Layering Sounds
Notes stacked with tiny delays become an instrument.
A single beep is a notification. Four notes, each 60ms after the last, each a little quieter, is a phrase — it has direction, and direction carries meaning. Rising phrases read as success; falling ones as dismissal or deletion.
Here's this site's copy-link sound, taken apart:
=
Four square-wave notes, each delayed 60ms after the last and slightly quieter — a tiny arpeggio instead of a beep. This is the sound this site plays when you copy a link.
The anatomy
success: {
layers: [
{ source: { type: "square", frequency: 523 }, gain: 0.06 }, // C5
{ source: { type: "square", frequency: 659 }, gain: 0.05, delay: 0.06 }, // E5
{ source: { type: "square", frequency: 784 }, gain: 0.045, delay: 0.12 }, // G5
{ source: { type: "square", frequency: 1047 }, gain: 0.04, delay: 0.18 }, // C6
],
}
Three decisions do the work:
- Real intervals. C–E–G–C is a major arpeggio — the ear recognizes the chord even at 6% volume and 60ms notes.
- A decaying envelope per note. Each note is ~80ms of decay, no sustain — a pluck, not a tone.
- Falling gain. Each layer slightly quieter, so the phrase tapers instead of ending abruptly.
Same technique, different mood: two sine notes a fifth apart for a toggle, a downward pair for delete. Synthesized, not sampled — the whole palette weighs nothing.