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Tape Signal Widget

Overview​

The Tape Signal widget lets you hear the state of recent accumulated volume on the tape as a simple, musical pulse. Instead of playing a sound for every single trade, Tape Signal aggregates recent trade flow into pulsing cues whose loudness and tempo reflect how much volume is trading relative to the recent past. Pitch can follow price (higher when price rises, lower when it falls) or remain fixed for a clean, metronomic signal. You can also layer size alerts similar to the Trade Sounds widget to call out exceptional individual prints.

Designed for low‑effort, always‑on listening, Tape Signal answers: “Is meaningful volume flowing right now?” Pair it with Tape Pressure to add buy/sell imbalance context to the volume picture.

Videos​

Key Features​

  • Pulsing volume signal driven by recent accumulated volume (“Pace of Tape”).
  • Auto‑categorized volume using quartiles so you hear Normal vs Elevated vs Spike conditions.
  • Pitch Mode: map pulse pitch to price movement (Price) or keep pitch Fixed.
  • Size Alerts: up to five buy/sell thresholds with their own sounds and styles (shared behavior with Trade Sounds).
  • Stereo output: center by default for pulses; respect your global stereo preferences for alerts.
  • Patches: save and recall your preferred setups from Select a Patch.
  • Widget controls: per‑widget Mute, Launch, and Close; global Mute All and Minimise on the dashboard header.

What It Shows​

At a glance, the widget header displays a Pace of Tape status and a compact Volume Signal label. The audio pulse communicates the same state. Labels are relative to recent activity (not absolute volume):

  • ≪ recent / < typical: quiet, sparse pulses — little volume compared to the recent past.
  • Around median: steady pulses — typical session activity.

  • typical: louder, more insistent pulses — elevated activity vs recent.

  • Unusually high: maximum loudness and fastest pulse — beyond what’s been seen recently.

These categories come from Auto Mode quartiles (see “How the meter works”). The labels are intentionally compact to fit the UI while emphasizing “relative to recent.”

Quick Start​

  1. Open the widget: On the dashboard, choose Widgets → Tape Signal. A Tape Signal card appears.
  2. Select a symbol: Click Select symbol and pick your instrument (e.g., ESU25). The widget will begin analysing recent trades.
  3. Listen: You’ll hear a repeating pulse whose loudness/tempo adapts to the current Pace of Tape. Use headphones for best detail.
  4. Open settings: Click the gear icon to configure Volume Sensitivity, pick a Tape Sound, toggle Size Alerts, and choose a Pitch Mode.
  5. Optional calculate: Press Calculate after changing aggregation‑related inputs (the widget will auto‑seed sensible defaults on start).
  6. Save a patch: Use Select a Patch → Save to store and recall your configuration.

Tip: Need clear buy/sell context too? Run Tape Pressure alongside Tape Signal. Tape Signal surfaces “how much” volume is flowing; Tape Pressure adds “which side” is driving it.

Sensitivity​

Like Trade Sounds, Tape Signal adapts its sounds based on recent volume conditions. The widget compares short‑term accumulated volume against a longer lookback window and uses this to set pulse tempo.

Typical presets mirror Trade Sounds:

  1. High Sensitivity — 30‑second snapshot vs ~10‑minute context; reacts quickly to bursts.
  2. Mid Sensitivity — 1‑minute snapshot vs ~15‑minute context; balanced responsiveness.
  3. Low Sensitivity — 2‑minute snapshot vs ~20‑minute context; smoother, fewer changes.

If the market suddenly gets busy within the snapshot window, the pulse gets quicker and when activity fades, the temp decreases.

