Eric Tarr is a professor at the Belmont University where he teaches Audio Signal Processing. In the audio programming community, he’s most famous for his book “Hack Audio” on the basics of digital signal processing using Matlab and his point-to-point modeling library for analog audio circuit emulation.

Eric’s work has definitely been an inspiration for starting the WolfSound blog and the YouTube channel so it’s really exciting to have him on the show!

In the podcast, we’ll delve into his story, how he learned audio signal processing, how he managed to work with some amazing audio companies (Sennheiser, Epic Games, Skywalker Sounds), and top tips on how to learn DSP coming from Eric’s teaching experience. We also discuss in detail how to model analog audio circuits for audio plugins (so called virtual analog modeling). Here, Eric describes which state-of-the-art methods are available and how you can learn them. He also shares the details of this point-to-point modeling library which allows you to easily emulate analog audio circuits.

As a special feat, I’d asked my coachees who follow Eric’s work to provide questions to him concerning a variety of different topics, including the impact of AI on the virtual analog modeling space.

All in all, it’s an episode that you don’t want to miss!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Eric learned digital audio signal processing based on his passion for music and electronics,
• how he became a professor for Audio Engineering Technology at the Belmont University,
• how he wrote the famous “Hack Audio” book,
• why he uses Matlab instead of Python in his teaching,
• how he was able to deliver numerous audio-related projects to various companies worldwide,
• how he developed his point-to-point audio circuit modeling library,
• how you can learn digital signal processing (even if you’re just starting out),
• what is the go-to language and technology stack for creating commercial audio products,
• what are the state-of-the-art methods to model analog audio circuits,
• is it worth going to the Audio Developer Conference?

This episode was recorded on January 19, 2024.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Chase Kanipe: a cybersecurity professional, a musician, and an audio programmer (formerly C++ with JUCE, currently Rust). Chase is most widely known through his incredible Audio Developer Conference talks:

• Tips From a Hacker on License Checking at ADC22
• Writing Elegant DSP Code with Rust at ADC23 (to be released soon)

Both were really insightful and of incredibly high quality. One could not overlook Chase’s personal culture and the depth with which he explained the concepts. Not to mention that both of his talks made it into my “Top 10 ADC Talks” videos for both ADC22 and ADC23!

Chase is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Machine Learning at the University of Maryland. At the same time, he’s working on his breakthrough audio project in a self-grounded company Procedural Audio.

In the podcast, we discuss his path of being a classically trained musician, a passionate cybersecurity specialist, and then transitioning into audio programming with Rust and into AI. He’s an incredibly inspiring individual and I have learned a lot from interviewing him!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• Should an audio programmer learn assembly?
• What every audio programmer should know about cybersecurity
• Most common types of vulnerabilities in audio plugins
• Should you use Rust instead of C++ for audio projects?
• How to optimize your audio code?
• Best resources on learning: cybersecurity, digital audio signal processing, Rust, and assembly.
• Music for optimal programming productivity 💪

This episode was recorded on January 3, 2024.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Ruurd Adema: a freelance audio developer from the Netherlands working primarily in JUCE and C++ (but not only).

I met Ruurd at the Audio Developer Conference 2023 and I believe his story is incredibly inspiring; he went from being a live sound engineer doing front-of-house (FOH) mixing at the biggest events in the Netherlands to contracting as a freelance audio developer.

In the interview, he shares his story and a ton of useful resources and tips to help others follow his footsteps.

If you’re looking for inspiration and a clear learning path to become an audio developer this is an episode for you!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Ruurd become a mixing engineer of one of the largest live shows in the world,
• the secret to mixing it right 😉
• how he started learning audio programming on the side (and how you can too),
• how he successfully launched his freelance audio dev career by taking 5 (sic!) projects at once,
• top resources to learn audio programming on your own,
• top tools to use in audio software development,
• how to find new clients in freelance audio programming, and
• how to structure your workday for maximum programming productivity. 🚀

This episode was recorded on December 13, 2023.

In this podcast episode, I was very pleased to guest Linus Corneliusson: a mixing engineer and editing assistant at Fascination Street Studios who has shifted towards audio plugin development.

