F|LUX is a computer program that translates sound into color. The visual spectrum of light that the human eye can see (800 nm–350 nm wavelengths) is compared to the audible spectrum that our ears can hear (20–20,000 Hz). Sound-wave frequencies are translated into light-wave frequencies—low pitches are red, high pitches are violet, middle frequencies are yellow or green, and so on. F|LUX analyzes the different frequencies that make up any incoming sound, whether from an audio file such as an mp3, or from a microphone. The louder a particular frequency is, the brighter its particular color appears. All of the different colors are then blended together as if they were colored spotlights shining on the same screen. Because the colors are blended in this way, it is not just the colors of the rainbow that are seen—any color can be produced by blending multiple sound frequencies at varying levels.
Fig. 1: The visual spectrum is compared to the aural spectrum.
There are two modes for the F|LUX visualizer. One mode creates a gradient between the colors produced by the left and right channels of the audio. If sounds are coming out of only the right speaker, then its colors will appear to the right of the screen; sounds in the left speaker will appear to the left of the screen; if sounds are coming out of both speakers equally (making it sound "in the middle"), then the whole screen will be tinted. If a monarual audio source is being used (such as a single microphone on an intstrument or voice), then F|LUX can be switched from "Stereo" to "Mono." Any sound will tint the whole screen evenly, rather than create a gradient.
The second mode, rather than being a smooth gradient across the screen, is broken into 19 vertical stripes. Differences in the volumes of any particular frequency tells F|LUX where the listener perceives that frequency to be coming from, whether to the left, to the right, or anywhere in-between, and then shows a band of that color in that position on the screen. This allows the different colors to act more independently, and to be more closely related to the sounds you hear.
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