Octave-error correction
Librosa's beat tracker loves to return half or double the real BPM. DiscoForge scores three candidates against onset alignment and picks the right one. ~70-85% first-pass accuracy across mixed libraries.
v4.1 — Live now
Any song. A Dead as Disco track. In 20 seconds.
Drag in audio. DiscoForge analyzes BPM, finds the first downbeat,
and writes a game-ready meta.json + audio.ogg straight to your
ImportedSongs folder. No Audacity, no math, no spreadsheets.
1.4MDead as Disco demo players
99%Steam positive reviews
~20sFrom drag-drop to game-ready
v4.14 versions, 3 free, hardened
The manual import process is brutal.
Without DiscoForge
- Open Audacity, find the first downbeat by eye
- Count BPM by tapping along
- Write a
meta.jsonfile by hand - Convert audio to Ogg Vorbis
- Drop into
ImportedSongs - Launch the game — drifted by 80ms
- Tweak, save, relaunch, tweak again
- 20–40 min per song
With DiscoForge
- Drag the audio file onto DiscoForge
- Wait ~20 seconds
- Click Export
- Song is in the game, locked to the beat
- ~20s per song
One window. Drop a song. You're done.
DiscoForge runs locally on Windows. Librosa-based analysis with
octave-error correction (no more "detected 61 BPM for a 122 BPM song").
Finds first downbeat in milliseconds. Handles tempo-change sections.
Exports straight to your ImportedSongs folder.
Built from in-game testing.
v1–v3 were free and open source. v4.1 is hardened by hundreds of imports and a week of A/B testing the game's actual engine behavior.
First-downbeat detection
Onset detection finds the first strong hit and back-calculates the signed millisecond offset. Clamped to the game's ±250 ms range automatically.
Smart tempo sections
Sliding-window BPM analysis emits a section only if a cluster spans 8+ seconds AND differs from surrounding tempo. Capped at 5 sections so the game doesn't silently drop your song.
Drag, drop, batch
Drop one file or fifty. Batch mode processes a whole folder while you do something else. Auto-converts to Ogg Vorbis on the way out.
In-app updater
Standard and Source tiers get lifetime v4.x updates. The app pings for new versions on launch and one-clicks the install.
Free trial built in
3 full exports without a key. Run it on your own library, see your songs working in-game, then decide.
What Dead as Disco players are saying.
From the live Steam Community Hub thread.
"Exactly this, thank you. Saved me a paragraph of explanation."
— Stygian Ikazuchi, on the engine writeup
"How do I actually get DiscoForge? I want to try it on my library."
— lemelemaar, Steam Community Hub
"Stress-tested it with 377 sections. Found the silent-disappear bug. Filed with devs."
— Taehl, after the v2 beta
Read the full thread on the Steam Community Hub.
Three tiers. Same one-click export.
All three tiers are live. The 3-export free trial works on every tier, no key needed.
Lite
$5.99
The core tool.
- ✓ Windows binary (.exe)
- ✓ Full analysis engine
- ✓ One-click export
- — No updates
- — No Discord access
- — No source code
Most popular
Standard
$11.99
Recommended for most.
- ✓ Everything in Lite
- ✓ Lifetime v4.x updates
- ✓ Buyer-only Discord channel
- ✓ Priority bug reports
- ✓ Roadmap voting
Source
$24.99
Build your own fork.
- ✓ Everything in Standard
- ✓ Full Python source code
- ✓ PolyForm Noncommercial license
- ✓ Modify and rebuild freely
- ✓ For tinkerers and devs
Not sure yet? The 3-export free trial is in every build — run it on your own songs, see the files working in-game, then pay only if it saves you time. 30-day refund, no questions asked. Email support.
Launch discount: code LAUNCH30 at checkout — 30% off, expires June 4.
FAQ
Do I need Windows?
The compiled binary is Windows-only right now. The Source tier ships full Python — runs on Mac and Linux if you set up the librosa + PyQt6 environment yourself.
What's the free trial?
3 full exports without a license key. Identical to the paid version — no watermark, no feature gating. Run it on your library, see the songs working in-game, then decide.
How accurate is the BPM detection?
~70-85% first-pass across a mixed library. The UI shows a confidence score and lets you override the BPM with one click. Triplet-feel grooves and shuffle rhythms are the failure modes.
What if I want to refund?
Email within 30 days, full refund, no questions. Gumroad handles the transaction.
Is this affiliated with Brain Jar Games?
No. DiscoForge is an unofficial fan tool. I'm not affiliated with Brain Jar or Dead as Disco. The findings I made about the engine were shared with the devs via support email.
Why is v4.1 paid when v1–v3 were free?
The first three versions were proof-of-concept. v4.1 adds drag-and-drop, batch mode, the in-app updater, license gating, and the buyer Discord. The free 3-export trial means anyone can test the actual value before paying $5.99.
What about the Windows .exe?
Lite and Standard ship a single-file Windows .exe (~170 MB) with no install required. First launch takes 10-30 seconds while Windows extracts the bundled Python runtime — instant from then on. macOS and Linux users can run the Source tier directly.
Stop editing JSON. Start playing your library.
From $5.99. 3-export free trial included. 30-day refund.