This project emulates the sound of my old faithful IBM Model-M space saver bucklespring keyboard while typing on my notebook, mainly for the purpose of annoying the hell out of my coworkers.
Bucklespring runs as a background process and plays back the sound of each key pressed and released on your keyboard, just as if you were using an IBM Model-M. The sound of each key has carefully been sampled, and is played back while simulating the proper distance and direction for a realistic 3D sound palette of pure nostalgic bliss.
To compile on debian-based linux distributions, first make sure the require
libraries and header files are installed, then simply run make:
$ sudo apt-get install libopenal-dev libalure-dev libxtst-dev
$ make
$ ./buckle
For windows the binary is provided in buckle.exe. To run on windows,
make sure to first install OpenAL from the official package at
https://www.openal.org/downloads/.
The source can be cross-compiled from linux using the MinGW compiler:
$ make mingw=1
$ buckle.exe
The program is launched in the background, and has no user interface whatsoever. To terminate, find 'buckle.exe' in the task manager and kill. Any volunteers for implementing a systray icon?
usage: ./buckle [options]
options:
-d DEVICE use OpenAL audio device DEVICE
-g GAIN set playback gain [0..100]
-h show help
-l list available openAL audio devices
-p PATH load .wav files from directory PATH
-s WIDTH set stereo width [0..100]
-v increase verbosity / debugging
Bucklespring uses the OpenAL library for mixing samples and providing a
realistic 3D audio playback. The default OpenAL settings can cause a slight
delay in playback. Edit or create the OpenAL configuration file ~/.alsoftrc
and add the following options:
period_size = 32
periods = 4
If you are using headphones, enabling the head-related-transfer functions in OpenAL for a better 3D sound:
hrtf = true