Free Effect

Pulse Rings

Every beat sends a shockwave.

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About Pulse Rings

Pulse Rings is a beat-driven effect that fires concentric rings outward from the center on every drum hit, snare crack, and rhythmic accent. Unlike continuous spectrum visualizers, Pulse Rings is entirely event-driven -- it waits for transients and then responds with explosive, expanding ring animations that communicate the percussive energy of your track with visceral impact. Each ring carries properties inherited from the transient that spawned it: kick drums produce thick, slow-moving bass rings; snares generate sharp, fast mid-frequency rings; and hi-hats create thin, rapid high-frequency ripples. The layering of different ring types creates a complex, rhythmically detailed display where you can literally see the drum pattern unfolding. Pulse Rings is the ultimate effect for rhythm-focused music. It turns every beat into a visible shockwave, making the groove tangible and visceral. DJs love it for live sets because the audience can see the rhythm as clearly as they feel it.

How it works

The audio analysis pipeline identifies onsets (transients) and classifies them by frequency band: sub/bass (kicks), low-mid (toms/snares), mid (claps/percussion), and high (hi-hats/cymbals). Each onset triggers a ring spawn with properties mapped to the onset characteristics -- band determines ring thickness and speed, amplitude determines initial brightness, and sharpness determines edge hardness. Rings expand using physically-modeled wave propagation with configurable damping. All rings are rendered in a single SDF (Signed Distance Field) shader pass.

Audio Features

  • ▸ Onset Detection
  • ▸ Transient Classification
  • ▸ Beat Grid
  • ▸ Percussion Energy

Best For

  • ▸ Hip-Hop & Trap
  • ▸ Drum and Bass
  • ▸ House & Techno
  • ▸ Percussion Performances

MusicMind Engine

L3ChordsL6Key ColorL10Timbre

Chord Detection (L3) colors each ring by the active chord quality, Key Color Mapping (L6) maintains tonal consistency across ring palettes, and Timbral Fingerprint (L10) differentiates ring visual weight based on the attack timbre of each transient.

Learn how MusicMind analyzes music →

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this only respond to drums?+
Pulse Rings primarily responds to transients (sudden energy increases), which are most common in drums. However, any sharp attack in the music -- plucked guitars, staccato synths, vocal consonants -- can trigger rings.
Can I make rings appear on specific beats only?+
Yes. You can filter ring triggers by beat position (e.g., only on downbeats, only on snare positions) using the beat grid quantization settings.
How does this look with beatless ambient music?+
With ambient music, Pulse Rings responds to slower energy fluctuations and textural transients. The rings appear less frequently but with more dramatic individual impact.
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