What does music look like? The Shape of Song is an attempt to answer this seemingly paradoxical question. The custom software in this work draws musical patterns in the form of translucent arches, allowing viewers to see--literally--the shape of any composition available on the Web. The resulting images reflect the full range of musical forms, from the deep structure of Bach to the crystalline beauty of Philip Glass.

This web app is able to be extremely accurate by reading midi files, rather than analyzing actual recordings. This method enables the app to instantly analyze any song the user throws at it. The resulting charts are beautiful, as well as informative. I wouldn't mind having a favorite song framed and hanging on my wall.

• the shape of song

via music thing

previously on wtg:

• recycling chart junk as junk art
• make glitch art: corrupt web tool breaks your images

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tech