Audio Programming you say?

[Netwatcher]

So... I've just recently found out about these Audio Programming Languages, they seem pretty neat!
I'd like to get some information on them in the sense of which is commonly used, what is better, and the most important subject; how do they work?


(If you were wondering I did try Google but it: doesn't give a detailed explanation + doesn't give people's opinions)
P.S.
I finally found my long-lost guitar's amazing stick( )

[hurstshifter]

I finally found my long-lost guitar's tremolo stick(or w/e u english-speakers call it )

I don't know about audio programming languages, but we call that a Whammy Bar. And we use it for melting faces.

[dandymcgee]

I don't know about audio programming languages, but we call that a Whammy Bar. And we use it for melting faces.

[aamesxdavid]

but we call that a Whammy Bar. And we use it for melting faces.

I heard from a very reputable engineer that they call it a "tremolo arm" in the UK. Arm or bar, I forget, but I'm pretty sure it was arm. In fact, when he was asked to say "whammy bar" his response was "what in the hell is a whammy bar?"

To be fair, "tremolo arm/bar" does make more sense.

Anyway, what exactly were you hoping to do with these languages? Are we talking FAUST here? Csound? FAUST is for DSP, and Csound is kind of like Visual Basic for audio nerds who don't want to learn how to really program. They're not really game-related. But if that's not your goal then maybe it'll work for you. For most things, you're best off learning C++ and an audio engine like FMOD.

But aside from my snobbery, I would need more context to give a real answer.

[Netwatcher]

Probably need to get some experience a language before I know where I want to go with them.

I want to be messing with audio, sine waves, oscillators and such, all that math, controlling audio from relatively "low level"... that's what I'm looking for.

[aamesxdavid]

Hm, well if you want to get your feet wet, try out Csound: http://www.csounds.com/

It has a lot of support and documentation, and it's free. The only problem is that the language is proprietary, and won't do much for overall programming stuff. For that, check out Nsound (creative names, aren't they?): http://nsound.sourceforge.net/

It uses Python and C++, so a lot that you learn will help you with other programming knowledge.

All in all, I'd say C++ is your best bet. There are tons of libraries for doing that stuff. Like such: http://www.harmony-central.com/Computer/Programming/

[RyanPridgeon]

I heard from a very reputable engineer that they call it a "tremolo arm" in the UK. Arm or bar, I forget, but I'm pretty sure it was arm. In fact, when he was asked to say "whammy bar" his response was "what in the hell is a whammy bar?"

no... I'm from the UK and me and my friends have always called it a whammy bar :P
Besides tremolo is technically incorrect, because the arm modifies pitch, not volume :D

I'll stay on topic in the future, I promise.

[hurstshifter]

I heard from a very reputable engineer that they call it a "tremolo arm" in the UK. Arm or bar, I forget, but I'm pretty sure it was arm. In fact, when he was asked to say "whammy bar" his response was "what in the hell is a whammy bar?"

no... I'm from the UK and me and my friends have always called it a whammy bar :P
Besides tremolo is technically incorrect, because the arm modifies pitch, not volume :D

I'll stay on topic in the future, I promise.

I would say the term is correct, as the arm rests in a floating tremolo typically.

[aamesxdavid]

The only source that matters to me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremolo_arm

Traditionally, electric guitarists have reversed the normal meanings of the terms vibrato and tremolo when referring to hardware devices and the effects they produce.

I didn't say it was technically correct, I said it made more sense. At least it's based off of a real word.