Audio FFT Visualizer — Bringing the Flash Era Back

🎛️ The Final Build

Brushed metal texture, CSS screws, rotary knobs — pure CSS except for the AI-generated texture

📺 Watch Kyle's Demo

See the spectrum analyzer in action with live audio visualization:

The Philosophy

Kyle opens with a story his dad told him: a doctor who showed him a stack of journals "this tall" that he had to read every week just to keep up. The message? "There are guys reading three times as much, every week. Just to keep up."

The Build: From Concept to $8,500 Aesthetic

Step 1: The One-Shot Win

Kyle asked Claude for a simple HTML page with drag-and-drop MP3 support, media controls, and left/right visualizations. First try: it worked. A functional FFT spectrum analyzer with frequency display (20Hz to 20kHz) and amplitude tracking.

Step 2: The Design Pivot

But Kyle wanted more than functional — he wanted beautiful. So he switched to ChatGPT for design iteration:

• The Brief: "Make it look like an expensive piece of audio engineering equipment, like something that costs $8,500"
• The References: Digital audio workstation plugins with tactile knobs and brushed metal finishes
• The AI Concept: ChatGPT generated a full design spec — RSX2 spectrum analyzer, chassis design, bar animations, typography, lighting philosophy

Step 3: The Texture Hack

When ChatGPT's rendered concept had glitches (weird screws, inconsistent perspective), Kyle pivoted: "Can you render just the texture for that face plate?"

It worked. He took that AI-generated brushed metal texture into Photoshop, chunked it down for hosting, then handed the full design sentiment to Claude for implementation.

What Makes This Build Special

• Bring Your Own MP3: Drag-and-drop audio file support
• Dual Visualization Modes: Spectrum analyzer AND oscilloscope view
• Brushed Metal UI: AI-generated texture, CSS-based screws (using ::before and ::after pseudo-selectors)
• Live Meters: Freeze-frame animation on pause that looks like physical hardware
• Web Audio API: Real-time frequency data using analyzer.getByteFrequencyData()
• Pure CSS Hardware: Those screws? Pure CSS. The knobs? CSS. Only the texture is an image.

The Iteration Dance

Kyle didn't get this in one shot. He iterated:

• "Can we add rotary knobs?"
• "Can we make the transport controls centered?"
• "Align these values vertically"
• "Make the pause freeze look like live view meters"

The result: a 30/30/30 CSS grid layout with centered transport, vertical alignment on values, and that satisfying meter animation on pause.

The AI Collaboration Pattern

What's fascinating here is the model-switching strategy:

• Claude: Initial implementation, code structure, layout logic
• ChatGPT: Design concepts, texture generation, creative direction
• Back to Claude: Final implementation with design constraints

Each model played to its strengths. No rhyme or reason — just "trying different workflows."

The Flash Nostalgia

Kyle explicitly references the Flash/ActionScript 3 era — the original "bring your own MP3" visualizers. What's old is new again, but now powered by AI-generated code and browser-native Web Audio APIs that didn't exist back then.

Why This Matters

It's not perfect. Kyle notes there are performance optimizations missing (math.pow instead of faster alternatives). But that's not the point. The point is:

• Shipped: Working audio visualizer in hours, not days
• Beautiful: Aesthetic quality that rivals professional plugins
• Learned: Discovered Web Audio API capabilities that didn't exist in his Flash days
• Bonus Points: Second Week 1 submission — playing the competition meta

The Meta: Competing Smart

Kyle's playing the long game. First submission: SkyStats (3D flight dashboard). Second: Audio FFT Visualizer. Two completely different domains, both leveraging AI tools, both shipping fast. He's not just shipping — he's shipping variety.

The competition rewards action. Kyle's acting. Twice.