diff --git a/docs/soundscape-grammar.md b/docs/soundscape-grammar.md deleted file mode 100644 index cfcbd54..0000000 --- a/docs/soundscape-grammar.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,262 +0,0 @@ -# Soundscape grammar for the Ratatoskr generative symphony (spec) - -Serves follow-up `aqua-body:follow_up:chat-s938-943`. **Grammar only.** No notes, -no motifs, no pitches, no instrument choices. Nothing here was rendered, run, -listened to, or measured; every number marked *proposed* is a design choice -awaiting a listening trial and a device measurement. Nothing in this document -may be cited as heard. - -## 0. Inputs not seen - -Two inputs named in the brief could not be read when this was written, and the -grammar is drafted without them. Each is a place to reconcile before the doc is -treated as in force. - -- `heimdall-body:follow_up:ratatoskr-creature-projection-v2`: `huginn view` - from instance `aqua` still answers `absent` (re-checked 2026-11-02), and a - search of the Heimdall checkout found no file mentioning it. Section 2 takes - its constraints as relayed in `aqua-body:follow_up:chat-s946-948`: rule O1 - (a Neutral participant gets no orbit and no voice), the `estate` split, - coarse size buckets with a separate neutral flag, activity fed by the - Heimdall session. Section 2 must be reconciled against that follow-up's - actual field list once it can be read. -- `ratatoskr:follow_up:symphony-grammar-harvest-mimir` (Mimir birdsong - research): also `absent` from aqua's mind, and `GameCult/Mimir` holds no - symphony or voice-separation note (grep of `notes/`, `research/`, `docs/`). - Section 4 is therefore built from this repo's own `research/syrinx-modeling` - plus the general auditory-scene-analysis and acoustic-niche literature named - there, *recalled, not re-read for this draft*. The harvest, when it exists, - replaces or confirms section 4; it is the likeliest thing to change. - -Context actually read: `docs/gamecult/ratatoskr-target.md` in `GameCult/Ratatoskr` -at `b33d8de` (the agreement that one activity vocabulary drives both sound and -motion, the member-safe projection, "kind, Mind, time and intensity, never -briefs or mind contents"), and `docs/agent-activity-grammar.md` (an earlier, -unmerged AquaSynth draft for the Dings event source; not part of this change). - -## 1. Purpose and owner - -One typed **activity frame** per Mind, produced once, read by two consumers: - -- the **orbit renderer** (Persona motion around Yggdrasil), and -- the **voice scheduler** (which instrument voice speaks, how densely). - -Neither consumer owns the vocabulary; neither adds a field. The vocabulary owner -is this grammar. The frame's producer is the Heimdall session (section 2). A -consumer that needs a distinction the vocabulary lacks raises it as a change to -this document, not as a private side channel. - -## 2. The activity frame - -Typed CultNet/CultCache document, projected member-safe. No private pipe: the -frame reaches both consumers by the same subscription, and a consumer that -cannot read it plays nothing and draws nothing. - -| field | type | values | note | -|---|---|---|---| -| `mind` | id | participant identity | stable identity, not a run/session label; for a human, the member's stable id | -| `estate` | enum, 3 | `human`, `mind`, `persona` | selects the vocabulary this participant may use; see below | -| `kind` | enum, 7 (humans: 3) | `Idle`, `Reading`, `Thinking`, `Working`, `Speaking`, `Waiting`, `Alert` | coarse; absent when `neutral`; see below | -| `energy` | enum, 4 (humans: 3) | `Low`, `Mid`, `High`, `Peak` | coarse bucket of rate/intensity, never a float; absent when `neutral`; see below | -| `size` | enum, 3 | `Small`, `Medium`, `Large` | coarse size bucket for the creature; scale per bucket is not fixed here; absent when `neutral` (O1) | -| `neutral` | bool | | separate flag; when set, `kind`, `energy` and `size` are all omitted, see O1 | -| `seq` | u32 | monotonic per `mind` | ordering and staleness; consumers drop `seq <= last` | -| `at` | time bucket | 1 s resolution | producer's observation time, for the staleness rule | -| `override` | enum, 2 | `None`, `Muted` | see rules O2, O3; Neutral is the `neutral` flag, not an override value | - -Why this small: 7 x 4 = 28 states (the Mind/Persona set) fit in one byte on the -wire and in a lookup table on a phone; both consumers map state to behaviour by -table, no arithmetic on unbounded values. `kind` and `energy` are orthogonal on purpose, because -orbit radius/speed wants energy and voice choice wants kind. - -### Estate - -`estate` is set by the producer, never inferred by a consumer, and bounds what -the other fields may carry (per -`heimdall-body:follow_up:ratatoskr-creature-projection-v2`): - -- **`human`: coarse only.