3 — Audio Visualizations (‘Scopes & Atari C-240 Emulations)

There are many ways audio can be processed into visual designs using exclusive software, but what if you need something far more retro, evoking the primordial waves of an analogue tube, or something even more esoteric?

Some of my prior podcasts made use of old test gear like vectorscopes, waveform monitors, and oscilloscopes,and in some cases, two unique vintage visualizes: a Showtime Video Ventures Colorizer, and an Atari Visual Music C-240. Here’s a short demonstration of how the raw pulsing audio waves from a waveform monitor are filmed, processed through a colorizer, and recorded raw to the hard drive in Adobe Premiere before further digital cropping, color fiddling, layering, and final rendering:

 

The following examples illustrate a small degree of what can be done after the raw analogue footage is digitally manipulated:

Pulsing Lines (originally multiplexed audio shot off an oscillosope):

 

Colorized Pulsing Lines (audio shot off an oscilloscope & digitally colorized):

 

Paint-Splotches (audio shot off an oscilloscope / sent through a vintage colorizer)

 

1980s Neon Lines (audio processed through a vintage colorizer)

 

Painted Footage  (audio processed through a vintage colorizer with live video)

 

B&W Abstracts (audio shot off an oscilloscope)

 

Colour Abstracts (audio shot off an oscilloscope / sent through a vintage colorizer)

 

Colorized Pulsing Lines (audio shot processed through a vintage Atari Visual Music C-240 & digitally manipulated):