← LEARNING PATHS

Sound & Sync

Interactive Lab · ~20 MIN · FREE · LOCAL ONLY

How a demo is timed to music: beats, bars, accents and the silence that makes the next hit land.

Plan a cue sheet where visuals change on musical events.

  • beats and bars
  • cue sheets
  • accents
  • anticipation and silence
  • sync without audio files

Lessons

  1. Music is a grid

    Most demo soundtracks sit on a steady grid of beats grouped into bars. Sync means deciding, in advance, which beat a visual change lands on.

    TRY THIS BELOW · Press Play cue sheet below and watch the playhead step through all sixteen beats.

  2. Not every beat deserves a change

    If everything moves on every beat, nothing feels accented. Choose a few strong moments and let the rest breathe.

    TRY THIS BELOW · Move an accent to a different beat and compare how the hit feels against the quieter beats around it.

  3. Silence is a cue

    A held frame or a black beat before a drop makes the drop feel bigger. Planning silence is planning impact.

    TRY THIS BELOW · Place a silence directly before your accent and watch the scene freeze, then land.

Sixteen-beat cue sheet

Place cues on a sixteen-beat bar. Use at least three visual changes, one accent and one deliberate silence.

Cue type to place

Click a beat to place the selected cue. Click the same cue again to remove it.

See what changed

The preview is generated from your choices above.

Beat 1 of 16. Scene state 0, no cue on this beat.

WHAT CHANGED · No cues are placed, so the scene never changes. Sync begins by choosing the moment, not the effect.

1/5 REQUIREMENTS MET

  • Three or more visual changes
  • At least one accent
  • At least one deliberate silence
  • Every cue is on its own beat
  • Playback reached one of your cues

COMPLETION RULE · Place at least three visual changes, one accent and one silence on different beats, then play the cue sheet until it reaches one of them.

Your plan

Everything above stays on this device. Take a copy with you.

Sound & Sync — SceneStart


Completion: 1/5 — Place at least three visual changes, one accent and one silence on different beats, then play the cue sheet until it reaches one of them.

SceneStart is not affiliated with any demoparty and cannot certify compliance. The party's published rules always take precedence.

Where to do the real work

  • Any DAW or trackerThe cue sheet transfers directly into whichever tool holds your music.
  • Rocket / GNU Rocket ↗The classic sync-tracker sceners use to drive visuals from a timeline.

SCOPE · No audio file is uploaded or stored here. The optional metronome is synthesised in the browser after you press Play, and the activity is completable with sound muted.

FREE FOREVER · A future paid tier could import a real audio file and preview cues against it. The planning lab stays free.