** `energy` is capped at 3 buckets (`Low`, `Mid`, - `High`; no `Peak`) and `kind` is the **human subset** `Idle`, `Working`, - `Speaking` (*proposed*). The subset is strictly smaller than the Mind/Persona - set and chosen to reveal less, never more: it omits `Reading`, `Thinking`, - `Waiting` and `Alert`, which describe what a participant is attending to or - how it is faring. A producer must not emit a `kind` or `energy` outside the - human set for a human. A consumer that receives one clamps it: an omitted - `kind` maps to `Idle`, `Peak` maps to `High`. Clamping only ever reveals - less. A human's `kind` that is present but not an enum value at all clamps - to `Idle` (reveal-less) for a non-neutral human; for `mind` and `persona` an - unknown `kind` is malformed and the frame is dropped (A4). - Reconcile the subset against the projection-v2 field list. -- **`mind` and `persona`: the finer 7 x 4 set** (all seven `kind`, all four - `energy` buckets). - -`size` is three coarse buckets (`Small`, `Medium`, `Large`) for every estate -except a `neutral` participant, whose frame omits it (O1). -The scale each bucket draws at is **not fixed by this grammar**: the values -0.7 / 1 / 1.4 are Ratatoskr placeholders, owned by the orbit renderer, and may -change without touching the frame. - -Rules: - -- **A1. Source.** The frame comes from the Heimdall session and only from it. - Neither consumer infers activity from Matrix presence, typing, message - traffic, audio, or room membership. Activity is a stub fed by the Heimdall - session; being in a room says nothing about being active. (The target already notes presence/typing are too coarse - for Minds.) *Reconcile the exact kind list against the projection-v2 - follow-up before use.* -- **A2. Coarse by construction.** There is no continuous field in the frame. A - renderer that wants smooth motion interpolates between buckets locally; it - does not request finer data. -- **A3. Member-safe.** The frame carries `mind`, `estate`, `kind`, `energy`, - `size`, `neutral`, `seq`, `at` and `override`, and nothing else; when - `neutral` is set, `kind`, `energy` and `size` are stripped (O1). Never brief text, - document ids, claims, or mind contents. -- **A4. Missing is Idle.** No frame within the staleness window (section 5, S2) - means `Idle`/`Low`: no voice, and the orbit at rest. Silence is the default - state, not a failure state. Missing is not `neutral`: an absent frame is an - idle participant, a `neutral` participant is not drawn at all (O1). - -### Overrides - -- **O1. `neutral`** (the flag, set by the session or by the member's own - setting): a Neutral participant gets **no orbit and no voice**, and the - frame **strips `kind`, `energy` and `size` as well**: the producer omits all - three, and a consumer ignores them if present. An opted-out participant - reveals nothing, not even coarse activity or a coarse size bucket. It draws nothing and sounds nothing; there is no - "neutral pose" to render. Neutral overrides every `size` bucket: none is drawn or carried. Neutral is - not an error and not Idle: the frame says only that this participant is not - shown. -- **O2. `Muted`**: no voice, orbit unchanged. Lets a listener silence one Mind - without hiding its motion. -- **O3.** `neutral` and `override` are data in the frame, set upstream. A consumer never - applies a local override and then reports it as the Mind's state. (A *user's* - own mute/volume is a client preference and stays local; it never rewrites a - frame.) - -## 3. Mapping tables (shape only) - -The grammar defines the mapping *axes*, not the values. Each consumer owns one -table keyed by the 28 Mind/Persona states (humans use the 3 x 3 subset); the tables are checked in beside this document -when values exist. - -| axis | owner | driven by | notes | -|---|---|---|---| -| orbit **existence** (drawn or not) | orbit renderer | `neutral` | `neutral` set: no orbit | -| orbit radius / speed / phase coupling | orbit renderer | `energy`, `kind` | Nibu's side; not specified here | -| creature scale | orbit renderer | `size` | per-bucket scales are renderer placeholders, not fixed here | -| voice **presence** (sounding or silent) | voice scheduler | `neutral`, `kind` | `neutral` set: no voice, regardless of `kind`; `Idle`, `Waiting` default silent | -| voice **density** (events per window) | voice scheduler | `energy` | capped, section 5 | -| voice **role** (lead / support / texture) | voice scheduler | `kind` | role, not instrument | -| voice **identity** (which instrument) | voice scheduler | `mind` | never `kind`; section 4 | - -The one rule that ties the two consumers: **`mind` selects identity, `kind` -selects behaviour, `energy` selects amount.** A given Mind sounds like itself -in every state; what it does changes. - -## 4. Keeping voices distinct when mixed - -Principle, from the acoustic-niche and auditory-scene-analysis literature -(recalled, to be confirmed by the Mimir harvest): voices that share a niche in -frequency, time and space mask each other; voices that differ on several -independent axes stay separable even at high density. Assign each Mind a -distinct **niche** on independent axes, and make the scheduler protect those -niches. Axes: - -1. **Register band.** Each Mind owns a band; bands do not overlap among - concurrently audible voices. Most robust single cue. -2. **Timbre family.** Distinct spectral envelope and onset shape. Identity is - carried by instrument (`ratatoskr-target.md`: "the instrument says who - spoke"); this grammar does not choose instruments. -3. **Rhythmic slot.