I'm writing a c program to generate a sinusoidal wave that slowly ramps up frequency from f1 to f2 for a giving time interval.
I have written this c program to ramp the frequency from 0 to 10 Hz but the problem is that the frequency changes after completion of 360 degrees. If I try to change the frequency between 0 and 360 degree that the transition is not smooth and it is abrupt.
This is the equation the sin that I have used y = Amplitude*sin(freq*phase)
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
double y, freq,phase;
int count; // for convenience of plotting in matlab so all the waves are spread on x axis.
for (freq = 0; freq < 10; freq+=1) {
for (phase = 0; phase < 360; phase++) { // phase is 360 degrees
y = 3 * sin((count*6.283185)+(freq*(phase*(3.14159/180))));
printf("%f %f %f \n", freq, phase, y);
}
count++;
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
- How do I change frequency smoothly for a given time period?
- should I be looking into Fourier transformations?
if you want angular frequency (w=2 pi f) to vary linearly with time then dw/dt = a
and w = w0 + (wn-w0)*t/tn
(where t
goes from 0 to tn
, w
goes from w0
to wn
). phase is the integral of that, so phase = w0 t + (wn-w0)*t^2/(2tn)
(as oli says):
void sweep(double f_start, double f_end, double interval, int n_steps) {
for (int i = 0; i < n_steps; ++i) {
double delta = i / (float)n_steps;
double t = interval * delta;
double phase = 2 * PI * t * (f_start + (f_end - f_start) * delta / 2);
while (phase > 2 * PI) phase -= 2 * PI; // optional
printf("%f %f %f", t, phase * 180 / PI, 3 * sin(phase));
}
}
(where interval is tn and delta is t/tn).
here's the output for the equivalent python code (1-10Hz over 5 seconds):
from math import pi, sin
def sweep(f_start, f_end, interval, n_steps):
for i in range(n_steps):
delta = i / float(n_steps)
t = interval * delta
phase = 2 * pi * t * (f_start + (f_end - f_start) * delta / 2)
print t, phase * 180 / pi, 3 * sin(phase)
sweep(1, 10, 5, 1000)
ps incidentally, if you're listening to this (or looking at it - anything that involves human perception) i suspect you don't want a linear increase, but an exponential one. but that's a different question...
How do I change frequency smoothly for a given time period?
A smooth sinusoid requires continuous phase. Phase is the integral of frequency, so if you have a linear function for frequency (i.e. a constant-rate increase from f1 to f2), then phase will be a quadratic function of time.
You can figure out the maths with pen and paper, or I can tell you that the resulting waveform is called a linear chirp.
Should I be looking into Fourier transformations?
The Fourier transform of a linear chirp is itself a linear chirp, so probably no.
It should be fairly simple. Rather than thinking of varying the frequency, think of making an object spin faster and faster. The angular distance it has traveled might be X after N seconds, but will be more that 2X (maybe 4X) after 2N seconds. So come up with a formula for the angular distance (eg, alpha = k1 * T + k2 * T**2) and take the sine of that angular distance to find the value of the waveform at any time T.
+ (void) appendChirp:(int[])sampleData size:(int)len
withStartFrequency:(double)startFreq withEndFrequency:(double)endFreq
withGain:(double)gain {
double sampleRate = 44100.0;
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
double progress = (double)i / (double)len;
double frequency = startFreq + (progress * (endFreq - startFreq));
double waveLength = 1.0 / frequency;
double timePos = (double)i / sampleRate;
double pos = timePos / waveLength;
double val = sin(pos * 2.0 * M_PI); // -1 to +1
sampleData[i] += (int)(val * 32767.0 * gain);
}
}