Noun Sounds

Noun Sounds transforms your Ethereum transaction history into music, offering a new way to explore your blockchain activity. Enter your ENS name or wallet address, and listen to sounds that uniquely tell your onchain story.

What makes Noun Sounds special is its ability to algorithmically generate audio entirely within your browser. This isn’t just another visual dashboard; it’s a fully synthesized, interactive soundscape that lets you hear your blockchain history.

Why Audio?

Audio isn’t just aesthetic – it’s powerful. Unlike visuals, music can layer multiple dimensions of data at once, allowing you to grasp patterns and anomalies intuitively. It’s a tool for both discovery and creativity.

This might look like different instruments representing different dimensions of the data:

• Piano: Transaction amounts
• Drums: Gas usage
• Strings: Network activity
• Horns: Smart contract interactions
• Synths: Extracted MEV

While Noun Sounds currently only represents transaction values, it aims to incorporate the other dimensions above in future versions.

Currently, Noun Sounds provides a consistent backing track for each Noun. Future iterations will personalize the music even further, creating distinct sounds based on the unique traits of each Nouns. If you own multiple Nouns, you’d get an evolving soundtrack that changes as your collection grows.

At its core, the project checks if your Ethereum address owns a Noun NFT. If it does, it queries your transaction history, extracting the values of each transaction. These values are then transformed into a melody, turning your financial data into an audible narrative.

Generating Music

Mapping Values to Melody: Low-value transactions are represented by low notes, while high-value transactions create higher notes. Through experimentation, we discovered that most transactions tend to cluster at lower values. To capture this subtlety, transaction values are scaled logarithmically, giving greater nuance to the lower spectrum.

Musical Framework: Notes are mapped to the C major scale, providing a familiar and harmonious base for the melodies. A random but repeatable rhythm is generated using a seeded random generator, ensuring that every melody is unique to its Noun while remaining consistent on playback.

Backing Tracks: A pre-programmed beat adds bass lines and harmonies. The rhythm is crafted around 16th notes, creating an energetic, funky groove that complements the melody. If a user’s transaction history is limited, the song seamlessly loops, creating an endless and cohesive listening experience.

Tooling

Audio Generation: The sounds are synthesized and scheduled using Tone.js, a Web Audio framework designed for creating interactive music directly in the browser.

Onchain Queries: All blockchain data – whether it’s confirming Noun NFT ownership or fetching transaction details—is sourced using Blockscout, ensuring real-time accuracy and reliability.

Tech Stack: The project is built with TypeScript and Next.js, uses Tailwind CSS for styling and shadcn/ui for shared components.