diff --git a/frontend/js/control.js b/frontend/js/control.js
index 92550ca..88f42fb 100644
--- a/frontend/js/control.js
+++ b/frontend/js/control.js
@@ -7,15 +7,17 @@ const gui = new GUI();
 const params = {
   fps: 60,
   zoom: 1,
-  backgroundTicks: 60,
+  backgroundTicks: 900,
   textSpread: 0,
   maxSpawns: 1,
   textAlpha: 0.0,
   textTicks: 1,
+  disableScreen: false,
 };
 gui.add(params, "fps", 0.1, 60);
-gui.add(params, "zoom", 1, 20);
-gui.add(params, "backgroundTicks", 1, 600).step(1);
+gui.add(params, "zoom", 1, 5);
+gui.add(params, "backgroundTicks", 1, 900).step(1);
+gui.add(params, "disableScreen", false);
 const textFolder = gui.addFolder("Text");
 textFolder.add(params, "textSpread", 0, 200);
 textFolder.add(params, "maxSpawns", 1, 20).step(1);
diff --git a/frontend/js/sketch.js b/frontend/js/sketch.js
index 282e480..b041233 100644
--- a/frontend/js/sketch.js
+++ b/frontend/js/sketch.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const params = {
   fps: 60,
   zoom: 1, //in pixels per pixel
   backgroundTicks: 60,
+  disableScreen: false,
   textSpread: 0,
   maxSpawns: 1,
   textAlpha: 0.0,
@@ -17,6 +18,11 @@ socket.on("paramUpdate", ({ key, value }) => {
   console.log(`Updated param ${key} to ${value}`);
 });
 
+let bgTick = 0;
+socket.on("pulse", () => {
+  bgTick = 0;
+});
+
 const poem =
   "everybody is pretty ugly \
 lover \
@@ -119,7 +125,6 @@ const sketch = (p) => {
     // const stream = c.elt.captureStream(60);
   };
 
-  let bgTick = 0;
   let textTick = 0;
   let sx, sy;
   let cw, ch;
@@ -186,6 +191,7 @@ const sketch = (p) => {
   function drawTiles(x, y, width, height) {
     // clear screen
     p.background(p.color(1, 0, 0, 0));
+    if (params.disableScreen) return;
 
     p.shader(shaderProgram);
     // p.ortho(0, p.width, -p.height, 0);
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 12f88e6..a019bd1 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
-
-import express from 'express';
-import http from 'http';
-import { Server } from 'socket.io';
+import express from "express";
+import http from "http";
+import { Server } from "socket.io";
 
 const app = express();
 const server = http.createServer(app);
 const io = new Server(server, {
   cors: {
     origin: "http://localhost:5173", // allow Vite frontend
-    methods: ["GET", "POST"]
-  }
+    methods: ["GET", "POST"],
+  },
 });
 
 // Socket.IO events
@@ -20,10 +19,14 @@ io.on("connection", (socket) => {
     socket.broadcast.emit("paramUpdate", data);
   });
 
+  socket.on("pulse", () => {
+    socket.broadcast.emit("pulse");
+  });
+
   socket.on("disconnect", () => {
     console.log("Client disconnected:", socket.id);
   });
 });
 
-app.use(express.static('frontend/dist'));
-server.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running on http://localhost'));
\ No newline at end of file
+app.use(express.static("frontend/dist"));
+server.listen(3000, () => console.log("Server running on http://localhost"));