Rainwave is an
interactive
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
that allows users to request, rate, and vote for
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s in real time. The site hosts five separate radio streams and focuses completely on
video game music
Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...
. Rainwave is a free service, funded primarily by Robert "LiquidRain" McAuley, and supplemented by user
donation
A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...
s.
History
The Rainwave
web interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fr ...
and
back-end was written by Robert McAuley. The initial version was called "Raincast" and was written as a stream helper for
IceS. It was announced to the Icecast mailing list in November 2004.
In the summer of 2008, with the addition of a second stream for OCR Radio, Rainwave became the official online radio station for
OverClocked ReMix
OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-commercial organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs, both with new technology and software and by vari ...
. At the same time, the Rainwave interface was upgraded to version 2, or "R2".
In March 2009, a third stream, V-wave, was added to the site. V-wave specializes in video game music covers and
chiptune
Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles.
The t ...
s. For a brief period, V-wave featured live radio shows as well.
In February 2011, V-wave was renamed to Mixwave and then eventually Covers.
Later that year, in August 2011, 2 new stations were introduced. The first was named Omniwave, which hosted all music available on via the website. The second was Bitwave, a stream exclusively for chiptune music. From this point on, Rainwave also started to present its music streams in
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
format.
Technical Functionality
Rainwave interface and server-side software has been designed and implemented by Robert "LiquidRain" McAuley.
It is divided into various layers with different functionality:
* Lyre:
JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, pronounced ; also ) is an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and arrays (or other ser ...
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
written in
Python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
using Tornado.
* Orpheus: custom-made software
C++
C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...
app made to control Rainwave (incl. elections, song selections, request processing, etc.)
* Eurydice: custom-made web app paneling system used for the site.
* LiquidSoap: third-party software for audio streaming.
Audio streams are in the Vorbis and mp3 formats at approximately 96 kbit/s.
See also
*
List of online music databases
Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Note that many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral serv ...
*
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://rainwave.cc/
Github PageCrispy Gamer
Internet radio
Internet radio stations in the United States