While studying at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), we explored the complex challenges of syncing computer animation with audio in our Computer Graphics III class.

Inspired by Wayne Lytle's pioneering Animusic videos—and fueled by my recent purchase of a black Gibson Les Paul Standard—I set out to build a 3D animation entirely driven by the musical content of a MIDI file.

I composed the tune on a keyboard, then developed a custom program to parse the MIDI data and render a virtual hand at 24 frames per second, interpolating precise finger movements for every frame. Once the animation was fully rendered, I overdubbed the original keyboard track with a real electric guitar performance.

Check out the completed video below: