Constant-Q Spiral

CQT · IIR filterbank

Sing, hum, or whistle through a bank of 60 resonant bandpass filters — one per semitone — and watch the energy climb a glowing pitch helix. Every octave is one turn of the spiral; a note and all its octaves line up on one radial arm. What you hear is the filterbank ringing back.

Press start. A seeded synth carrier plays through the same filterbank until your mic takes over, so the vortex is never blank or silent.

The dream lab — Karel Barnoski