Beat Detection - TouchDesigner Tips, Tricks and FAQs 6

In this tutorial, we create a reusable component for kick and snare detection using CHOPs in TouchDesigner.
There's a workshop on an updated technque on beat detection you can view here: musichackspace.org/events/int...
Note: I'm still working on this and I noticed it makes more sense to use the mult on the first math, with a range between like 1 and 20 or something, so you can simply make the file louder if it is too quiet, so that the data in math2 always gets to 100. It works better if you leave math2 with range 0 - 1000 and control math1 with the slider. Hope that makes sense :0
Tips, Tricks and FAQs Playlist: • TouchDesigner Tips, Tr...
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
IG: @elekktronaut

[@liacoleman7276]

Thank you!! Your channel is so immensely helpful. Your tutorials are really well-explained, thank you for sharing your knowledge and helping us create!

[@a886-documentation-project]

This tutorial has made me so happyyyyy it helped so much, so happy you made this! Thank you!

[@MrMechz]

Thank you for all of this knowledge!

[@jonahtullock2930]

You are awesome mate, well done!

[@xponentialdesign]

amazing ! just what I was looking for !!!

[@markus_knoedel]

Great. There are so many modules and for me a starter it is almost impossible to understand them. But you help me a lot, piece by piece... Thanks

[@juantellomolinare3494]

Hey buddy, your tutorials have really helped me out!

[@utopydesign]

super useful as usual!

[@camilosandoval4905]

Excelente tutorial gracias!

[@JayGee1]

Great tutorial 👍Will try this in my Unreal Engine project. (I'm using TD to make lights flash to the music using TD with OSC)

[@simonegottardi4282]

Thank you very much! Very useful!

[@neilsandhu5366]

thanks. getting a lot out of these!

[@mrgluekid]

Great! Exactly what I needed! Love your tutorials, only problem is that you don’t have more

[@elekktronaut]

More coming soon 😘

[@taj_ninny]

Hi, thank you for this nice tutorial, didn't know about Logic's Normalize, super useful !! Thinking about optimization, Audio Spectrum is quite CPU demanding (cooktime > 0.5ms) If you got a lot of stuff going on in your patch, I'd recommand getting rid of it. If you set Analyze to RMS Power, and add a Filter CHOP set to 0.15, the output is even smoother than the Spectrum method, and it saves a lot of cooktime.

[@outputmatters2147]

Yesssss thank you

[@gabypezzi4573]

thank you so much :) you are the best

[@DubUltra]

great video

[@arrtuuuroooo]

thank you very much

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

Love your tutorials…everything I’ve seen in TD (actually every visual app I’ve seen everywhere) uses the transients approach, and audio waveform in general. IDK if it’s possible, but if you can use MIDI, or some type of music signature, beat/tempo based automation that has no reliance on Audio, you could get precise triggers, vs all these wacky artifacts, which prove mundane of not impossible to get to cooperate with visuals b/w of applying FX, EQ, filters, envelope, etc…not to mention if you want to apply similar TD creations to other music, without retweaking it all. W/MIDI for example, all you would need to know is that you want a parameter change at bar 12, beat 2, for example. Then apply velocity/touchwheel, or whatever control action desired. Don’t like MIDI, no problem, but some way to make all this work based on BPM, Bars, Beats, etc…would greatly simplify all the problems people have trying to do this. This is how music is made in Ableton Live (well pretty much going back to paper song writing too), and I’ve seen some basics on integrating the two with TD Ableton…journey continues…rambling along, either way…cool stuff. 🖤😎🙌🐇 thanks for your time 😊

[@kalubandali2241]

Thank you!

[@jasmine8182]

such a helpful tutorial - thank you !! could u possibly do a follow up based on more ambient music which has a more gradual scale/ramp as opposed to harder beat recognition - perhaps based on pitch or something with non binary numbers for smoother more gradient effects?

[@valestuffs]

Hi there,do u have any video about vj loop reaction to audio,for example like illumi music vizualiser

[@ZackRodell]

This one really got me going holy shit thats awesome

[@borjonx]

I couldn't agree more. You showed the basics, in simple terms, *and* showed some advanced techniques so the viewer can go play as desired. Thank you also for showing failures; things that didn't work instantly as expected. That's important for our younger viewers - you don't just master this stuff after watching a tut or two. One of the most important characteristics of lifelong learning is persistence.

[@infopablomontero]

Hello mate, thank you for this awesome tutorial. I really need to ask you: how could I detect when the song is in the down part (no kicks, no snares)? I am quite interested in your approach!

[@zantaafio]

Hey, thanks for the nice tutorial. You don't really explain why do you find yours better than the audio analysis tool from the palette. Is it better at detecting beats, or do you just prefer yours because you have less options (gain, add, smooth, spectrals)? Or is it just less expensive in resources?

[@hawker2626]

Hi, super nice and interesting tutorial. I'm just getting troubles to get the period length of the sine. What is the way to do it. My goal is to send this value via OSC to RESOLUME. Thanks

[@KellyEFin]

let us know when you figure out the hi hats!! Thanks so much for this epic tutorial :)

[@alexlappano435]

just as i was about to bounce isolated tracks for snare and kick to for a file based around your tutorials and i see this.. curious to A/B this vs just feeding it isolated values

[@glecko9241]

boa ich weiS nicht ob ich jemals weiter kommen wuerde ohne deine tutorials, danke ECHT! hast du ein Patreon oder sowas?