** Each Mind owns a phase offset within a shared pulse grid, - so onsets interleave instead of colliding. Collisions are the main cause of - masking at low density. -4. **Stereo position.** Fixed pan per Mind, stable across sessions. Free on - phones with headphones, nearly useless on speakers; never the only cue. -5. **Role contrast.** At most one `lead` voice sounding at a time; the rest - support or texture (quieter, sparser, narrower band). - -Rules: - -- **V1. Identity is stable.** The niche (axes 1-4) is a function of `mind` - only. It never moves with `kind`, `energy`, or which other Minds are present. - A listener learns a Mind once. -- **V2. Niche table is data**, held beside the Mind's other typed state - (the target already says the instrument per Mind belongs in a typed document - on the Mind side, not hardcoded). Not defined here. -- **V3. Voice cap.** At most **4** voices audible at once (*proposed*; the - human limit on following concurrent streams is small and phones are - small). Over the cap, the lowest-`energy` voices drop first, never the - `lead`. The cap is a requirement to measure, not a finding. -- **V4. Collision backoff.** If two voices would start within one pulse of each - other in the same register band, the lower-priority one slips to its next - slot. It does not stack. -- **V5. More Minds than niches.** When Minds exceed available niches, the - excess are *not* squeezed in by shrinking bands. They share a `texture` - voice or stay silent. Distinctness beats completeness. -- **V6. Identification is unproven.** Nominal separation (different bands, - different families) is not human discriminability. No Mind's niche is - accepted until a listener-identification trial passes (the existing - notification ledger requires the same). That trial has not happened. - -## 5. Timing, staleness and the callback deadline - -Hard rule: **the audio callback deadline wins over everything in this -document.** The callback never waits on the grammar, the network, a decode, an -allocation, or a lock. - -- **C1. Frame handoff is a snapshot.** The network/projection thread writes the - latest frame per `mind` into a preallocated table; the scheduler thread reads - it and writes a preallocated voice-command queue; the audio callback only - reads that queue. No thread but the callback touches the output buffer; the - callback never blocks on, or is blocked by, the others (single-producer - single-consumer, fixed capacity). -- **C2. Drop, never delay.** If the queue is full or the scheduler is late, the - frame or command is dropped. A late sound is not played to catch up and its - internal timing is never stretched. -- **S1. Latest wins.** Per `mind`, only the newest `seq` matters. Intermediate - frames missed during a stall are not replayed. -- **S2. Staleness.** A frame older than **10 s** (*proposed*) is treated as - absent (rule A4). Sounding on stale activity is misleading. -- **S3. Rate.** Voice density per `energy` is bounded by a ceiling per Mind per - window (*proposed*, set with the device measurement); rule V3 bounds the - total. Bursts are coalesced, not queued. -- **S4. Pre-rendered material.** The client ships rendered audio assets, no - synth in the browser (`ratatoskr-target.md` agreements). The scheduler - selects and positions assets; it generates nothing at callback time. Browsers - block audio until a first user gesture: before it, the scheduler runs but the - output is silent, and no state is lost. -- **S5. Backgrounded or hidden page.** Voice scheduler pauses with the orbit - renderer's pause (the target already pauses the background when hidden). On - resume, S1/S2 apply; there is no catch-up burst. -- **S6. Failure is silent.** No frame source, a dead scheduler, a refused - autoplay, or a full queue all produce silence, with the orbit at rest. A - failure is not a `neutral` participant and does not remove the creature. Nothing - retries, alerts, or alters the frame source. - -## 6. What this grammar does not decide - -- Motifs, notes, pitches, instruments, envelopes. (Next layer; needs a - listening trial per the repo's audio doctrine.) -- Orbit geometry and shader work (Nibu's side). -- The feed transport. `ratatoskr:question:activity-feed-source` owns where the - frame comes from; this document fixes only its *shape*, and that it is a - typed CultNet document, not a private channel. -- Per-device budgets. All numbers marked *proposed* need a phone measurement. - -## 7. Verification owed - -None run. To be done before the grammar leaves draft: - -1. Reconcile section 2 with `heimdall-body:follow_up:ratatoskr-creature-projection-v2` - (field list, the human `kind` subset in section 2, the size and neutral fields, - the stripping of `kind`, `energy` and `size` under `neutral`). -2. Reconcile section 4 with the Mimir harvest. -3. Round-trip the frame as a CultCache document and check the size claim (one - byte per state, 28 states). -4. Measure voice cap, density ceilings and scheduler cost on a real phone. -5. Listener-identification trial for any niche table (rule V6). - -## 8. Status - -Draft. Not implemented. No code changed. No audio was produced and none is -claimed.