11-08-01

REALbasic Audio Barber Pole by Erick Tejkowski

This week we'll go on a mind-bending trip into the realm of audio illusions. Using a few simple commands and an interface that you can build in minutes, we'll look at, er listen to, an unusual audio phenomenon, made famous by Roger Shepard.

Background

The renowned scientist, Roger Shepard, figured out a neat audio trick that involves a sequence of musical tones. When played in succession, these notes seem to forever increase in pitch, though they aren't really doing so. Some have termed it an "audio barber pole". Whatever you call it, it's pretty weird (and I know how much ResEx readers like weird). So, this week we'll put together a simple project that demonstrates this nifty trick.

Build the Interface

Launch REALbasic and open the default window: Window1. Add the following controls to the window:

• Two PushButtons - Label them "Go" and "Stop" respectively
• Two Timers - Set the Mode of both to 0 (zero) and give both equal Periods (e.g. 1000 works fine)
• One NotePlayer

Arrange the interface however you wish, but it might look like this:

Add the Code

With our interface built, double click the Window Editor to open the Code Editor. Select Edit-New Property and create two new properties:

Next navigate to the Action event of PushButton1 and enter the following code:

Then, navigate to the Action event of PushButton2 and enter this code:

To the Action event of Timer1 add this bit of source code:

Finally, type this code into the Action event of Timer2:

Conclusion

When you're done, select Debug-Run to hear the mysterious rising tones. If you'd like to download this week's example instead of typing it in, you can download the completed project. See you next week!

11-06-01

REALbasic News by Erick Tejkowski

New REALbasic 4 Alpha REAL Software has released another alpha version of their forthcoming REALbasic 4. Some of the interesting tidbits in this one include:

• Sound Pan and Volume
• Picture: HorizontalResolution and VerticalResolution
• Dictionary class

REALbasic Newbie? Tom Cunningham has posted some new projects for beginners. Fun stuff!

da' Bevel Button Ian Devaney has created a useful class called dBevelButton 1.0. It adds a host of features to existing bevelbuttons. Check it out!

Think Smart JacobQL has released version 1.2 of SmartLaunch. SmartLaunch is a MacOS utility for launching applications. It works somewhat like Internet Explorer 5. If you type part of the name of the application a list will show all applications on your local hard drives with names containing the text you've written. Oh, and it's Made with REALbasic.

RBScript Unleashed If you're still scratching your head over what RBScript can do, then don't miss Travis Hill's Notify Ally. It is a utility that will notify people when a product comes in stock, when a website changes, or whatever else people can dream up. It can send text to a phone, email, or just put a message on the screen. They use a wizard that generates some simple RBScripts (called "Allies" in the sense of this product) and can edit them from there. It is all pretty standard, but there are some extra subs and functions that the scripts may call to handle HTTP and the like. The site is at:

Have Mouse, will Wheel.. Will Cosgrove has put together an interesting RB plugin, called Carbon Events Plugin. It does three things only available through Carbon Events:

• allows access to a toolbar button
• allows access to scroll wheel support
• live window resizing.

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