songsee
Generate spectrograms and multi-panel audio feature visualizations from audio files.
Prerequisites
Requires Go:
go install github.com/steipete/songsee/cmd/songsee@latest
Optional: ffmpeg for formats beyond WAV/MP3.
Quick Start
# Basic spectrogram
songsee track.mp3
# Save to specific file
songsee track.mp3 -o spectrogram.png
# Multi-panel visualization grid
songsee track.mp3 --viz spectrogram,mel,chroma,hpss,selfsim,loudness,tempogram,mfcc,flux
# Time slice (start at 12.5s, 8s duration)
songsee track.mp3 --start 12.5 --duration 8 -o slice.jpg
# From stdin
cat track.mp3 | songsee - --format png -o out.png
Visualization Types
Use --viz with comma-separated values:
| Type | Description |
|------|-------------|
| spectrogram | Standard frequency spectrogram |
| mel | Mel-scaled spectrogram |
| chroma | Pitch class distribution |
| hpss | Harmonic/percussive separation |
| selfsim | Self-similarity matrix |
| loudness | Loudness over time |
| tempogram | Tempo estimation |
| mfcc | Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients |
| flux | Spectral flux (onset detection) |
Multiple --viz types render as a grid in a single image.
Common Flags
| Flag | Description |
|------|-------------|
| --viz | Visualization types (comma-separated) |
| --style | Color palette: classic, magma, inferno, viridis, gray |
| --width / --height | Output image dimensions |
| --window / --hop | FFT window and hop size |
| --min-freq / --max-freq | Frequency range filter |
| --start / --duration | Time slice of the audio |
| --format | Output format: jpg or png |
| -o | Output file path |
Notes
- WAV and MP3 are decoded natively; other formats require
ffmpeg - Output images can be inspected with
vision_analyzefor automated audio analysis - Useful for comparing audio outputs, debugging synthesis, or documenting audio processing pipelines