Undertone

Undertone is an innovative desktop-layer lyrics lightbox designed specifically for Linux users who enjoy music. By transforming your desktop into an engaging visual experience, Undertone streams lyrics in real time as your favorite tracks play, creating an ambiance that enhances your listening sessions.

Key Features:

• Universal Compatibility: Undertone supports all MPRIS players on your session bus, including popular applications like Spotify, YouTube Music, VLC, Firefox, and Chromium-based browsers. Custom allow and deny lists ensure you can manage which players trigger the lyrics display.

• Time-Synced Lyrics: Easily access lyrics from local .lrc files or popular sources like LRCLIB and NetEase. If the desired lyrics are unavailable, the application seamlessly falls back to a plain-lyrics display.

• Karaoke Mode: Enhanced LRC files provide a dynamic word-by-word display that follows along with the current lyric line, perfect for karaoke enthusiasts.

• Customizable Themeing: Undertone extracts accent colors from album covers or utilizes your GTK theme to create a personalized backdrop. The accompanying album art features a subtle zoom effect to enrich the visual experience.

• Beat-Responsive Visualizer: The application features a beat-aware visualizer including concentric rings, bars, waves, or particle displays, all synchronized with system audio output. The animations react in real time to the music's rhythm.

• Multilingual Support: Undertone offers translations with a faint translated line displayed under the primary lyric, accommodating users across different languages.

• User-Controlled Interface: Utilize undertone ctl commands via D-Bus to toggle visibility, adjust lyric timing, or inspect playback status without hassle. Bind these controls to hotkeys for effortless access during use.

• Ambient Screensaver Mode: When idle, the lyrics elevate into a mesmerizing display, providing an elegant background until user activity is detected.

• Lyrics Editing Tools: Modify your lyrics with the built-in editor, allowing you to export, re-time, and tap-mark lines to create an immersive experience.

• Listening History & Stats: Track your listening habits using the built-in stats module, offering insights into your musical journey.

• Multi-Monitor Support: Undertone is designed to adapt to various monitor setups, providing customized displays based on each monitor's size and orientation.

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works seamlessly on both X11 and Wayland, ensuring a flexible setup no matter your Linux desktop environment.

Example Usage:

# Start Undertone
dundertone

# Control Undertone through D-Bus
dundertone ctl status         # Get current status
dundertone ctl toggle         # Show or hide lyrics

The development of Undertone is a continuous process driven by user feedback and contributions from the community. Whether for personal enjoyment, karaoke sessions, or creating an ambient music environment, Undertone elevates the experience of listening to music on a Linux desktop.

For further details or to support the project, please visit the GitHub repository.