[@ThorbenS7]

Thanks for the tutorial! Did Touchdesigner changed the limiter values? In Clamp mode I can only go up 10 which is the max and still my wave is looking different.

[@sinacollins666]

Hey Bileam, thanks for the great tutorial. Im super new to TD tho and im trying to figure out for one hour how you connected the nulls to the min values of the limit node - which keycombination are you doing to drag in into the minimum? :( (16:55 eg)

[@sinacollins666]

Also my trail node doesnt allow an negative output of -1 and i have no clue why :/

[@petreaersej]

Hey! i think i figured it out, I had the same problem. When dragging the null into the limit, press the '+' on the null and then drag the center of it to the minimum value in the limit, then choose 'chop reference' when the menue appears. Sorry for the bad explanation :))

[@AntonyNorthcutt]

How did you make and connect the visuals?

[@THEcucufate]

Hi! Is it weird that I follow the same exact steps, but the only way I can hear sound as I build the system is if I also add an audio device out from the beginning? If I just leave it like the tutorial (with just a regular 'out' CHOP) I don't get any sound at all, and I've made sure all my audio is good to go. I still leave the out (from the 'beatDetect base') but just before it I have to add the audio device out CHOP or I don't hear anything is it's playing. With only the 'out' I still see the waves moving but don't hear anything. Regardless thanks for this other awesome Tut! *Update- although 'audio device out' CHOp is the only way I can hear any sound, it will stop as soon as I get to the 'audio spectrum' CHOP- once I add that op. there is no sound at all again. (I've messes around with the parameters of the 'audioSpec' CHOP to see if that changes anything but no success. What could be the issue, any idea?

[@elekktronaut]

The out goes out of the comp but doesn't play sound. You always need an audio device out somewhere to output sounds.

[@MaxiCrows]

bro how can i do a tap tempo? like in ableton for the bpm

[@heymynameisharry]

did u figure out the hihats? lol, also is this still the optimal way to do this? (im new)

[@pabloster2595]

Helo. I love your work and i want to ask you if you can do a touchdesigner audio /chops basic toturial ?

[@elekktronaut]

Could you elaborate a bit more? Thanks!

[@pabloster2595]

bileam tschepe hello, sorry I'm from Colombia and I a Designer and musician. All along your tutorials you explain some of the functions of the components but I want to understand more how every parameter use the audio to change and create visuals. Pd: do you have a Patreon page or something ?

[@elekktronaut]

@@pabloster2595 I'll see what I can do! No not yet, I wanted to make one soon though :)

[@pabloster2595]

bileam tschepe tanks a lot, your the best touch designer/ audio artist in KZbin Saludos desde Colombia

[@lukemccrae1617]

this approach seems particular to this song, no? I'm thinking MIDI input would be necessary for consistency. But then again i'm still a beginner

[@hugojonker6505]

I can't get my audio to play from my macbook even though everything else seems to be working fine. Any idea what could be the problem here?

[@petreaersej]

you should add an 'Audio Device Out' (CHOP)

[@lostinspacestudio]

OMG a GUI!! well done !! toe pleeeeeeease

[@Onkarr]

🏅🙏🧠

[@Onkarr]

2:22 "Workflow" 😁😎

[@-mindscapes-5557]

Is it possible to implement spectral audio analysis in touch designer? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmLCZp1ma8SLmM0 something like this, using chops.. Or is it too advanced of an operation? By the way i just saw the new td top instancing feature, which i imagine is a godsend for small specced rigs, it would be nice to have an overview tutorial on that, maybe recreating something similar to your old ones using tops instead of chops! Or even a new one that shows instancing in the new way and explain its merits. Thanks for your very cool work!

[@elekktronaut]

Thanks for your comment! I don't think that operation will work well without the plugin. I mean it's probably possible but I don't know how you'd approach that.. Derivative is working on implementing VSTs though, so maybe that'll help! I'll have a deeper look into TOPs instancing soon, I'll make a tutorial when I work on a project that makes sense to share :)

[@-mindscapes-5557]

@@elekktronaut Oh they are implementing vst? That's great news!

[@elekktronaut]

Yea, I was really happy to hear that as well!

[@danagalindo678]

girlboss

[@yutaka9940]

aaaam

[@lostinspacestudio]

but you going to have to give up that cigarette habit.. that cough sounds unhealthy..

[@elekktronaut]

I was just sick 😌

[@oneonetwothreefiveeight]

Thank you this is really useful, but I just want to say I find it pretty hard to follow you. You spend a lot of time hesitating or pausing for no particular reason, like you will go through a step fast and clearly and then pause for a few seconds. It would help if you were more straightforward in your explanation. Again your tuts are very helpful and the information you give is very valuable, I just wanted to give you my feedback as a viewer

[@elekktronaut]

Thanks for the honest feedback! I'm working on this and I think my more recent videos are better in this regard. I am just learning as I go and English isn't my first language.. Anyways, thank you!

[@oneonetwothreefiveeight]

​@@elekktronaut I hadn't even realised it wasn't your first language ! Your sentences are very clear and your accent isn't very noticeable

[@elekktronaut]

@@oneonetwothreefiveeight Happy to hear that! I'm actually German :)