When people discover Beatflyer, they often wonder why something like this didn’t exist before. To shed light on this question, let me share the story of how Beatflyer came to be.
Like many individuals, I have a deep passion for music. In fact, during the 90s, I worked as a DJ in various bars and clubs. While I eventually transitioned to a more promising career in technology, my love for music persisted. I continued buying tracks and creating mixtapes, sharing them online as a hobby.
In 2017, when I wanted to promote one of my mixtapes, I pondered over the most effective way to share music online at the time. Instagram was experiencing a surge in popularity, and it struck me that a video could be the ideal medium. Even when played without sound, the video should visually convey the presence of an audio track and evoke the music’s mood through its rhythm. However, accomplishing this was no simple design challenge.
Due to my professional background, I was well-versed in using design tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, and Figma. Designing a cover for the mixtape posed no issues for me. Here’s where I began:
To infuse the above design with a musical essence, I realized I needed to incorporate visual effects that could synchronize with the music.
Implementing this proved challenging, even for experts using tools like Adobe AfterEffects. As a result, I embarked on the journey of building an app that would simplify the process for me. The concept was to develop a tool akin to Adobe Photoshop but with the ability to animate effects with just a few clicks. And thus, the Beatflyer code base was born.
Here’s how the album cover appears when animated using Beatflyer:
(You can listen to the whole mix tape here.)
Another use case I envisioned for Beatflyer was promoting music events. Often, event flyers shared online lack any musical representation. And if they do feature music, it remains static. How can people discern the presence of music as they swiftly scroll through their feeds? At best, they might encounter some animated visuals that provide a hint.
To address this issue, Beatflyer enables the creation of dynamic event flyers that captivate attention and clearly convey the musical nature of the event. By animating the visuals and integrating them seamlessly with the audio, Beatflyer empowers event organizers to make their promotions stand out.
I started working with some clubs. Together, using Beatflyer, we created some very cool flyers. Here are some examples:
With Beatflyer, I aim to bridge the gap between music and visuals, enhancing the way we experience and share music online. It’s been an exciting journey so far, and I’m thrilled to witness the impact Beatflyer has had on the music community.
If you’re as passionate about music as I am, I invite you to join me on this adventure with Beatflyer. Let’s redefine how we engage with music in the digital realm and create immersive experiences that resonate with people worldwide.