diff --git a/src/fft.c b/src/fft.c
index 5875846..1aab228 100644
--- a/src/fft.c
+++ b/src/fft.c
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@
 {
 	int i, j, step, k=0;
 	unsigned int avg;
-
-	step = inLen/(max);
+    // N_SAMPLES / maximum number of columns
+    step = inLen/(max);
 	for(i=0; i<inLen; i=i+step){
 		avg = 0;
 		for(j=0; j<step; j++){
@@ -125,3 +125,22 @@
 		fftAvg[k++] = avg/step; //the 80 is a correction for the display
 	}
 }
+
+void
+energy_sub_signal(unsigned int *fftBuf, int inLen, int outLen, unsigned int* fftSEnergy)
+{
+    // given sound amplitudes in a buffer, divide it into `outLen` subbands,
+    // compute the energy of the subband
+    // store it in fftEnergy
+    int i, k;
+    double val;
+
+    for(i=0; i<outLen; i++)
+    {
+        fftSEnergy[i] = 0;
+        for(k=outLen*i; k<outLen*(i+1); k++) {
+            val = outLen*fftBuf[k]/inLen;
+            fftSEnergy[i] += (int)(val);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/fft.h b/src/fft.h
index 284e708..f235aea 100644
--- a/src/fft.h
+++ b/src/fft.h
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@
 unsigned int amplitude(cplx c, unsigned int n);
 void fast_fft(int inLen, uint16_t *sig, unsigned int* fftSig);
 void average_signal(unsigned int *fftBuf, int inLen, int maxC, unsigned int *fftAvg);
+void energy_sub_signal(unsigned int *fftBuf, int inLen, int outLen, unsigned int* fftSEnergy);
diff --git a/src/music_visualizer.c b/src/music_visualizer.c
index 87a6519..99f326b 100644
--- a/src/music_visualizer.c
+++ b/src/music_visualizer.c
@@ -22,9 +22,12 @@
 static _Atomic bool getstatus = true;
 #endif
 
+#define BEATC 27 // experiment with it
+
 static int maxR = 0;
 static int maxC = 0;
 
+
 #ifdef STATUS_CHECK
 void
 get_mpd_status(struct mpd_connection* session, STATUS* status)
@@ -42,14 +45,43 @@
 }
 #endif
 
+int
+test_beat(unsigned int* fftEHist, int sEnergyLen, unsigned int* sEnergy)
+{
+    int i,j;
+    for(i=0; i<sEnergyLen; i++) {
+        // shift right
+        for(j=sEnergyLen-1; j>=0; j--) {
+            fftEHist[j] = fftEHist[j-1];  
+        }
+        // insert element
+        fftEHist[0] =  sEnergy[i];
+    
+        for(j=0; j<sEnergyLen; j++) {
+            /*fprintf(stderr, "- %d - %d\n", sEnergy[i], fftEHist[j]);*/
+            if (sEnergy[i] > fftEHist[j]+BEATC && sEnergy[i] < 200) { // 200 avg would be false read
+                /*fprintf(stderr, "beat: %d - %d\n", sEnergy[i], fftEHist[j]);*/
+                return 1;
+                /*} else {*/
+                /*fprintf(stderr, "no beat!");*/
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
 void
-process_fifo (uint16_t* buf, unsigned int* fftBuf, unsigned int* fftAvg, int nsamples) {
-    // performs a Fourier Transform of the buffer data
+process_fifo (uint16_t* buf, unsigned int* fftBuf, unsigned int* fftAvg, \
+        unsigned int* sEnergy, int nsamples, int sEnergyLen)
+{
     fast_fft(nsamples, (uint16_t*)buf, fftBuf);
 
     // computes an average of the signals in fftBuf
     // based on the number of columns of the screen
     average_signal(fftBuf, nsamples, maxC, fftAvg);
+
+    // compute the energy of each subband
+    energy_sub_signal(fftBuf, nsamples, nsamples/sEnergyLen, sEnergy);
 }
 
 void
@@ -74,7 +106,7 @@
 int
 peak_amplitude(unsigned int* fftAvg, int len)
 {
-    int i, peak = fftAvg[i];
+    int i, peak = fftAvg[0];
     for(i=0; i<len; i++) {
         if(fftAvg[i] > peak) peak = fftAvg[i];
     }
@@ -96,6 +128,7 @@
 	int cnt = 0; // used to set resolution (wether to skip / not to skip a read)
     uint32_t sampleRate = 0;
     int nsamples = N_SAMPLES; // adapt processing to sample rate
+    int sEnergyLen = N_SAMPLES/32;
 
