Options for Audio Libraries

Goals for Waterbear audio blocks

• Make a sound from:
  • An audio file (wav, mp3, ogg)
  • A sampled array (could be programmatically generated/manipulated)
  • A synthesized source (sine/square/triangle waves, etc.)
  • A list of notes and rests
  • Concatenation of two sounds
  • Mixing of two sounds
  • Microphone
  • ???
• Manipulate any of these sounds:
  • Play (with optional looping) one or more sounds simultaneously
  • Pause and resume a sound (tricky with Audio API)
  • Change balance, play sounds to different channels
  • Arrange sounds in 3D space?
  • Set reverb
  • Set echo
  • Filter a sound
  • Add feedback
  • Set attack and decay
  • Change volume
  • Bend pitch
  • Add dissonance
  • Use function to modify sample array
• Create music
  • Create a list of notes and rests
  • Choose instruments?
• Ideally it would play in all modern browsers, both desktop and mobile.

Loosely this becomes the following:

• Playback files
• Generate sound effects
• Manipulate samples
• Record and save
• Build songs from notes

Some Libraries under consideration:

• WAD Wad provides a simple interface to use many features one would find in a desktop DAW (digital audio workstation). Billed as "jQuery for Audio". https://github.com/rserota/wad
  • Playback: Yes
  • Effects: Yes
  • Samples: Maybe (see External FX)
  • Record: Yes (uses Record.js)
  • Play notes: No (but can read MIDI input)
• Musical JS a tiny library with a sequencing WebAudio synthesizer that supports ABC notation. https://github.com/PencilCode/musical.js
  • Playback: No
  • Effects: No
  • Samples: No
  • Record: No
  • Play notes: Yes, with rich control
• Timbre.js functional processing and synthesizing audio. https://mohayonao.github.io/timbre.js/
  • Playback: Yes
  • Effects: Yes
  • Samples: Yes
  • Record: Yes
  • Play notes: Yes, with rich control
• Flocking audio synthesis framework designed for artists and musicians who are building creative and experimental Web-based sound projects. It claims wide compatibility across browsers, including mobile. http://flockingjs.org/
  • Playback:
  • Effects: Yes
  • Samples: Yes (I think)
  • Record:
  • Play notes:
• P5.Sound extends p5 with Web Audio functionality including audio input, playback, analysis and synthesis. Requires P5. http://p5js.org/reference/#/libraries/p5.sound
  • Playback: Yes
  • Effects: Yes
  • Samples: Yes
  • Record: Yes
  • Play notes: Yes
• SoundManager 2 provides simple, reliable cross-platform audio under a single JavaScript API. http://www.schillmania.com/projects/soundmanager2/
  • Playback: Yes
  • Effects: No
  • Samples: No
  • Record: No
  • Play notes: No
• Audiolet https://oampo.github.io/Audiolet/
• IonSound http://ionden.com/a/plugins/ion.sound/en.html
• SoundJS http://www.createjs.com/soundjs
• WebAudiox.js http://blog.jetienne.com/blog/2014/02/18/webaudiox-a-dry-library-for-webaudio-api/
• Howler.js http://goldfirestudios.com/blog/104/howler.js-Modern-Web-Audio-Javascript-Library
• Buzz http://buzz.jaysalvat.com/
• Pedalboard https://dashersw.github.io/pedalboard.js/
• Band.js https://github.com/meenie/band.js
• Subcollider https://github.com/mohayonao/subcollider
• Sound.js This is the library we are using right now https://github.com/kittykatattack/sound.js
• Music.js http://code.gregjopa.com/javascript/audio/musicjs/demo/
• VexFlow Not music playing, but for printing nice scores, could be an interesting addition. www.vexflow.com/