Sonic Visualiser

What Sonic Visualiser is

Sonic Visualiser is a free, open-source application for examining music recordings through audio views, analysis tools, and annotations. It displays waveforms, spectra, and spectrograms, with controls for adjusting spectrogram display parameters. You can mark time points, segments, point values, and curves, then place annotation layers over audio views or over other annotations. Feature-extraction plugins can support analysis tasks such as beat tracking and pitch detection.

The application works with Vamp analysis plugins and LADSPA and DSSI effects plugins; plugins are not bundled. It can import annotation layers from text files and MIDI note data, and export audio regions and annotation layers. Offline file analysis is supported. Official builds handle MP3, WAV, AIFF, Ogg/Vorbis, and Opus on all platforms, with MP4/AAC on Mac and Windows and WMA on Windows. Version 5.2.1 is listed as the current release, with downloads for 64-bit Windows, Linux AppImage, Ubuntu .deb, and Intel or ARM macOS. Documentation includes a reference manual, tutorials, and tutorial and demo videos. The project began at Queen Mary University of London's Centre for Digital Music.

Who it suits

Sonic Visualiser suits musicologists, archivists, signal-processing researchers, and others who need to inspect audio files. It is also a fit for people who want to annotate recordings or run plugin-based analysis offline.

Limits

The application is free, with no free-trial period. No plugins are bundled, and VST, AudioUnit, and LV2 formats are not currently supported.

Getting started

1. Visit https://sonicvisualiser.org/.
2. Choose a download for Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, or Intel or ARM macOS.
3. Install or launch the build for your platform.
4. Open an audio recording and inspect it in waveform, spectrum, or spectrogram views.
5. Add annotations or use compatible analysis plugins as needed.

Verdict

Choose Sonic Visualiser for free offline inspection and annotation of music recordings, especially when its waveform, spectrum, and spectrogram views suit the work. Look elsewhere if you need bundled plugins or support for VST, AudioUnit, or LV2.