Designing Sound

Interactive Faust WASM Demos · Based on Designing Sound by Andy Farnell (MIT Press, 2010) · Source

Each demo is a self-contained HTML page with Faust DSP compiled to WebAssembly — no server, no samples, pure procedural audio

Part I — Theory & Synthesis Techniques

Ch. 17Additive SynthesisSummation of sinusoids with breakpoint envelopes

Ch. 18Wavetable SynthesisPeriodic waveforms with vector crossfade

Ch. 19WaveshapingNonlinear transfer functions, Chebyshev polynomials

Ch. 20AM/FM SynthesisAmplitude & frequency modulation, sidebands

Ch. 21Granular SynthesisClouds of short Gaussian-windowed grains

Part II — Fundamental DSP Concepts

Ch. 5AliasingNyquist frequency, foldover distortion demo

Ch. 7BitcrushingQuantization — reducing bit depth and sample rate

Ch. 6MaskingPsychoacoustic masking — tone hiding noise

Ch. 5Doppler EffectPitch shift from moving source

Ch. 5Room ModesStanding waves, comb filtering in enclosed spaces

Ch. 6ConsonanceHarmonic ratios and sensory consonance

Part III — Envelopes & Modulation

Ch. 13ADSR EnvelopeAttack, decay, sustain, release — amplitude shaping

Ch. 13Pulse Code ModulationPulse width modulation of carrier signals

Ch. 20Cascade PMCascaded phase modulation for complex spectra

Part IV — Practicals: Artificial & Electronic

Ch. 24Pedestrian CrossingAlternating 2500/2000 Hz beeps at adjustable tempo

Ch. 25Telephone RingingDual-tone pulsing (400Hz+450Hz) at 50% duty gate

Ch. 26DTMF Dial Tones4×4 keypad: dual-tone multi-frequency encoding

Ch. 27Alarm BellsMechanical bell, electronic beeper, smoke, alarm clock

Part IV — Practicals: Objects & Materials

Ch. 30Bouncing BallFM synthesis with decreasing frequency and amplitude

Ch. 31RollingRepeating impulses for bumps, shaped noise for surfaces

Ch. 32Creaking DoorStick-slip friction, wooden door formant ratios

Ch. 28ToysRattle (filtered noise + gate) and squeaker (pitch bend)

Ch. 29UtensilsGlass clink (high-Q resonbp) and pouring (mod noise)

Ch. 34Impactsba.pulsen trigger + fi.resonbp with variable Q/hardness

Ch. 33Breaking GlassStaggered noise bursts through resonant bandpass

Ch. 36Scraping & GrindingFast AM noise through variable-Q bandpass

Part IV — Practicals: Nature

Ch. 34Fire & CracklingNoise-gated pops, lowpass rumble, pulsing glow

Ch. 35Water & BubblesHighpass bubble pops, bandpass rushing water

Ch. 38RainMulti-oscillator drop texture gate + filtered noise

Ch. 37WindManual one-pole lowpass, resonant howl, gust modulation

Part IV — Practicals: Machines

Ch. 44MotorsDC motor — rotor clicks, brush noise, stator, FM housing rattle

Ch. 45CarsFour-cylinder engine — piston pulses, exhaust, jitter

Ch. 46FansFan & propeller — blade pulses, turbulence, Doppler sweep

Ch. 47Jet EngineTurbofan — compressor whine, combustion, jet hiss

Ch. 48HelicopterRotor slap, tail rotor, turbine, gearbox whine

Part IV — Practicals: Lifeforms & Mayhem

Ch. 49FootstepsGRF polynomial — heel/ball/edge phases, gravel & hard surface

Ch. 53GunshotDetonation chirp, muzzle blast, body resonance, auto-fire

Ch. 54ExplosionShockwave chirp, blast noise, fireball rumble

38 interactive demonstrations · continuously expanding