I met Linus (and his colleague Jacek) at the Audio Developer Conference 2022 and he’s definitely one of the most friendly and funny people in the community. What is even more amazing, he’s worked in the studio with top-notch heavy metal bands, like James LaBrie, Soilwork, DragonForce, Haken, Leprous, Dark Tranquility, Between the Buried and Me, and Fates Warning (basically most of the major names in the progressive metal genre).

In the podcast, we discus how Linus started creating simple audio plugins on the side which led him to pursuing a full-blown career as an audio programmer for Bogren Digital. We also discuss tools, tips, and resources he used and recommends for starting in audio programming.

Are you a mixing engineer looking for a way to transition into audio development? Are you seeking advice on which path to take and which resources are the best to reach out for? Do you need inspiration and motivation? Then this episode is for you!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Linus started his studio career and ended up working with the top metal bands 🤟 in the industry
• how a mixing engineer can start writing their own plugins 🎚️
• how Linus decided to pursue the audio programming path and which resources he used
• what are the tools he’s using day-to-day
• is the Audio Developer Conference worth going to (spoiler: it is but find out why 😉)

This episode was recorded on November 29, 2023.

For this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Ian Hobson: a former DJ who transitioned to audio programming, worked at Ableton, and then launched a successful freelancing career.

Ian is well-known in the community for his talks on Rust at the Audio Developer Conferences and on YouTube. He’s also created his own programming language: Koto.

We met at the Audio Developer Conference 2022 and he was kind enough to agree on recording an interview with him. I must say that after recording the podcast, I respect his drive to continuously learn and improve even more!

Ian shares a ton of useful knowledge on

• freelancing,
• Rust for audio programming,
• learning Rust,
• self-organization,
• learning DSP,
• maintaining the internal drive in the professional career,
• and more!

I highly encourage you to listen to the podcast in full!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Ian got into DJ-ing and how he then went back to the univerisity to become an audio programmer
• how he landed his job at Ableton
• why he started exploring Rust for audio
• why is Rust more programmer-friendly than C++
• how to become a freelancer in the audio programming space
• how to stay organized as a freelancer
• what is Ian’s go-to tech stack at the moment.

The episode was recorded on November 3, 2023.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Oliver Larkin: an audio programming legend from the UK.

Starting with a passion for music, going through Max, SynthEdit, PureData, then C++ to JavaScript and others, there is no audio technology that's not known to him. He has worked on projects with Arturia and Focusrite (among many more) and nowadays works for Ableton. He has conducted research in spatial audio, and has created successful plugins, like the Casio CZ-101 synthesizer emulation.

He is most widely known as the co-author of Web Audio Modules and iPlug2: an C++ framework for creating audio plugins and web-hosted audio apps. It allows you to have a single codebase that builds various plugin formats out of the box, e.g., VST, AAX, and AU. Sounds familiar? That's because it is an alternative to the JUCE framework.

With 20 years of experience in audio programming, he can be a role model for aspiring audio programmers.

All this and more, including Oli’s learning path is discussed in this podcast episode!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents 

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Oli has learned audio programming thanks to his passion for music
• how his carreer path unfolded from the university up until today when he’s working full-time for Ableton in Berlin
• how he collaborated with Plugin Boutique at its very start
• how he came up with the idea of iPlug2 and what are the challenges involved
• how he came across the idea of Web Audio Modules and helped develop them further
• how to be a successful freelancer in the field of audio programming
• how indie developers can make their audio plugins successful
• what’s his tech stack
• best resources on learning music DSP

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Christoph Guttandin: a web audio developer from Berlin, Germany.

Chris is a self-taught programmer with a formal training as an audio-visual technician. He’s a freelancer who deals with playing back sound in the browser, sometimes on multiple computers simultaneously. He’s a member of the W3C Audio Community Group where he gives feedback regarding the new standards. He’s especially careful about the compliance of browsers to standard updates. He regularly answers questions regarding web audio on StackOverflow. He was a speaker at the Audio Developer Conference 2022.