     // open mpd fifo
     while((fifo = open(MPD_FIFO, O_RDONLY)) == -1);
@@ -106,9 +139,13 @@
     // allocate buffers used
     unsigned int* fftBuf= (unsigned int*)malloc(N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
     unsigned int* fftAvg = (unsigned int*)malloc(N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    unsigned int* fftEHist = (unsigned int*)malloc(sEnergyLen*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    unsigned int* sEnergy = (unsigned int*)malloc(sEnergyLen*sizeof(unsigned int));
     /*// set the result buffer to 0s*/
     memset(fftBuf, 0, N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
     memset(fftAvg, 0, N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    memset(fftEHist, 0, sEnergyLen*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    memset(sEnergy, 0, sEnergyLen*sizeof(unsigned int));
 
     // open connection to mpd and set alarm to refresh status
 #ifdef STATUS_CHECK
@@ -130,7 +167,7 @@
             ret = read(fifo, (uint16_t*)buf, 2*nsamples);
             // process read buffer
 			if(cnt == NICENESS) {
-            	process_fifo(buf, fftBuf, fftAvg, nsamples);
+            	process_fifo(buf, fftBuf, fftAvg, sEnergy, nsamples, sEnergyLen);
 				cnt = 0;
 			} else {
 				cnt++;
@@ -143,9 +180,7 @@
             free_status_st(status);
             status = get_current_status(session);
             if (status) {
-                if (((sampleRate = status->sampleRate) >= 192000) && ADAPTIVE_SAMPLING) {
-                    nsamples = N_SAMPLES/4;
-                } else if (ADAPTIVE_SAMPLING && (sampleRate >= 96000 && sampleRate < 192000)) {
+                if (((sampleRate = status->sampleRate) >= 96000) && ADAPTIVE_SAMPLING) {
                     nsamples = N_SAMPLES/2;
                 } else if (sampleRate < 96000) {
                     nsamples = N_SAMPLES;
@@ -168,7 +203,7 @@
         print_mpd_status(status, maxC, maxR/2+maxR/6);
         if (status && status->song && status->song->duration_sec) {
             print_rate_info(sampleRate, nsamples, maxC, status->song->duration_sec, \
-                    peak_amplitude(fftAvg, nsamples));
+                    peak_amplitude(fftAvg, maxC), 5*test_beat(fftEHist, sEnergyLen, sEnergy));
         }
 #endif
         // refresh screen
@@ -180,6 +215,8 @@
 #endif
     free(fftAvg);
     free(fftBuf);
+    free(fftEHist);
+    free(sEnergy);
     close(fifo);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils_curses.c b/src/utils_curses.c
index e8d4469..4601b8f 100644
--- a/src/utils_curses.c
+++ b/src/utils_curses.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 }
 
 void
-print_rate_info(const int rate, const int nsamples, const int maxC, int seed, int amplitude)
+print_rate_info(const int rate, const int nsamples, const int maxC, int seed, int amplitude,int beat)
 {
     int center = (int) maxC/2-18; // adjust to screen center
     int i;
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@
         mvprintw(2, center, " -------------[mvc]--------------- ", rate, nsamples);
     } else if (rate == 0) {
         mvprintw(0, center, " ----------------------------- ", rate, nsamples);
-        mvprintw(2, center, " -----------[mvc]------------- ", rate, nsamples);
+        mvprintw(2+beat, center, " -----------[mvc]------------- ", rate, nsamples);
     } else {
         mvprintw(0, center, " -------------------------------- ", rate, nsamples);
-        mvprintw(2, center, " ------------[mvc]--------------- ", rate, nsamples);
+        mvprintw(2+beat, center, " ------------[mvc]--------------- ", rate, nsamples);
     }
-    for(i=0; i<amplitude-60; i++) {
+    for(i=0; i<amplitude-60+beat; i++) {
         mvaddch(0, center-i, '-');
         mvaddch(2, center-i, '-');
         mvaddch(1, center-i, '|');
diff --git a/src/utils_curses.h b/src/utils_curses.h
index ad81fec..196f082 100644
--- a/src/utils_curses.h
+++ b/src/utils_curses.h
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 WINDOW* curses_init();
 void print_col(int col, int length, const int maxR, const int maxC);
 void print_row(int row, int length, const int maxR, const int maxC);
-void print_rate_info(const int rate, const int nsamples, const int maxC, int seed, int amplitude);
+void print_rate_info(const int rate, const int nsamples, const int maxC, int seed, int amplitude, int beat);
 
 #ifdef STATUS_CHECK
 void print_mpd_status(STATUS* status, const int maxC, const int row);