Keywords

• audio
• sound
• MIDI
• digital signal processing
• multimedia
• music

Motivation

The computer has become a ubiquitous tool in the world of sound and music. From the student's lesson room to the professional digital multitrack recording studio, computers are used for virtually every task associated with music and audio. The traditional arts of music composition and arrangement have been augmented and expanded by this association: MIDI and DSP tools have brought new possibilities to composers and performers alike, and the alliance with other new multimedia techniques has resulted in wholly novel forms and expression in the sonic arts.

Over the past three years Libre Software dedicated to the art and science of sound and music has grown rapidly in quantity and quality. Significant technical progress has occurred at the kernel level, particularly in the domain of professionally acceptable audio latency levels. The advanced features of the ALSA sound drivers and API have been incorporated into the Linux kernel, and the JACK audio connection layer provides stable low-latency audio application interoperability.

Applications software has taken advantage of this progress. Programs such as the MusE MIDI sequencer or the ecasound audio recording and processing system are optimized for use with a low-latency kernel. Other programs such as the Ardour hard-disk recorder and the AlsaPlayer media player exploit the power of the JACK audio client/server environment. Many other applications such as the Snd soundfile editor and the LilyPond music typesetter can claim significant longevity of development, neatly balancing the growth of features with increased stability of performance. Libre Software also enjoys a simple but excellent audio plugin architecture: the LADSPA plugins are now indispensable components of modern GNU/Linux audio software.

Public Presentations

The following public presentations are scheduled for this topic at LSM 2002:

• A look at AGNULA - Francois Déchelle (IRCAM)

Subtopics

Please note that this list is subject to change.

• Programming the user interface of Snd - Dave Phillips
• Programming Pd with the GEM graphics library - Guenter Geiger (UPF)
• A brief survey of Linux audio software - Dominique Eav (IRCAM)
• Programming with the OpenAL 3D audio library - Guillaume Borios
• Some Free Software developed at SCRIME - Antony Beurivé
• ALSA development and implementation - Takashi Iwai
• An introduction to Ardour - Dave Phillips

Schedule

Friday, July 12th

09:00 - 09:45	Survey of Linux audio software , by Dominique EAV	ENSEIRB Amphi E
09:45 - 10:30	Pd and the GEM graphics library  , by Gunter GEIGER	ENSEIRB Amphi E
11:00 - 12:00	Programming the user interface of Snd , by Dave PHILLIPS	ENSEIRB Amphi E
14:00 - 14:45	Presentation of the OpenAL 3D audio library , by Guillaume BORIOS	ENSEIRB Amphi E
14:45 - 15:30	ALSA development and implementation , by Takashi IWAI	ENSEIRB Amphi E
15:30 - 16:15	Some Free Software developped at SCRIME , by Anthony BEURIVE	ENSEIRB Amphi E
16:45 - 17:30	A look at AGNULA , by François DECHELLE	ENSEIRB Amphi E