GitHub.audio: an unusual audio-visual service for programmers

Let's get one thing straight: GitHub.audio^[1] and GitHub^[2] are not the same thing. The two services are not connected in any way, contrary to users' expectations that GitHub.audio is a new version control service just for musicians. Let's figure out what this project is.

There is almost no information about GitHub.audio on the Internet, but we found out that, judging by the Twitter account, the project was developed by a user with the nickname debugger22 back in 2016. The service has an open code, it can be viewed by any interested person.

What is GitHub.audio? It looks like a musical instrument, which every programmer and developer has the opportunity to play. For each action that occurs on GitHub, the developer of the service programmed sound. The resulting melody is very calm and more like playing on a xylophone. In the right corner of the screen is a slider that adjusts the volume.

All of the actions on the page are not only given a voiceover, you can see them. They are displayed as circles of different colors - it depends on the type of action. Clicking on a colored circle will take you to the developer's repository on GitHub.

Note that GitHub.audio does not work in Safari or mobile. If you want the service to work, run it on desktop and any other browser.

Users of the website ycombinator^[3] told us that a similar service already exists - bitlisten^[4]. The site not only visualizes bitcoin transactions, you can hear a blockchain tune here. If you go to bitlisten, the first thing you will see are little bubbles representing transactions. One bubble = one unique sound. The sound is similar to the tinkling of crystal glasses. When multiple transactions occur at once, you get a harmonious melody.

Source references:

1. GitHub.audio;
2. GitHub;
3. ycombinator;
4. bitlisten.