Generative NFT Audio Project Launching on Arweave and Cardano

CardanoSounds, an experimental NFT project, is set to launch on the Cardano blockchain using Arweave for media storage and front-end hosting. The project is a collaboration between software engineer Dominik Zachar and B.O.P, a Czech sound designer and producer.

Once launched, users will be able to compose audio NFTs from a library of layers and loops, then mint them for sale or use in projects.

The goal is to provide a library of sounds that people generate for use in NFTs, like for example if you want to add sound to a video you’re minting for an NFT, our site would be the place.

The resulting NFT’s rarity will set the price, and is determined by the uniqueness of the audio’s components. Each track is made up of 5 layers with different probabilities, including melody, bass, drums and signature sounds.

Even the current library – a small subset of the eventual sound options – can produce 242,880,000 unique variations. The original user who generates the NFT will be able to earn royalties through its use, enforced by a smart contract.

The current command line interface for CardanoSounds can produce a unique audio track and upload it to Arweave as a web page containing a visualizer, a list of the sound’s properties, and a rarity score.

Zachar provided a short video demo for this showing the process:

Examples of audio generated with CardanoSounds can be found on Arweave:

• oxjkOrzyzr1XcXJTKjtu6afUTpmJ1-HLHcs7MZGfyL4
• Blfdl1Dlqk_4Rhwf8JmTaDf4HiboyuJoO5quO2ZTJuQ
• 9fa4BQSumVUaa_XXA99cYm20kQjTlaxYidqv8TlDpkk

The current sound library is test material for the first release wave. NFTs from wave 1 will be unique, but share similar sonic characteristics since they are built from the same sources; waves 2 and 3 three will be released just hours after, drawing from a different set of layers.

CardanoSounds is set to launch a testnet in the coming weeks, with a UI that allows users to randomize sound layers and explore the limits of what’s possible to mint.

Saying all this, would someone like to see and hear testnet NFT as an example? Our mainnet collection needs to be created by transactions. I minted randomly chosen sounds and arweave website with a player called “glitch”.#CNFT https://t.co/y4uhcx1BEJ

— Cardano Sounds CNFT (@CardanoSounds) June 27, 2021

Beyond that, Zachar told Arweave News that the project plans to expand into using fully generative music layers, created algorithmically using Haskell.

The WIP code is hosted here on the CardanoSounds GitHub, and updates will be posted on Twitter.