Synthesis Toolkit
Encyclopedia
The Synthesis Toolkit is an open source
API
for real time
audio synthesis with an emphasis on classes to facilitate the development of physical modelling synthesizers. It is written in C++
and is written and maintained by Perry Cook at Princeton University
and Gary Scavone
at CCRMA. It contains both low-level synthesis and signal processing
classes (oscillators, filter
s, etc.) and higher-level instrument
classes which contain examples of most of the currently available physical modelling algorithm
s in use today. STK is free software, but a number of its classes, particularly some physical modelling algorithms, are covered by patents held by Stanford University and Yamaha.
The STK is used widely in creating software synthesis applications. Versions of the STK instrument classes have been integrated into ChucK
, Csound
, Real-Time Cmix
, Max/MSP (as part of PeRColate), SuperCollider
and FAUST
.http://code.google.com/p/stk-faust/ It has been ported to SymbianOS as well.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
for real time
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
audio synthesis with an emphasis on classes to facilitate the development of physical modelling synthesizers. It is written in C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and is written and maintained by Perry Cook at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Gary Scavone
Gary Scavone
Gary Paul Scavone is a computer music researcher and musician.Scavone is currently an associate professor of music technology at McGill University. Previously, Scavone directed the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. He, along with Perry Cook, authored the...
at CCRMA. It contains both low-level synthesis and signal processing
Signal processing
Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
classes (oscillators, filter
Audio filter
An audio filter is a frequency dependent amplifier circuit, working in the audio frequency range, 0 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Many types of filters exist for applications including graphic equalizers, synthesizers, sound effects, CD players and virtual reality systems.Being a frequency dependent...
s, etc.) and higher-level instrument
Tool
A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...
classes which contain examples of most of the currently available physical modelling algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s in use today. STK is free software, but a number of its classes, particularly some physical modelling algorithms, are covered by patents held by Stanford University and Yamaha.
The STK is used widely in creating software synthesis applications. Versions of the STK instrument classes have been integrated into ChucK
ChucK
ChucK is a concurrent, strongly timed audio programming language for real-time synthesis, composition, and performance, which runs on Mac OS X, Linux, Microsoft Windows, and iPhone/iPad. It is designed to favor readability and flexibility for the programmer over other considerations such...
, Csound
Csound
Csound is a computer programming language for dealing with sound, also known as a sound compiler or an audio programming language, or more precisely, a C-based audio DSL. It is called Csound because it is written in C, as opposed to some of its predecessors...
, Real-Time Cmix
Real-time Cmix
Real-Time Cmix is one of the MUSIC-N family of computer music programming languages. RTcmix is descended from the MIX program developed by Paul Lansky at Princeton University in 1978 to perform algorithmic composition using digital audio soundfiles on a VMS mainframe computer. After synthesis...
, Max/MSP (as part of PeRColate), SuperCollider
Supercollider
A Supercollider is a high energy particle accelerator. The term may refer to:* Superconducting Super Collider, planned 80 km project in Texas, canceled in 1993...
and FAUST
FAUST (programming language)
FAUST, that stands for Functional AUdio STream, is a programming language that provides a purely functional approach to signal processing while offering a high level of performance...
.http://code.google.com/p/stk-faust/ It has been ported to SymbianOS as well.