diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 3634edf..1262700 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ FFTW = "7a1cc6ca-52ef-59f5-83cd-3a7055c09341"
 FixedPointNumbers = "53c48c17-4a7d-5ca2-90c5-79b7896eea93"
 IntervalSets = "8197267c-284f-5f27-9208-e0e47529a953"
 LinearAlgebra = "37e2e46d-f89d-539d-b4ee-838fcccc9c8e"
+SignalBase = "00c44e92-20f5-44bc-8f45-a1dcef76ba38"
 TreeViews = "a2a6695c-b41b-5b7d-aed9-dbfdeacea5d7"
 Unitful = "1986cc42-f94f-5a68-af5c-568840ba703d"
 
diff --git a/src/SampleBuf.jl b/src/SampleBuf.jl
index 85f22a3..7c2316b 100644
--- a/src/SampleBuf.jl
+++ b/src/SampleBuf.jl
@@ -47,11 +47,15 @@ SpectrumBuf(T::Type, sr, len::Quantity, ch) =
 # channel - a set of samples running in parallel
 # frame - a collection of samples from each channel that were sampled simultaneously
 
+# SignalBase methods
+SignalBase.nframes(buf::AbstractSampleBuf) = size(buf.data, 1)
+SignalBase.framerate(buf::AbstractSampleBuf) = buf.samplerate
+SignalBase.nchannels(buf::AbstractSampleBuf{T, 2}) where {T} = size(buf.data, 2)
+SignalBase.nchannels(buf::AbstractSampleBuf{T, 1}) where {T} = 1
+SignalBase.sampletype(buf::AbstractSampleBuf) = eltype(buf.data)
+
 # audio methods
 samplerate(buf::AbstractSampleBuf) = buf.samplerate
-nchannels(buf::AbstractSampleBuf{T, 2}) where {T} = size(buf.data, 2)
-nchannels(buf::AbstractSampleBuf{T, 1}) where {T} = 1
-nframes(buf::AbstractSampleBuf) = size(buf.data, 1)
 
 function samplerate!(buf::AbstractSampleBuf, sr)
     buf.samplerate = sr
@@ -60,8 +64,8 @@ function samplerate!(buf::AbstractSampleBuf, sr)
 end
 
 # define audio methods on raw buffers as well
-nframes(arr::AbstractArray) = size(arr, 1)
-nchannels(arr::AbstractArray) = size(arr, 2)
+SignalBase.nframes(arr::AbstractArray) = size(arr, 1)
+SignalBase.nchannels(arr::AbstractArray) = size(arr, 2)
 
 # it's important to define Base.similar so that range-indexing returns the
 # right type, instead of just a bare array
diff --git a/src/SampleStream.jl b/src/SampleStream.jl
index db6a838..52ef8e8 100644
--- a/src/SampleStream.jl
+++ b/src/SampleStream.jl
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ function UpMixSink(wrapped::SampleSink, blocksize=DEFAULT_BLOCKSIZE)
 end
 
 samplerate(sink::UpMixSink) = samplerate(sink.wrapped)
-nchannels(sink::UpMixSink) = 1
+SignalBase.nchannels(sink::UpMixSink) = 1
 Base.eltype(sink::UpMixSink) = eltype(sink.wrapped)
 blocksize(sink::UpMixSink) = size(sink.buf, 1)
 
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ function DownMixSink(wrapped::SampleSink, channels, blocksize=DEFAULT_BLOCKSIZE)
 end
 
 samplerate(sink::DownMixSink) = samplerate(sink.wrapped)
-nchannels(sink::DownMixSink) = sink.channels
+SignalBase.nchannels(sink::DownMixSink) = sink.channels
 Base.eltype(sink::DownMixSink) = eltype(sink.wrapped)
 blocksize(sink::DownMixSink) = size(sink.buf, 1)
 
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ function ReformatSink(wrapped::SampleSink, T, blocksize=DEFAULT_BLOCKSIZE)
 end
 
 samplerate(sink::ReformatSink) = samplerate(sink.wrapped)
-nchannels(sink::ReformatSink) = nchannels(sink.wrapped)
+SignalBase.nchannels(sink::ReformatSink) = nchannels(sink.wrapped)
 Base.eltype(sink::ReformatSink) = sink.typ
 blocksize(sink::ReformatSink) = nframes(sink.buf)
 
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ function ResampleSink(wrapped::SampleSink, sr, blocksize=DEFAULT_BLOCKSIZE)
 end
 
 samplerate(sink::ResampleSink) = sink.samplerate
-nchannels(sink::ResampleSink) = nchannels(sink.wrapped)
+SignalBase.nchannels(sink::ResampleSink) = nchannels(sink.wrapped)
 Base.eltype(sink::ResampleSink) = eltype(sink.wrapped)
 # TODO: implement blocksize for this
 
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ end
 SampleBufSource(buf::SampleBuf) = SampleBufSource(buf, 0)
 
 samplerate(source::SampleBufSource) = samplerate(source.buf)
-nchannels(source::SampleBufSource) = nchannels(source.buf)
+SignalBase.nchannels(source::SampleBufSource) = nchannels(source.buf)
 Base.eltype(source::SampleBufSource) = eltype(source.buf)
 
 function unsafe_read!(source::SampleBufSource, buf::Array, frameoffset, framecount)
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ end
 SampleBufSink(buf::SampleBuf) = SampleBufSink(buf, 0)
 
 samplerate(sink::SampleBufSink) = samplerate(sink.buf)
-nchannels(sink::SampleBufSink) = nchannels(sink.buf)
+SignalBase.nchannels(sink::SampleBufSink) = nchannels(sink.buf)
 Base.eltype(sink::SampleBufSink) = eltype(sink.buf)
 
 function unsafe_write(sink::SampleBufSink, buf::Array, frameoffset, framecount)
diff --git a/src/SampledSignals.jl b/src/SampledSignals.jl
index a8a88a6..6bc0e5d 100644
--- a/src/SampledSignals.jl
+++ b/src/SampledSignals.jl
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ module SampledSignals
 
 using IntervalSets
 
+using SignalBase
+export nframes, nchannels
+
 export AbstractSampleBuf, SampleBuf, SpectrumBuf
 export SampleSource, SampleSink
 export SampleRate
@@ -13,7 +16,7 @@ export SampleBufSource, SampleBufSink
 export SinSource
 export ClosedInterval, ..
 # general methods for types in SampledSignals
-export samplerate, samplerate!, nchannels, nframes
+export samplerate, samplerate!
 export domain, channelptr, blocksize, metadata
 export mix!, mix, mono!, mono
 # re-export the useful units
diff --git a/src/SignalGen/SinSource.jl b/src/SignalGen/SinSource.jl
index bb03f03..d0f5070 100644
--- a/src/SignalGen/SinSource.jl
+++ b/src/SignalGen/SinSource.jl
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ end
 SinSource(eltype, samplerate, freq::Real) = SinSource(eltype, samplerate, [freq])
 
 Base.eltype(::SinSource{T}) where T = T
-nchannels(source::SinSource) = length(source.freqs)
+SignalBase.nchannels(source::SinSource) = length(source.freqs)
 samplerate(source::SinSource) = source.samplerate
 
 function unsafe_read!(source::SinSource, buf::Array, frameoffset, framecount)