Generating sounds

We saw earlier how to play sound samples and change their parameters. Though this technique is simple and easy to begin with, it is not enough for making breakthrough sound art projects. One way to achieve this is by generating and synthesizing sounds and not using samples at all. Another way is to use samples as raw material for processing methods such as morphing and granular synthesis. Both ways are based on using low-level algorithms, which construct sounds as an array of audio samples in real time.

openFrameworks uses low-level sound input and output, and we use C++ for processing it, so our sound processing pipeline can perform almost any trick with sounds, will work fast, and with only small lags.

Tip

There is one thing that is currently not so convenient to implement with openFrameworks. This is processing a sound stream using a variety of standard filters and effects. To do this, you need to program filters yourself or use libraries or addons. Also, you can use software...