In the podcast, we not only discuss his background and his story of how he became a web audio developer but we also uncover how you can become one. I specifically ask him about the best resources on web audio programming and which languages, tools & frameworks to use.

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Christoph learn web audio programming and how he started his freelancing career
• which resources he recommends for learning web audio programming
• which languages, libraries & frameworks to use best, if you want to start coding audio in the browser (it’s not JavaScript!)
• what are the challenges of audio synchronization on the web
• how to ensure that your audio code behaves the same across all browsers
• how web audio standards are developed and implemented

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Jay Pocknell; a production and mixing engineer from the UK.

Not only is he a skilled sound engineer and a lovely person to talk to but also a proactive member of the audio community. He founded the Sound Without Sight organization and currently works at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) advocating for music software, music hardware, and music instruments accessible to everyone: including musicians and sound engineers with disabilities.

Basing on his lived experience with sight loss, he gives invaluable advice on how any audio programmer can make their software accessible. This is a gold mine of first-hand information!

In the podcast episode, we discuss his path to becoming a sound engineer, which obstacles he needed to overcome, and how we as the audio community can remove some of these obstacles permanently.

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Jay became a sound engineer,
• how he came up with the idea to start the Sound Without Sight organization,
• what is the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and how they invite industry collaborations for an accessible music experience for everyone,
• why you should even consider making your software accessible (hint: 💵),
• how audio developers can make their software accessible,
• how to test the accessibility of your software,
• what are typical difficulties of musicians and sound engineers with blindness or partial blindness,
• how Audio Developers Conference 2022 tackled the issue of accessibility and how ADC23 can improve upon it.

This podcast was recorded on April 5, 2023.

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Meinard Müller became a professor for Music Information Retrieval at AudioLabs in Erlangen,
• what are AudioLabs and how they relate to Fraunhofer IIS and the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg,
• how professor Müller approaches doing teaching and research in his research group,
• how to learn doing research and how to collaborate with your supervisor (for master thesis, PhD thesis, or other research work),
• how to mentor your students,
• what is the book “Fundamentals of Music Processing” about and how did the process of writing it look,
• how to tackle huge projects,
• what is a professor’s day-to-day life like,
• what is music information retrieval and how did the AI/deep learning revolution influence it.

In this episode, I was honored to interview Andrew Fyfe; a musician, a software engineer, and a researcher in the field of deep learning applied to audio.

In particular, Andrew is working on an exciting new technology, Neutone. Neutone allows quick deployment of trained neural networks to audio plugins and running them in the digital audio workstation for verification, testing, up to full-blown product releases for users.

At the same time, Andrew is wrapping up his PhD while working full time from Japan. He was kind enough to share his story and his journey to becoming an audio researcher.

Don’t forget to submit your plugins for the Neural Audio Plugin Competition until March the 17th of 2023!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Andrew learned audio processing and became an audio researcher after a successful rock band musician career,
• how he explored AI for music creation in his PhD,
• what is Neutone about and how to use it to deploy trained neural networks from PyTorch to audio plugins,
• what is Neural Audio Plugin competition,
• how is living and working in Japan for a person from the UK.

Episode notes: https://thewolfsound.com/talk011/

In this episode, I was lucky to interview two members of GPU Audio: Jonathan Rowden and Alexander “Sasha” Talashov.

GPU Audio is a software company that promises to deliver real-time audio processing capabilities to GPUs in the form of an easily usable Software Development Kit (SDK). It’s their goal to allow audio programmers to utilize the power of all GPU cores for faster and more performant audio processing.

If you are interested in why it is not easy to process audio on the GPU and how it can be done, then this episode is for you!

Don’t forget to submit your impulse response for their IR Competition until February 23, 2023!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how was GPU Audio conceived,
• why typically GPUs are not used in audio plugins,
• why previous approaches to GPU audio processing haven’t been widely successful,
• how GPU Audio’s solution handles the main problems of GPU processing,
• how one can learn about GPU processing in general,
• how you can help test their software and possibly win cool prizes in their IR competition.

In this episode, I was incredibly excited to interview Stefano D’Angelo: a freelancer in the field of audio programming.

