Wheel
A circular musical surface for pitch, harmony, interval movement, and colour.
SLIDE color.sound.
SLIDE is a musical instrument that listens.
It transforms live sound into a visual map of music, allowing you to hear, see and interact with harmony in real time.
Screens
SLIDE layouts across iPad and iPhone.
SLIDE on iPad
SLIDE on iPhone
A Visual Map of Music
At the heart of SLIDE is the Colour Wheel.
Every note occupies its own position on the wheel, creating a consistent map of musical space. As music changes, colours move and combine to reveal harmonic patterns that are often difficult to recognise by ear alone.
The wheel isn't simply a display. It's also a playable musical surface. Touch any colour to perform notes, build harmonies and experiment with musical ideas. Listening and playing become part of the same experience.
SLIDE lets you experience music as both sound and structure.
Field
A wide harmonic map designed for fast visual scanning and performance.
Pads + Rings
Use pads for melody and rings for chords, capturing musical moments into simple touch layouts.
Freeze
Hold a moment in sound, then return to it while playing or listening.
Visual Access To Music
SLIDE has potential as an accessibility resource for people who are deaf or have hearing loss, giving music a visible form in real time.
Because it listens through the device microphone, SLIDE can be taken into live settings with no special setup. Open the app, place the device near the music, and the sound becomes colour, movement and structure on screen.
That makes it useful for classrooms, performances, rehearsals, community spaces and projection setups where music can be shared visually as well as heard.
Learn Through Discovery
SLIDE helps make music easier to understand because you can see what you are hearing.
Watch melodies travel across the wheel. See chords form and dissolve. Discover how keys relate to one another. Explore scales, intervals and harmony while listening to your favourite music.
Rather than replacing traditional music theory, SLIDE gives it a visual form that can be explored naturally through curiosity and play.
Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced musician, it offers a new perspective on how music is constructed.
Play Along With Any Music
SLIDE listens through your device's microphone, so it works with almost any sound source.
Play along with streaming services, YouTube videos, vinyl records, live performances, acoustic instruments or your own voice. No special setup is required.
Because it responds in real time, every performance becomes something you can both hear and see.
Create Music
SLIDE isn't only for listening.
Use the Colour Wheel, keyboard and other musical surfaces to experiment with harmony, discover new chord ideas and develop melodies. Capture musical moments visually, explore alternative voicings and find inspiration by interacting directly with colour.
Many musicians find that seeing harmony opens creative pathways that are difficult to discover through notation alone.
A Creative Companion
SLIDE works naturally alongside your existing workflow.
Keep it open next to your DAW while composing, recording or mixing. Let it reveal harmonic movement as you work, explore arrangements visually or use it as a live reference while performing.
It works with any MIDI input, and it can also act as a MIDI instrument itself, sending notes from your interactions in SLIDE to a DAW or external instrument.
Because it listens to any audio and speaks MIDI, it fits naturally into almost any creative environment without needing complicated routing or preparation.
Built For Exploration
SLIDE includes multiple interactive ways to experience music, including the Colour Wheel, keyboard, guitar fretboard, stave notation and performance views.
Every view presents the same musical information from a different perspective, allowing you to move effortlessly between hearing, seeing and playing.
There are no lessons to complete and no right way to use it.
- Some people use SLIDE to understand music.
- Some use it to practise.
- Some use it to compose.
- Some simply enjoy watching music come alive in colour.
However you choose to use it, SLIDE invites you to experience music in a completely new way.
About
Hello. I'm Ben Wakelin, a teacher with a passion for music and art.
SLIDE grew from a simple question I kept returning to: what if music theory could be felt visually, as a space of colour, movement and touch? For me, the idea sits at the meeting point between learning, play, sound and image.
I used Codex to help develop SLIDE and this website, turning ideas into working code while keeping the project rooted in curiosity, teaching and creative exploration.
The connection between music and colour has a long, fascinating history. A useful doorway into that way of thinking is this Lighting Mentor conversation between Jeremy Vickery and me about colour and music theory.
FAQ
Does SLIDE need the microphone?
No. SLIDE can also be played entirely by touch or MIDI.
Is audio recorded?
No. Audio is processed live on device.
Can I use a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. SLIDE supports external MIDI controllers.
Can SLIDE use a second display?
Yes. SLIDE can be used with a second display, making it ideal for projection in live settings, classrooms, installations and performances.
Can I use an external microphone?
Yes. SLIDE can work with external microphones supported by your device, which can help capture clearer audio in rehearsals, lessons and live environments.
Privacy
SLIDE only uses microphone input when enabled by the user. Audio is processed live on device to create visual and musical responses.
SLIDE does not require an account and does not sell personal data.
Contact
For all enquiries, questions, feedback, collaborations or opportunities connected to SLIDE, please email hello@slidecolorsound.com.