Offbit
Offbit is a project inspired by my own musical experience, focused on practicing microtiming - the subtle timing variations that shape the feel and character of music. Built around a circular rhythm visualisation, the interactive interface illustrates small shifts in note timing, helping users understand and develop their sense of rhythm, both as an individual practice tool and an educational aid.
Brief
Microtiming is what gives rhythm its feel, yet it's almost impossible to see - how do you make these tiny timing shifts visible enough to practice deliberately?
Approach
Circular visualisation is an existing, intuitive alternative for understanding rhythm, but it only showcases the quantized patterns - notes are always spread out evenly.
Core idea
An interactive circular display, where timing deviations show up as visible offsets - a practice tool for a sense that's normally only heard, not seen.
Research and Benchmark analysis
Existing applications - mostly based on Godfried Toussaint's algorithmic-geometric theory - represent rhythms as regular circular patterns.
Microtiming
In real musical contexts, it's often the uneven distribution of rhythmic notes that gives music its unique feel and texture, something the available apps simply can't do.
Figma Make Prototype
Claude Code Prototype
Offbit grew directly out of my time behind the kit, and it's the project that convinced me interaction design and craft-based practice aren't separate interests - just two ways of solving the same kind of problem.