Audio Analysis in Vinyl Reality
Overview
Vinyl Reality analyses the audio signal that plays through the master output of the mixer in real-time and tries to detect beats as well as the changes in the energy of the music that is playing.
This data is then used to control all of the audio reactive components (ex: lights, colors, videos, etc…) in the application.
Beat detection
Real-time beat detection in the application is mostly used to change the intensity of audio reactive components (ex: lights, screens, materials, etc..), and to control audio reactive animations, in sync with the music.
Real-time beat detection is NOT used to determine the BPM of a track!
Energy level detection
The application tries to detect changes and short fluctuations in the energy of the music that is playing and divides them into 3 different energy levels:
- Low: During quiet parts of a track, for example an intro or breakdown
- Normal: During most parts of the track where the energy remains stable
- High: During energy peaks or fast energy increases, for example during a drop
For example, when the music transitions from a quiet section (ex: a breakdown or intro) to a more intense part (ex: a drop), the energy level detected by the application will change from low to high.
These changes in energy levels are used to trigger changes in the audio reactive components in an environment, for example to transition the lighting colors from warm and saturated colors for a low energy level to very bright and cold colors for higher Energy Levels.
Limitations
Because the audio analysis is done in real-time and is only used to control visual effects, the results are not always accurate and might not work well with all music genres (ex: non-electronic music).