I’m a huge fan of the Shepard Tone – that classic auditory illusion that makes it sound like a tone is infinitely increasing or decreasing in pitch. A few days ago I (belatedly) learned about Jean-Claude Risset’s “Auditory paradox based on fractal waveform” paper (1986) which does the same thing, but for audio loops. A “Risset Rhythm” is an illusion that makes audio loops sound like they’re speeding up or slowing down forever. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any online tools or VST/AU plugins to make my own. So, I took a day off and worked with Gemini to quickly build out a web-based tool/toy:
Risset Rhythm GeneratorThe effect is accomplished by pitch-bending (or time-stretching) multiple layers of a loop played back at half/double time. As the extreme layer fades out, a new layer fades in to replace it. For details, see Dan Stowell’s research, which expands on Jean-Claude Risset’s original work.