How the meter works (Auto Mode)​

Tape Signal’s pulse loudness is driven by the same Auto Mode concept used throughout PriceSquawk. In short:

  • Take a rolling snapshot of the volume traded over a short window (commonly 30 seconds).
  • Maintain a history of these snapshots over a longer context window (commonly 10 minutes).
  • Order the values and divide them into quartiles: LQV (lower quartile), Median, and UQV (upper quartile).
  • Classify the current snapshot against that history to derive a category and loudness.
  • Compute an Outlier threshold using the inter‑quartile range (IQR = UQV – LQV) and a Sensitivity Factor (SF): Outlier = UQV + SF × IQR.

Mapping used by the pulse (compact label → stats):

  • 0: ≪ recent → Below LQV (quietest pulse)
  • 1: < typical → Below LQV to below Median (quiet)
  • 2: < median → Below Median (normal‑quiet)
  • 3: > median → Above Median (normal‑active)
  • 4: > typical → Above UQV (elevated)
  • 5: ≫ recent → Near recent extremes (strong)
  • 6: Unusually high → Outside recent range / Outlier (maximum loudness)

Why this matters: Quartiles provide a robust, fast way to judge whether current activity is ordinary or exceptional without heavy statistics. See the blog for a full walkthrough, diagrams, and tuning tips: https://pricesquawk.com/pricesquawk-auto-mode/

Audio Output​

Pulse characteristics​

  • Tempo/Rhythm: accelerates with heavier volume flow, slows during quiet periods.
  • Pitch:
    • Price mode — pitch rises with price increases and falls with declines (Ticks to Pitch sets how many ticks per semitone; Pitch Range sets the total range before recentering).
    • Fixed — pitch stays constant; useful when you want volume only, not price.
  • Stereo: pulses are centred by default; alerts respect your stereo preference (Bid left, Ask right by default).

Size Alerts (optional)​

Layer event‑driven Size Alerts on top of the pulse to call out larger single trades. This behaves like Trade Sounds alerts:

  • Up to five thresholds per side (Buy/Sell) with their own sounds and styles.
  • Style options include “Speak Value”, “Speak Threshold”, or “Play Sound”.
  • Male/Female voice choice for spoken alerts.

See Trade Sounds docs for a full alert primer: ../widgets/trade-sounds.md

Parameter Reference​

ParameterTypeDefaultValues / RangeDescription
Select a PatchDropdown–Saved patchesLoad a saved configuration; click Save to store current settings.
Volume SensitivitySelectorMidOff / Low / Mid / HighAutomatically scales pulse tempo using Auto Mode quartiles. High reacts quickly;
Tape SoundSound selector303Sounds in libraryThe instrument used for the pulse. Choose a percussive or tonal sound to taste.
Size AlertsToggleOffOn / OffEnable per‑side thresholds for large trades; configure like Trade Sounds alerts.
Pitch ModeTogglePricePrice / FixedPrice maps pitch to price movement; Fixed keeps a constant pitch.
Ticks to PitchNumeric field1≥ 1How many ticks the market must move before pitch changes by one semitone.
Pitch RangeNumeric field40≥ 1 (semitones)Total pitch span before automatic recentering; demos play when changed.
Recenter AlertToggleOffOn / OffPlays “Recenter” when pitch snaps back to centre after reaching the range limit.
CalculateButton––Recomputes internal auto parameters (ticks to pitch etc) after changes.
Sound DurationNumeric selector50Positive multiples of 10 msLength of each pulse. Shorter = snappier; longer = fuller tone.
Enable StereoToggleOnOn / OffUse stereo for alerts. Pulse is centred by default.
VolumeSlider100 %0–100 %Overall widget volume.

Note: Hover the “i” in settings to see inline tooltips describing each parameter.

Label guide (compact, relative)​

The Volume Signal label indicates how current accumulated volume compares to a rolling recent window:

  • ≪ recent — much lower than nearly all recent readings
  • < typical — below the typical recent range
  • < median — below the middle of recent readings

  • median — above the middle of recent readings

  • typical — above the typical recent range

  • ≫ recent — higher than nearly all recent readings
  • Unusually high — beyond what’s been seen recently (outlier)

Tip: These are relative labels. A "Unusually high" in a quiet session can be smaller in absolute terms than a "> typical" in a busy session. The point is change vs your recent context.

