Projects

Some of my projects, past and present:

AudioMulch

AudioMulch is software for musical performance, production and audio processing. It has a modular, non-linear workflow designed to support improvisation. Think of it as a musical instrument rather than a production or tracking tool. I created it for my own use back in 1998. Since then the user-base has grown. Users range from bedroom hobbyist musicians and experimental sound artists to high-profile performers. AudioMulch is also used as a plug-in host environment for industrial and academic research.

PortAudio

PortAudio is an open-source software library for real-time audio I/O. Clients include AudioMulch (of course), Plogue Bidule, Audacity, and WireShark. There’s a longer (but still incomplete) list of clients on the PortAudio website. I originally proposed the project and now share technical lead responsibilities with co-founder Phil Burk. PortAudio currently supports 10 different native audio APIs. Over 30 developers have contributed to the project.

The reacTable

The reacTable is a musical instrument where you perform music by moving objects on the surface of a display/table. In 2004-2005 I developed the computer vision algorithms and marker system that allows the reacTable to rapidly identify and track marked objects on the table’s surface. Martin Kaltenbrunner packaged the vision algorithms up with OSC control and video capture libraries, documented it, and actually made it usable. It’s all available as the open-source reacTIVision project.

Real-time network audio client/server

In early 2011 I completed a real-time audio streaming system for the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart. The system allows museum visitors to experience audio from video artworks using the iPod headphones they carry for their audio tours. I developed a system for streaming low latency real-time audio from a central capture server to iPod touch devices over a WiFi network. The system uses the CELT codec for low-latency encoding and decoding and implements RTP/RTSP streaming over UDP.

MIDIio X-tra

MIDIio X-tra is a MIDI input/output X-Tra (plug-in) for Macromedia Director. It doesn’t get much love these days. but I did release a port to Mac OSX in 2013. The Windows version works just fine and people still find it useful.