Web App Makes New York Subway "Sound" Great

Alexander Chen thought that the NY subway could use some more colorful sounds, so he built Conductor. Conductor is a Web app built using HTML5 and Javascript that draws lines (representing train paths), and very time a train intercepts another train's path it "plucks" the train path of the other train and it makes a sound. The longer the train path, the lower the pitch, just like the strings on a real string instrument. The sounds come from freesound.org and are in the C major scale.

The Web app pulls MTA's schedule every minute to check for new trains. The train then goes toward its end destination at a speed determined by MTA's estimated trip duration. Over time, train paths fade over time and there is a limited number of concurrent trains, among other things, all for musical, aesthetic, and technical reasons.

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