[sdiy] hobbyist hardware DSP - choosing a platform

[Andrew Simper]

Also check out: http://bela.io

They are using a beagle bone black with a custom audio stack. It's not
the most powerful processor, but you can still be a bit done, and the
environment is really easy to use.

Cheers,

Andy

On 23 March 2017 at 10:47, Andy Drucker <andy.drucker at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have followed Terry's announcement about Audio Weaver Lite with interest,
> as well as web discussions of related tools like SigmaStudio, because I am
> shopping around for something similar.  My question is quite broad and not
> so well-formed, but let me describe where I'm at because I think there are
> significant numbers of people in a similar place and there is a big
> opportunity to make rich sound projects more accessible for
> makers/tinkerers.  Any advice on choosing a framework would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> I am ~1 year into the synths/DSP/DIY realms as a hobby---much less
> experienced than most commenters.  My best experiences so far have been in
> Max/MSP, where I enjoy the easy interplay between signal processing and
> logical control flow (although I would sometimes prefer a more
> imperative-programming style control).  I really like the potential for
> interaction and creative algorithmic music and synthesis.
>
> But on the use/performance side, I would rather interact with a fun physical
> device away from the PC.  Being able to stick it into a hardware-synth
> signal chain would also be a plus.  And most of all, I would like to be able
> to design and produce instruments and sound-toys that a wide range of folks
> could enjoy playing with.
>
> I am somewhat familiar with Arduino and R Pi.  However, it appears that
> plain Arduino is quite weak for DSP, and pi has weaknesses stemming from
> using so much of its juice to run general Linux.
>
> My main wish-list for a hardware platform + programming framework is:
>
> 1.  should have ready-made DSP primitives, at least sufficient to make a
> subtractive synth (osc/filters/LFO/ADSR).  Ideally want real-time
> frequency-domain stuff.
>
> 2.  should also allow for some patcher-style logical control flow, and, easy
> interaction with sensors, buttons, etc. producing control information.
> (This is where I am less clear how e.g. Audio Weaver or SigmaStudio would
> rate.)
>
> 3.  limited involvement in the details of hardware chips.  I am not opposed
> to learning more about hardware, in fact I'm enjoying E. Williams' book on
> AVR programming, but still want to be able to abstract away from too many
> details of this stuff.  Arduino and Axoloti seem like good examples of doing
> this well.  Other tools seem more aimed at professional electronics
> designers, which is a concern.
>
> 4.  finally, and no small thing, I would like to be able to make devices
> cheap enough to easily give away.  Let me not give a hard budget, but
> suggest that e.g. Axoloti is quite a stretch at 65 EUR (and also a bit bulky
> for toys).  A shame since I think it meets my other requirements.
>
>
> Again for reference, frameworks I've been reading about include:
>
> -SigmaStudio or Audio Weaver in conjunction with appropriate chips
>
> -various combos of Arduino and R Pi with sound cards and other peripherals,
> e.g. the pisound project, e.g. to run Pure Data on a Pi
>
> -Axoloti
>
>
> Thanks!
> Andy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
> http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>