Visual Display Modes​

The Tape Signal widget supports multiple interchangeable visual displays through a gadget system. You can switch between different displays based on your preference and screen space:

Switching Displays​

  1. Right-click on the widget's main indicator area to open the gadget context menu
  2. Select from available displays:
    • Time & Sales - Full trade table showing recent executions (default in expanded layout)
    • Tape Signal Indicator - Compact view showing tape state and volume context (default in compact layout)
    • Radial Gauge - Clean, at-a-glance tape state visualization with color-coded arcs
  3. Your selection is automatically saved with the widget

Popout Options​

From the same right-click context menu, you can launch additional windows:

  • Popout Time & Sales - Opens the trade table in a separate browser tab (remains synchronized)
  • Launch Chart - Opens a price chart for the current symbol in a new tab

These popout windows update in real-time and remain linked to your widget's symbol.

Layout Considerations​

  • Full Layout: All gadget options are available, Time & Sales is the default
  • Compact Layout: Tape Signal Indicator is the default for space efficiency
  • Minimized Mode: Widget collapses to show minimal information; click minimize button to restore

The Tape Signal Indicator displays the current volume state with contextual labels (e.g., "< typical", "> median") and visual indicators of tape activity. The Radial Gauge shows the current tape state (0-6 scale) with a needle and color-coded arc representing volume levels from quiet to unusually high.

Configuration Examples​

Ambient market feel (intraday)​

  • Sensitivity: Mid
  • Tape Sound: 303 (or woodblock)
  • Pitch Mode: Price
  • Ticks to Pitch: 4 (about a point in ES per semitone)
  • Size Alerts: Off (add later if desired)
  • Sound Duration: 40–60

What you’ll hear: a steady pulse that grows slightly quicker when volume picks up; pitch follows price action.

Volume spike hunts (with alerts)​

  • Sensitivity: High
  • Tape Sound: 303
  • Pitch Mode: Fixed (focus purely on volume conditions)
  • Size Alerts: On — set thresholds to track larger prints (e.g., 10 / 25 / 50 / 100)
  • Voices: Male or Female for spoken alerts; use Play Sound for quick cues

What you’ll hear: spare pulsers until activity rises above normal; quick pulses on spikes plus alert calls for large trades.

Use Cases​

  • Monitor the tape’s energy: Hear when the market “wakes up” without watching a chart.
  • Session categorization: Quickly sense if the day is quiet, normal, or elevated.
  • Focus filter: Keep Trade Sounds muted, using Tape Signal as a low‑density backdrop; enable alerts only for big prints.
  • Pair with Tape Pressure: Use Tape Pressure to hear buying vs selling pressure while Tape Signal flags when volume is meaningful.

Troubleshooting​

  • No sound:

    1. Ensure the widget isn’t muted and Volume > 0.
    2. Confirm your browser/tab allows audio.
    3. Select an active symbol; markets must be open.
    4. Sensitivity Off? Pulse loudness will not auto‑scale; raise Volume if needed.

  • Too much sound / intrusive:

    1. Lower Sensitivity or reduce Volume.
    2. Increase Sound Duration modestly for softer character, or switch Tape Sound.
    3. Disable Size Alerts or raise thresholds.

  • Pitch changes too busy: • Increase Ticks to Pitch, or switch Pitch Mode to Fixed.

Integration​

Tape Signal is designed to complement the rest of the PriceSquawk suite:

  • Tape Pressure — adds buy/sell pressure direction to the volume conditions you’re hearing.
  • Trade Sounds — for granular trade‑by‑trade sonification and alert configuration. See: ../widgets/trade-sounds.md
  • PriceSquawk — spoken prices and full voice alerts for levels and market context.

— Hear the market’s volume rhythm with a clear, adaptive pulse — and add size alerts when it matters.