Frames and Ticks

Digital audio consists of a series of numbers, called "samples", that describe a signals amplitude in time. In order to hear a smooth sound, we must generate many numbers per second. To produce a stereo signal we must produce two numbers, one for each channel, left and right. The pair of numbers are played together and are called a "frame". JSyn typically generates 44100 frames per second which is the same rate that a Compact Disc is played.

Time in JSyn is measured in "ticks". A tick occurs every 64 frames. If the frame rate is 44100 fps then the tick rate would be 44100/64 or approximately 689 ticks per second. The tick count starts at zero when JSyn is started. You can find the current JSyn time by calling:

time = Synth.getTickCount();

You can find the current tick rate by calling:

rate = Synth.getTickRate();

You can put your program to sleep for a certain number of ticks by calling:

Synth.sleepForTicks( numTicksToSleep );

To sleep until a specific time, call:

Synth.sleepUntilTick( wakeupTime );

These sleep methods put the calling Thread to sleep. They do not put the synthesis engine to sleep.

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