Themes for dynamic spectrograms

This article showcases the themes of dynamic spectrograms: the settings of ds_theme(), the preset themes and how to set a theme for all the spectrograms of a session. Themes set the look of the figure (axes, text, backgrounds and colors) and of the player controls of web pages, in the same way for all styles. The article Customizing dynamic spectrograms shows the other customization options and annotations. As in the other articles, the examples create interactive web pages: press play to watch the spectrogram along with the sound.

library(dynaSpec)
library(viridis)

data("scythebill")
data("antshrike")

# a short song for static spectrograms
ds_scythebill <- dynaspec(scythebill, flim = c(1.5, 5.5)) +
  ds_spectrogram(wl = 200, collevels = seq(-50, 0, 1))

# a longer recording for scrolling spectrograms
ds_antshrike <- dynaspec(antshrike, flim = c(0.5, 5.5)) +
  ds_spectrogram(wl = 256, collevels = seq(-50, 0, 1))

Theme settings

ds_theme() sets the look of all styles: axis titles (xlab, ylab), the size of titles and labels (cex.lab, cex.axis), the font of titles (font.lab), the color of axes and text (col.lab) and of the axis labels alone (col.axis), the type of axes (axis.type) and the background around the panels (bg):

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_theme(
    xlab = "Time (s)",
    ylab = "Frequency (kHz)",
    cex.lab = 1.4,
    font.lab = 2,
    col.lab = "gray30"
  )

Spectrogram and oscillogram of a 3.05 s sound

It also sets the font family of all text (family), the orientation of the axis labels of both axes (las, as in base R: 0 parallel to the axis, 1 horizontal, 2 perpendicular, 3 vertical), the length of ticks (tick.length), boxes around panels (box, col.box), grid lines (grid, col.grid), the background of oscillogram, envelope and spectrum panels (col.panel) and the color and size of titles (col.title, cex.title):

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_spectrum() +
  ds_theme(
    family = "serif",
    las = 1,
    tick.length = 0.3,
    box = FALSE,
    grid = TRUE,
    col.panel = "gray95"
  )

Spectrogram, oscillogram and power spectrum of a 3.05 s sound

Themes can also set the colors of the plot: the spectrogram palette and background (pal, colbg), the color of oscillograms, envelopes and spectra (col.wave), the color of annotations (col.annotation), the play line (col.line) and the highlight box of paged spectrograms (col.highlight). These are used when they are not supplied in the other layers (e.g. ds_spectrogram(pal = ) takes precedence). col.bar and bg.bar set the colors of the player controls of web pages. A dark theme:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_theme(
    bg = "black",
    col.lab = "white",
    pal = viridis,
    colbg = "black",
    col.wave = viridis(10)[7],
    col.line = "white",
    col.bar = "white",
    bg.bar = "black"
  )

Backgrounds

The backgrounds of a figure are set independently: colbg in ds_spectrogram() (or ds_theme()) for the spectrogram, col.panel in ds_theme() for oscillograms, envelopes and power spectra, and bg in ds_theme() for the whole figure around the panels:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_spectrogram(pal = viridis) +
  ds_oscillogram(col = "white") +
  ds_theme(col.panel = "gray20", bg = "gray90")

Preset themes

Preset themes set several settings at once. Their settings can be changed in the call (e.g. ds_theme_dark(cex.lab = 1.3)), or by adding ds_theme() afterwards. Adding a preset replaces previous themes.

Dark

ds_scythebill +
  ds_envelope() +
  ds_theme_dark(cex.lab = 1.3) +
  ds_player(buttons = c("time", "loop", "volume"))

Spectrogram and amplitude envelope of a 3.05 s sound

Mako

Light theme with the ‘mako’ palette for the spectrogram, and ‘mako’ colors for panels, annotations, play line and player controls:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_theme_mako()

Presentation

Large bold text, for slides and projectors:

ds_antshrike +
  ds_scrolling(t.display = 2) +
  ds_theme_presentation()

Paper

Black and white with serif fonts, for printed figures:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_theme_paper()

Minimal

No boxes, light gray axes and short ticks:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_spectrum() +
  ds_theme_minimal()

Transparent

Transparent background, to blend in slides or web pages of any color:

ds_scythebill +
  ds_oscillogram() +
  ds_theme_transparent()

Void

No axes, titles or boxes (only the sound):

ds_scythebill +
  ds_theme_void()

Xeno-canto

ds_theme_xenocanto() uses a gray spectrogram, labels inside the figure, a solid play line and rounded player controls with a seek bar. It looks best with scrolling spectrograms whose time axis moves along (fix.time = FALSE) and a short oscillogram:

ds_antshrike +
  ds_oscillogram(height = 0.2) +
  ds_theme_xenocanto() +
  ds_scrolling(t.display = 3, fix.time = FALSE)

As other presets, its settings can be changed. For instance, the color version of the Xeno-canto player:

ds_antshrike +
  ds_oscillogram(height = 0.2) +
  ds_theme_xenocanto(
    pal = viridis::inferno,
    colbg = "black",
    bg = "black",
    col.panel = "black",
    col.wave = "white",
    col.lab = "white",
    col.line = "white"
  ) +
  ds_scrolling(t.display = 3, fix.time = FALSE)

Macaulay Library

ds_theme_macaulay() uses a gray spectrogram, compact axes (frequency labels in a narrow column on the left and the time in minutes and seconds above the figure) and a black player bar with a square play button. It looks best with scrolling spectrograms with an overview of the whole sound below (the part shown is highlighted):

ds_antshrike +
  ds_overview() +
  ds_theme_macaulay() +
  ds_scrolling(t.display = 3, fix.time = FALSE)

Building blocks of the themes

The look of these themes comes from settings that can be used in any theme. The Xeno-canto theme uses axis.type = "inside" (labels with units inside the figure), lty.line and lwd.line (type and width of the play line of scrolling spectrograms) and bar.style = "rounded" (round player controls with a seek bar, on the bg.bar background). The Macaulay theme uses axis.type = "compact", bar.style = "square" (flat bar with a square play button in the color of the play line) and col.highlight (color dimming the overview outside the part shown).

axis.type can be “standard”, “inside”, “compact”, “none” or, in scrolling spectrograms, “minimal” (1 s and 1 kHz scale bars):

ds_antshrike +
  ds_scrolling(t.display = 2) +
  ds_theme(axis.type = "minimal")

Setting themes globally

ds_set_theme() sets a theme for all the spectrograms shown afterwards in the R session (e.g. in all the code chunks of a document), as ggplot2::theme_set(). ds_theme() added to a spectrogram changes some of its settings, and preset themes replace it. ds_set_theme() returns the previous theme, so it can be restored (ds_set_theme(NULL) removes it):

old <- ds_set_theme(ds_theme_paper(cex.lab = 1.3))

# paper theme
ds_scythebill + ds_oscillogram()


# paper theme with another axis title
ds_scythebill + ds_envelope() + ds_theme(ylab = "Freq. (kHz)")


# restore the previous theme
ds_set_theme(old)

Session information

Click to see

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dynaSpec: dynamic spectrogram visualizations

Marcelo Araya-Salas & Matthew R. Wilkins

2026-11-06