About Circular Wave
Circular Wave generates concentric particle rings that ripple outward like waves on water, with each ring shaped by the audio waveform at the moment of its creation. The effect creates a perpetual outward flow of sonic ripples, each one a frozen snapshot of a moment in your music, expanding and fading as new waves form behind it.
The particles that compose each ring are spaced evenly around a circle, but their radial positions are offset by the waveform amplitude, creating organic, irregular ring shapes that carry the fingerprint of the sound that spawned them. As rings expand, they maintain their shape while gradually fading, producing a cascading, waterfall-like motion from center to edge.
Circular Wave is meditative and calming, making it ideal for ambient and chill music. The constant outward motion creates a sense of expansion and openness that complements relaxing soundscapes perfectly. For more energetic music, the rapid ring generation creates a dense, layered display with complex overlapping patterns.
How it works
At regular intervals synchronized to the audio timeline, a new ring of particles is spawned at the center. Each particle's angular position is fixed, but its radial offset is set by the waveform amplitude at that angle. Rings expand outward at a constant rate with opacity decaying exponentially. Particles are recycled from an object pool -- when a ring fades completely, its particles are returned to the pool for reuse. The entire system renders as a single instanced point mesh for maximum GPU efficiency.
Audio Features
- ▸ Waveform Shape
- ▸ RMS Energy
- ▸ Onset Detection
- ▸ Spectral Flux
Best For
- ▸ Ambient & Chill
- ▸ Acoustic Guitar
- ▸ Rain & Nature Sounds
- ▸ Meditation Audio
MusicMind Engine
L3ChordsL6Key ColorL10Timbre
Chord Detection (L3) shifts ripple hue when chords change, Key Color Mapping (L6) selects a calming palette from the detected key, and Timbral Fingerprint (L10) sculpts ring particle density based on the audio's timbral texture.
Learn how MusicMind analyzes music →Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from Radial Pulse?+
Radial Pulse uses solid geometric rings driven by frequency bands. Circular Wave uses particle-based rings shaped by the actual waveform, creating more organic and detailed shapes.
Can I control the ring spawn rate?+
Yes. The spawn rate can be set to a fixed interval, or synchronized to beats so that a new ring appears on every kick drum or snare hit.
Does this effect work well with quiet music?+
Circular Wave excels with quiet music. The gentle, expanding ripples perfectly complement soft, atmospheric tracks where subtlety is more important than impact.