By Kevin Hou
3 minute read
This is MusicViz. Often times music visualizers are created with Adobe Aftereffects for each individual song. Unlike these other “music visualizers,” I wanted to make something that works with any song or even any sound. I programmed this in Processing using the Minim audio library.
Unfortunately, I could not find a good screen recorder online that was both free and could record high frame rates. I opted to mirror my display with a TV then record the TV with a camcorder. Sorry for the low quality, hopefully I’ll get that sorted out in the future.
I will be uploading more songs with MusicViz soon. I am also working on an explanatory video about how the software works and what goes on behind the scenes. I coded this entirely in Processing.
I also do not own rights to the song “Goooo” by TNGHT. No copyright infringement intended! (That’s what everyone says in their videos so I guess I’ll do that too) It’s a great electronic song that highlights MusicViz’s ability to detect beat drops, etc.
I just published another video highlighting the functionality of my app, MusicViz. I used the song "Jubel" by Klingande both because it works well with the music visualizer and because I simply love the song. It's a wonderful combination of electronic and instrumental music.
Because the song doesn't remain in "high gear" (doesn't constantly trigger the visualizer) for the entire song, there's some times where the music visualizer doesn't spawn any dots. Watching it create arcs across the circle was mesmerizing in itself and the contrast between these intense and non-intense periods was interesting.
I fixed the issue of not recording in high definition by using one of the high-powered school computers. I was able to screen capture at 1080p and then layer the song on top of the noiseless video. This method worked well and I think that's what I will do for future videos.
Stay tuned for more demos and explanatory videos!