Proj. Dev. studio – project idea

An exploratory project about timing and computers, specifically related to sound:

I would like to explore sound, how it is represented with data, and demonstrate how is produced digitally by making a physical interface with which people can manipulate the sample rate of a signal.

Bit rate = (sampling rate) x (bit depth) x (number of channels)

Sampling rate: the number of samples per second (or per other unit) taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal.

Audio bit depth: the number of bits of information recorded for each sample. Bit depth directly corresponds to the resolution of each sample in a set of digital audio data. Common examples of bit depth include CD quality audio, which is recorded at 16 bits, and DVD-Audio, which can support up to 24-bit audio.

Bit rate the bits of data transferred and received each second

By making a physical interface that people can interact with, I want to allow people to be responsible for sample rate (I was thinking they could push a button over and over rapidly, but no matter what, the sample rate will be WAY TOO SLOOOOW). Perhaps a lever would work. Cell phones / walkie talkie transmission uses a sample rate of 8,000 Hz. I would like to design a way that two people can interact, or one person can interact with a device / a computer and manipulate the timing that a computer asks for incoming data.

This next part maybe is less hashed out:
I would also like to make an interface that allows people to change the resolution of recorded samples, and see how it affects the audio quality. I would like to make a display using light and/or color to show the relationship of difference in resolution possibilities with different bit depths.