🔢 Why These Numbers?
Birthdays, anniversaries, phone numbers — even words — all hide little tunes. Here’s how your input becomes melody on the circle of fifths, and how the two viral toys interpret it.
🧭 KeyClock vs ToneDial (at a glance)
KeyClock — Dates → Cadences
- Plays cadences (diatonic triads & inversions per digit).
- Allowed separators: /,.'( )space (ticks / group breaks)
- Not allowed:
+,*(not used for dates). - Top caption: input line always visible. Bottom “degrees” helper line appears briefly (2nd Major pass) in downloads.
ToneDial — Phone → Melody
- No cadences; letters map via T9 to a melody line.
- Allowed phone symbols: #+* (classic phone keypad)
- Intended for names/words as phone text (e.g., 1-800-HELLO).
🎯 Parsing & Mapping (KeyClock)
This is how KeyClock interprets digits/letters on each pass:
- Digits 1–7: diatonic triads (render per-pass as Major vs Minor Roman numerals).
- 8: I (1st inversion).
- 9: II (2nd inversion).
- 0 (zero policy): alternate between rest (–) and chromatic (♭2/♯4); zero-as-rest does not consume a playable and shows – in captions.
- Letters: map via T9 to melody notes (exactly as in ToneDial).
- Separators (commas, spaces, etc.): rest ticks and group breaks.
⏱️ Timing (applies to any multi-digit run)
Let STEP = 250ms:
- n = 1 → 1.00×STEP
- n = 2 → 1.00×STEP (125ms each)
- n = 3 → 1.25×STEP
- n = 4 → 1.50×STEP
- n ≥ 5 → min(1.75×STEP, (1 + 0.15×(n−2))×STEP), capped at 1.75×STEP
🔉 Examples (audio + captions)
- 10 → cadence 1 – 0 (I, then rest or ♭2/♯4). Caption: 1ˢᵗ (or I) under 1; – (or ♭2/♯4) under 0.
- 12 → cadence 1 – 2. Caption: I – ii (Major) / i – ii° (Minor).
- 99 → 9 – 9 (II in 2nd inv twice).
- 1999 → 1 – 9 – 9 – 9 (4-note roll).
- 2025 → 2 – 0 – 2 – 5.
📅 “October 21, 2025”
- “October” → letters → melody (T9).
- , → rest tick.
- 21 → 2 – 1 (250ms total).
- , → rest tick.
- 2025 → 4-digit cadence (375ms total with the stretch).
🎭 Two Passes × Two Colors
Playback runs in clean passes: B♭ Major (bright gold) and C minor (moody green), twice each:Major → Major → minor → minor. Trails reset each pass for clarity.
In downloads, the top input line stays visible from start to finish; the bottom “degrees helper” line appears briefly (in KeyClock) during the 2nd Major pass.
🚦 Allowed Input (quick reference)
KeyClock (Dates)
0–9
A–Z
/
,
.
'
( )
space
Not allowed:
+, * (not used for dates).ToneDial (Phone)
0–9
A–Z (T9)
#
+
*
-
space
🚀 Try the Musical Toys
Now that you know the mapping, let your dates, phone numbers, and words sing: