Ircam Lab Releases "The Snail"

According to Ircam Lab, The Snail offers a new and accurate way of tuning and analyzing an instrument; displaying intonation and visualizing music and sounds in a way that can help anyone improve their listening and innotation. Its name comes from its spiral interface that represents every note of the scales rolled up from the highest to the lowest audible frequencies.

The Snail is described as a high-precision frequency-domain analyzer that delivers an easy to understand representation of sounds based on the scales and notes aligned in spectrally active zones. It is based on a recent patented technology, conceived at the laboratory of Science and Technology of Music and Sound IRCAM-CNRS-UPMC based in Paris, France.

Compared to standard spectrum analysers based on Fourier-type analysis, the Snail’s frequency accuracy is said to be enhanced by a process based on the demodulated phase. Basically, the principle is as follows : if a sound includes a sinusoidal component with frequency 440Hz, the demodulated phase, stemming from a Fourier analysis at frequency 440Hz, will remain exactly constant (as a synchronized stroboscope renders a rotating object immobile). Well, we said basically: more in-depth explanations are available from the IRCAM Lab’s website.

The Snail is available now at the introductory Price of $49 until Monday February 29th – with an announced full price of $99 after that date. It is currently Mac-only (AAX, AU & VST), with Windows compatibility to be announced shortly.