New software for visualizing digital music can make anyone a music VJ. For free. All you need is a computer (PC or Mac), some music - such as CDs, Internet radio or MP3 files; a music player; and a compatible music viz program or 'plug-in'.

Digital music players can be downloaded without charge for most operating systems. Popular ones are:

The iTunes player comes with it's own music viz plug-in. But, there is a growing range of plug-ins for other players, particularly for Winamp. They are created by music enthusiasts and graphics programmers across the world. It takes some time experimenting to find the plug-in that works for you, luckily they are pretty small programs to download and usually easy to install.

Some of the plug-ins that we found exciting are:

	G-Force by Andy O'Meara		Geiss, by Ryan Geiss
	Tripex, by Ben Marsh		Acidspunk, by Søren Holstebroe

Our current music viz posters were created with Apple's iTunes.

Music Viz in the News
Andy O'Meara is probably the most influential programmer in the music viz scene. His code was incorporated in Apple's iTunes software. He also developed two of the leading viz plug-ins (G-Force and WhiteCap). Following his graduation from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, O'Meara began training as U.S. navy submariner. O'Meara's unique programming talents and strong religious convictions have made him the subject of two recent high-profile articles:

- Music Artist has Sinking Feeling, by Leander Kahney, Wired News, 12 April 2001.

- What is it Like to be a Bat Listening to Santana?, by Steven Johnson, FEED Magazine, 13 April 2001.

To learn more, check out O'Meara's website.

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