Hi,

I'm writing a program which can record sounds and play them by hitting the keys "0-9". Recording and playing works fine.

Now I want to play those sounds in a specific order by hitting the keys, and processing shall save what key I hit at what time (in ms). I want to save this data in a string or array to be able to play it again without hitting all those buttons again.

Example:
Hitting key "2" at the time "2530" ms saves "2 2530" or whatever to an array or string.
Later I want to use the saved data to play the sound which appears by hitting key "2" at "2530" ms automatically.

The problem is, I haven't got a clue about saving data like this. I'm totally new to arrays/strings and stuff like this. The Reference didn't help me much.

Could anyone post an example how it could work?

Thx a lot!!

Two classical ways (at least):
- Beginner's solution: have two arrays, one of keys, one of times, and grow the arrays simultaneously on each note.
Works, is relatively simple, but not satisfying for an experimented programmer, as there is no strong coupling between the two arrays.
- Alternative: use a simple class (here, used as data structure) to store the key-time pair, and store the instances in an array list, more suited to growing data.
Advantage: at the cost of the usage of a "scary" "advanced" concept (class), there is better coupling of the data, and it is more efficient.
Moreover, it can grow, eg. you can easily add duration of the note. You can even add a method to play the note. Etc.

Example with class (untested):
Code:

class Note
{
  char key;
  long time;
}
ArrayList notes = new ArrayList();
// With Java 1.5 syntax: ArrayList<Note> notes = new ArrayList<Note>();

void keyPressed()
{
  Note note = new Note();
  note.key = key; // Filter out wrong keys!
  note.time = millis();
  notes.add(note);
}

void playBack()
{
  for (int i = 0; i < notes.size(); i++)
  {
    Note note = (Note) notes.get(i); // Cast not necessary with Java 1.5 syntax
    playNote(note);
  }
} 

Actually, my code for playBack isn't good, it should use draw() I think. Something like:
Code:

int currentNodeIdx;
Note currentNote;
long startOfPlay;
boolean bPlaying;
void playBack()
{
  startOfPlay = millis();
  currentNoteIdx = 0;
  currentNote = notes.get(0);
  bPlaying = true;
}

void draw()
{
  if (bPlaying && millis() - startOfPlay > currentNote.time)
  {
    if (currentNodeIdx >= notes.size()
    {
	endPlayBack(); // Set bPlaying to false
    }
    // Next note
    currentNote = notes.get(currentNoteIdx++);
    playNote(note);
  }
} 

Thank you, both of you.
I especially took a look at Cedric's solution and it makes totally sense.
But when it comes to my program, I don't really know where to put in the reference to my audio samples.
Is there another possibility to record the order of my sounds?
Perhaps with LineOut or something? (I tried this before but it didn't work).
Thanks again for your commitment, but I guess I'm just too less experienced in processing, and I don't have a book or something at the moment.


Code:

import ddf.minim.*;
import ddf.minim.signals.*;

Minim minim;
AudioInput in;
AudioRecorder recorder1;
AudioRecorder recorder2;
AudioSample sound1;
AudioSample sound2;

int pad = 0;

void setup() {
  background(0); 
  size(600, 400);

  // Get Line In
  minim = new Minim(this);
  in = minim.getLineIn(Minim.STEREO, 2048);
  recorder1 = minim.createRecorder(in, "sound1.wav", true);
  recorder2 = minim.createRecorder(in, "sound2.wav", true);

  // Pad colours
  noStroke();
  fill(255, 85, 0);
  rect(0, 0, 200, 200);
  fill(255, 128, 66);
  rect(200, 0, 200, 200);
  fill(254, 170, 128);
  rect(400, 0, 200, 200);
  fill(255, 150, 0);
  rect(0, 200, 200, 200);
  fill(254, 180, 73);
  rect(200, 200, 200, 200);    
  fill(254, 203, 128);
  rect(400, 200, 200, 200);
}

void draw() {
  float ms = millis() % 10000;

  // Which pad?
  if (mouseX > 0 && mouseX < 200 && mouseY > 0 && mouseY < 200) {
    pad = 1;
  }
  if (mouseX > 200 && mouseX < 400 && mouseY > 0 && mouseY < 200) {
    pad = 2;
  }
}

// Recording
void keyReleased() {
  // Checken, if cursor is over Pad1
  if (pad == 1) { 
    if (key == 'r') { 
	// Start/stop recording
	if (recorder1.isRecording()) {
	  recorder1.endRecord();
	} 
	else {
	  recorder1.beginRecord();
	}
    }
    // Save recording
    if (key == 's') {  
	recorder1.save();
	println("Pad1 has a sound.");
    }
  }
  // Play Pad1
  if ( key == '1' ) { 
    sound1 = minim.loadSample("sound1.wav", 2048);
    sound1.trigger();
  }
  
  if (pad == 2) {
    if (key == 'r') { 
	if (recorder2.isRecording()) {
	  recorder2.endRecord();
	} 
	else {
	  recorder2.beginRecord();
	}
    }
    if (key == 's') {  
	recorder2.save();
	println("Pad2 has sound.");
    }
  }
  if ( key == '2' ) { 
    sound2 = minim.loadSample("sound2.wav", 2048);
    sound2.trigger();
  }
  
}

// Stop tone with quitting program
void stop()
{
  in.close();
  minim.stop();
  super.stop();
}