Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#1

Post by Flex247A » Tue, May 25, 2021, 6:54 AM UTC

I recently picked up 'The Audio Programming Book' [0] and so far, I am really liking it. But I am not sure which resource to pick after reading that. Can you recommend me some audio programming resources which are beginner friendly?

[0] https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/audio-programming-book

Edit: My goal is to make a mini-synth which takes input from the computer keyboard.

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#2

Post by Flex247A » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:13 AM UTC

Reading 'The Audio Programming Book' also clarified the concept of OOP for me. There was a small section where function pointers in C structs was discussed. Just after that, there was a section on struct classes in C++ which made it clear why data members should be grouped with their related functions.

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#3

Post by anigbrowl » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:14 AM UTC

Literally go with this other project on the front page right now, it's good a good pedigree and a healthy ecosystem: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27269589

If you want a really gentle start, try Sassy: https://sol-hsa.itch.io/sassy

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#4

Post by smlss_sftwr » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:22 AM UTC

Haven't read that book so I'm not familiar with the contents, but if you're interested in creating VST plugins you might want to check out some frameworks out there like JUCE: https://juce.com/

I don't know if you're a musician yourself but I'd highly recommend downloading a DAW and playing around with the plugins to get a sense of common audio processing modules, you can perhaps make it a near-term goal to create an EQ or filter plugin that you can install and use in the DAW. IIRC I think Ableton Lite should have a free demo, Reaper is another well-regarded free DAW from what I've heard

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#5

Post by throwaway721 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:24 AM UTC

Depends on what audio programming do you want to do really. If you are interested in the audio side, I would recommend https://puredata.info/ (it has tutorial on synthesis and everything). If you want to explorer the programming side, I would just go picking apart small synths: https://github.com/grumdrig/jsfxr http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=20656 (click on source, there's a mini synth there in that demo).

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#6

Post by gerlofs » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:29 AM UTC

It depends on what you're trying to achieve. I'd say pick a project you want to work on and go from there, resources on JUCE/C++ aren't always going to be helpful if you don't want to write plugins.

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#7

Post by wrnr » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:29 AM UTC

Take a look at the source code of the Pink Thrombone, there are some interesting link in the comments of the source: https://dood.al/pinktrombone/

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#8

Post by rmnclmnt » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:33 AM UTC

Two books I loved during my digital signal processing studies (especially in the audio field):

- "Introduction to Computer Music"[0] by Nick Collins: very focused on audio programming for musical applications but you can easily extrapolate for other domains. Lots of pseudo-code algorithms are provided.

- "The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing"[1] by Steven W. Smith: the bread and butter for everything concept related to DSP. Everything is explained in a crystal-clear fashion, lots of sample code to get you started with digital filters and analysis (although written in BASIC but easily translatable to C/C++ or even Python).

Also there is this one article "Real-time audio programming 101: time waits for nothing"[2] by Ross Bencina (creator of AudioMulch, Portaudio, etc.) about the basics concepts of real-time audio programming

[0] https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Introduction+to+Computer+Music-p...

[1] https://www.dspguide.com/

[2] http://www.rossbencina.com/code/real-time-audio-programming-...

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#9

Post by Flex247A » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:35 AM UTC

rmnclmnt wrote: post #8

Two books I loved during my digital signal processing studies (especially in the audio field): - "Introduction to Computer Music"[0] by Nick Collins: very focused on audio programming for musical applications but you can easily extrapolate for other domains. Lots of pseudo-code algorithms are provided. - "The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing"[1] by Steven W. Smith: the bread and butter for…

Thank you so much!

Re: Ask HN: How to get started with audio programming?

#10

Post by clauswitt » Tue, May 25, 2021, 7:36 AM UTC

I wrote a CLI version of a sequencer (multitrack sequencing with plugins and automation where a simple xml format controls the sequencer events) a couple of years ago. I had a quite clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, and then picked C++ and JUCE and just started figuring things out.

I generally learn best by having a real thing to build; and then finding the resources I need when I get stuck.

I buy books aspirationally (I have bought the Audio Programming Book as well come to think of it) - so I often end up with many books on subjects that interests me, without learning much from them.