Music Spectrograph 1.9.5

The Music Spectrograph offers a sophisticated tool for users looking to analyze sound and music visually, enabling real-time reverse engineering of audio elements. Its integration of a live MIDI piano roll allows for the immediate visualization of pitch and frequency, facilitating a deeper understanding of musical structure. Users can manipulate music files, with functionalities to slow down or even pause audio playback for detailed examination.

Notably, Music Spectrograph is utilized within college music programs to enhance the learning experience in music transcription. The application displays a high-resolution scrolling spectrogram, providing a visual representation of sound patterns that align with notes on a piano keyboard. This feature significantly simplifies the identification of frequencies corresponding to musical notes.

Key features include:

• A 12th-octave MIDI-pitch-centered spectrograph, also known as a sonogram.
• Compatibility with live audio sources, tracks from your iOS music library, or files downloaded via a web URL.
• Recording capabilities that allow for up to a 4-minute history of the spectrograph, which can be stopped and reviewed at any time.
• The ability to slow down audio files by up to 8X or accelerate playback by 3X for quicker navigation through sections.
• A freeze function that retains audio frequencies during pauses through re-synthesis.
• Options to play audio in mono, isolate left or right channels, or reduce center-panned vocals.
• Visual pitch coloring that indicates whether notes are in-tune or out-of-tune.
• Color customization for loudness representation, with choices between black-and-white or pastel displays.
• Mid-pitch filtering designed to eliminate some higher overtones.

The interface includes an Input? button for selecting tunes from the user's library (note that DRM-protected iTunes files are not supported) and a Gear button for toggling between various viewing modes. Users can manually adjust volume and sensitivity settings. The app allows for scrolling back during playback or recording to review content or engage in resynthesis. Touching the keyboard while resynthesizing isolates individual notes for focused analysis.

Importantly, the Music Spectrograph reveals not only fundamental pitches but also various overtones and harmonics inherent in musical sounds. Some prior musical knowledge may be beneficial to differentiate between musical notes and their accompanying harmonics effectively.