Events

The events array is a time-ordered sequence of state declarations. Each event describes what exists at a given moment.

LIFE events are declarative, not imperative. They do not say do this. They say this is.

This distinction is fundamental. An imperative format encodes instructions for a specific machine. A declarative format encodes truth that any sufficiently capable system can act upon.

Event structure

Field	Type	Description
t	float	Time offset in seconds from the beginning of the file. Non-negative. Non-decreasing.
voices	array	One or more voice objects active at this moment. May be empty to represent silence.

Voice structure

Field	Type	Description
id	integer	Voice identifier. Stable across events. Analogous to a MIDI channel.
ratio	string	Frequency as a ratio to the reference. Example: "3:2". Primary field.
hz	float	Derived frequency in hertz. Provided for convenience.
wavelength_nm	float	Derived electromagnetic wavelength in nanometres.
intensity	float	Relative amplitude or brightness. Range 0.0 to 1.0. Default 1.0.
colour	string	Hex colour approximation of wavelength_nm. Not canonical.
duration_s	float	Optional. Duration in seconds. If absent, extends to next event on this voice.

The primacy of ratio

The ratio field is the authoritative representation of frequency in a LIFE file. All other frequency fields - hz, wavelength_nm, colour - are derived values provided for convenience and human readability.

A parser encountering a conflict between ratio and hz must use ratio. A parser generating a .life file must compute hz and wavelength_nm from ratio, not the reverse.

The ratio must be expressed as two colon-separated integers in their simplest form. The ratio 4:2 is invalid. The ratio 2:1 is correct.

Example

"events": [
  {
    "t": 0.0,
    "voices": [
      {
        "id":            1,
        "ratio":         "3:2",
        "hz":            391.9954,
        "wavelength_nm": 562.16,
        "intensity":     1.0,
        "colour":        "#c9ff00"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "t": 1.2,
    "voices": [
      {
        "id":            1,
        "ratio":         "2:1",
        "hz":            523.2511,
        "wavelength_nm": 548.78,
        "intensity":     1.0,
        "colour":        "#9eff00"
      },
      {
        "id":            2,
        "ratio":         "1:1",
        "hz":            261.6256,
        "wavelength_nm": 580.89,
        "intensity":     1.0,
        "colour":        "#fffc00"
      }
    ]
  }
]