Smile Sound Chips is a family within the Soft Sound Systems project, consisting of imagined software sound chips that draw on the idea of physical sound-generating chips used in early computers, game consoles, and electronic instruments. Each chip lives in a small 200 × 120 pixel window and generates sound through its own timing, pitch, and sound-making rules. Its small face changes with the sound as the chip plays or rests.
Figure 1. Documentation video of Smile Sound Chips, CHIP01-0001
This video is recorded documentation of the composition. The original artwork is a generative standalone software application in which sound and visuals are produced in real time by the chip’s programmed behavior.
CHIP01 is a small software sound chip built around one pulse-wave voice and one noise generator. The pulse voice uses a 50% duty cycle, producing a simple square-like tone, and moves through an eight-step structure. Each step lasts 280 milliseconds, with the pulse sounding for 170 milliseconds when active.
Each step can define its own relative pitch, whether the pulse sounds or rests, and whether noise is present. When enabled, the noise appears as a short 45-millisecond accent near the beginning of the step. The pulse and noise are mixed at different levels, with the pulse forming the main sound and the noise acting as a secondary element.
The face changes with the sequence while the chip is active, and the noise state is also shown visually when it occurs. When the chip is stopped, the face changes to a sleeping expression.
Figure 2. Documentation video of Smile Sound Chips, CHIP02-0001
This video is recorded documentation of the composition. The original artwork is a generative standalone software application in which sound and visuals are produced in real time by the chip’s programmed behavior.
CHIP02 is a small software sound chip built around two pulse-wave voices running at different speeds.
Voice A uses a 25% duty cycle and moves through a four-step structure, with each step lasting 500 milliseconds and the pulse sounding for 170 milliseconds when active. Voice B uses a 37.5% duty cycle and moves through a three-step structure, with each step lasting 310 milliseconds and the pulse sounding for 190 milliseconds when active.
Each voice can define its own relative pitches and whether individual steps sound or rest. Because the two voices use different step lengths and pattern lengths, their relationship continually shifts over time before returning to the same overall alignment.
The face is directly connected to the two voices. Voice A controls the eyes as its four-step pattern advances, while Voice B controls the depth of the smile through its three-step pattern. When the chip is stopped, the face changes to a sleeping expression.
Figure 3. Documentation video of Smile Sound Chips, CHIP03-0001
This video is recorded documentation of the composition. The original artwork is a generative standalone software application in which sound and visuals are produced in real time by the chip’s programmed behavior.
CHIP03 is a small software sound chip built around one stepped-triangle voice and a pitch-memory system. Rather than following a fixed pitch sequence, it changes its current pitch by repeatedly applying a set of five numerical rules within defined minimum and maximum pitch boundaries.
Each step lasts 280 milliseconds, with the sound active for 170 milliseconds. The pitch reached at one step becomes the starting point for the next. When applying a rule would move the pitch beyond a boundary, the pitch is clamped to that boundary and the system reverses its overall direction.
The face follows the chip’s pitch movement. The eyes respond to whether the pitch moves upward or downward, with separate expressions for upper and lower boundary events, while the depth of the smile changes according to the current pitch position within the selected range. When the chip is stopped, the face changes to a sleeping expression.