Episode notes: https://thewolfsound.com/talk009

Stefano comes from Italy and is well known in the field. He’s completed his PhD thesis at the Acoustics Lab of the Aalto University, then worked for Arturia for some time, and then decided to start his own freelance gig, which eventually led to him grounding the Orastron company. During this time, he’s been incredibly active in the programming field as well as in the research field.

Many WolfTalk listeners ask “how to become an audio programming freelancer?”

Well, in this podcast episode, you will learn a way of how this could be done 😉

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Stefano pursued his interest in music to eventually become an audio programmer and a researcher,
• how developing audio software at Arturia looks like,
• what challenges must audio programming freelancers overcome,
• how to “productify” your audio programming expertise,
• what is the Brickworks library about,
• how to approach the development of novel audio products,
• how does work in an R&D department at a company differs from research work at the university,
• what are the challenges when it comes to creating virtual analog plugins,
• useful tools for audio research and programming,
• how do the Digital Audio FX conference and the Audio Developers Conference compare.

In this episode, I was fortunate to interview Prashant Mishra, an Audio Director who is now building audio products and creating awareness about audio tech and game audio.

Prashant is an audiophile who has worked as an Audio Director for educational games and videos in collaboration with Disney to create IP-specific sonic experiences, during which he created voice based apps. He helped in setting up and scaling the sound department at an India-based ed-tech since 2015 for their entire catalogue of projects.

He is now building audio products with companies such as Soundly, and hosts games, spatial & interactive audio training sessions.

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• how Prashant went from Mechanical Engineering to audio production, to managing audio teams, and to building audio products and educating others,
• how Prashant cooperated with various brands, for example, Disney, with regard to sound,
• what is sound design and how it differs from technical sound design,
• what is important in managing audio-related teams of musicians, developers, and related,
• what tools you can use to speed up your audio workflow (as a solo producer or in the team),
• how you can become a technical sound designer,
• how Audio Developers Conference 2022 in London turned out 😄

In this episode, I was fortunate to interview Dr Tom McKenzie, a researcher in the field of spatial audio and acoustics and a musician, who is currently working at the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer in Acoustics and Architectural Acoustics.

At the time of the interview (November 2021), Tom was a postdoctoral researcher at the Aalto Acoustics Lab at the Aalto University in Finland.

He was the last member of the lab interviewed by me. Previous interviews included:

• Leonardo Fierro,
• Jon Fagerström, and
• Alec Wright.

Please, if you are enjoying the podcast, leave it a review on Apple Podcasts.

And if you’re looking for a simple checklist on what is needed to start writing code to process sound, download my free audio plugin developer checklist!

Many thanks to Aalto Acoustics Lab for letting us record this interview in their office.

Episode Contents

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• What are ambisonics?
• What is spatial audio?
• What are 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF)?
• What is important in spatial audio for a realistic impression?
• What is cross-talk cancellation?
• How does individualization look in virtual reality?

In this podcast episode, I had the privilege to interview Moritz Schaller: a professional musician who turned programmer and successfully transitioned into a software engineering position.

Moritz is a colleague of mine from Loudly GmbH. Not only is he a skilled and smart programmer but also a great person who is extremely likeable.

I am sure that if you are considering a change in your career paths, Moritz’s story and tips will provide you with inspiration and guidance on how to do this.

In this podcast episode, I was happy to interview Steve Barile from Conductive Labs. Steve was a 9-5 employee of Intel, until he and his best friend Darryl, started experimenting with building their own audio hardware. First prototypes led to concrete product ideas, which led to a crowdfunding campaign, which led to founding a successful business... but let's listen to him tell the story!

In this podcast episode, you will learn:

• ✅ how to start making your own music hardware, for example, hardware synthesizers,
• ✅ where to get product ideas from,
• ✅ how to go about validating your product in the market,
• ✅ where to look for manufacturers,
• ✅ recommended resources for building audio hardware.

Special thanks from Steve to the Conductive Labs crew:

Jesse, Cantrell, Paul, Nick, Ben, Chuck, Blake, Shashi, Kelly & SOs: Joyce and Lisa

Episode notes: https://thewolfsound.com/talk005