BeatDetektor makes use of your iPhones microphone to detect and visualize the BPM (Beats Per Minute) of music automatically without the need for tapping or shaking.
BeatDetektor works best with Dance and Electronic music but has been found to also work with a wide variety of other genres. Tapping or any other steady sounds near the microphone will work just as well. The BPM display will brighten and sync indicator bar will advance to indicate confidence in the current BPM display value. The counter can be used to visually confirm accuracy or help keep count, tap counter once or swipe up/down to align it to the rhythm at any time.
iPhone 1G, iPod Touch (with accessory), iPod Touch 2G (with Mic earbuds) and Bluetooth devices should now be supported, please let me know via the support site forum if there are issues as not all scenarios have been explored yet. Note that 1G iPhone, Bluetooth and some external devices will have degraded performance and lock-in due to the sample rate being nearly six times lower than ideal.
Please note the iPhone cannot sample audio from the iPod music library so this application will work with external sound sources only.
BeatDetektor deals well with low volumes, low quality, distortion and interference from other sound sources but a clearly audible rhythm is ideal.
* Overview:
Three modules are included in version 1.1 and will continue to be expanded in the future:
1. BeatDetektor Main, a frequency scanner, spectrum analyser and detail view with: sync indicator, fractional display option, lock functions, counter and oscilloscope.
2. BeatDetektor Light visualization module integrated with several minor improvements
3. Wave pool with bass kick wave and interactive tap and drag waves
* Basic Usage:
The BeatDetektor Main module is displayed by default.
Upon startup it will be tuned for 85-169 BPM however three BPM minimum/maximum ranges are available for selection:
48-95 BPM, 85-169 BPM and 150-250 BPM *
If a detection appears too fast (double time) you can tune it down by tapping a lower range, if it appears too slow (half time) you can tune it up by tapping a higher range.
*Note that the ranges have been changed since v1.01
* Navigation:
To access BeatDetektor Light swipe left or to access the Wave Pool swipe right.
* Themes:
Color schemes can be cycled by double-tapping the screen in an unused, non-interactive area or anywhere on the wave pool.
Five color schemes are included in v1.1 and more will be added in the future:
- Terminal (Default)
- Silver
- Fire
- Pastel
- Classic VU
Thanks for your interest and I hope youll enjoy using BeatDetektor as much as I did developing it. Feedback is welcome and as always will be considered for future revisions.
* FAQ:
Q: It doesnt seem to work well with my favorite artist (x), what should I do?
A: Please check out the support site and visit the forum, any song which proposes a challenge can only improve BeatDetektor and I will be happy to review your artist and do my best to make it work. Future versions may include a custom BPM range selector and presets to help reduce the error rate for specfic genres or artists.
---
Q: How does BeatDetektor actually work?
A: BeatDetektor uses a very simple statistical model designed from scratch by myself that is driven by predicting individual or groups of periodic frequencies and their implied harmonic properties and then using its own results in a timed feedback loop. In english -- Its like having 384 monkeys each with their own iPod touch running their own BPM tap application but theyre trained to only tap to a specific frequency whenever they hear it and have a habit of seeking out other monkeys who are tapping like they are -- the largest and most in-tune group of monkeys wins.