/ […]
[…] their favorite tune in a stunning piece of personalized artwork. Transform the soundwave of their beloved song into a visually captivating print, creating a unique […]
[…] their favorite song or meaningful words into a visual masterpiece with soundwave art. These intricate designs capture the audio patterns of a chosen sound, transforming it into a […]