UPDATE: All workshops offered will be done remotely, due to attempts to limit transmission of SARS-CoV-2. This workshop has been canceled, and will likely be offered again in summer 2021.

About

During this five day workshop (July 13-17, 2020 — CCRMA, Stanford University), participants will learn how to program microcontrollers with the Faust programming language for bare-metal high efficiency/low latency real-time audio Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Final projects will consist of hardware for musical applications such as digital guitar pedal effects and synthesizer modules.

The Teensy 4.0 board will be used as the main development platform. Its ARM Cortex-M7 microcontroller provides plenty of processing power to implement advanced DSP algorithms (e.g., feedback delay networks, physical models, band-limited oscillators, filter banks, etc.). Also, its various analog and digital inputs can be used for sensors acquisition. The lack of Operating System allows for the use of very low block sizes (i.e., 8 samples) offering extremely low audio latency.

The focus of the workshop will be on designing guitar pedal effects or synthesizer modules. To integrate this work into a final enclosure, students will have access to the CCRMA prototyping lab ("MaxLab") where they will learn how to make bespoke enclosures for their electronics using digital fabrication techniques (e.g., 2D CAD modeling, laser cutting, etc.).

Student projects will be featured during a showcase on the CCRMA stage at the end of the workshop.

Covered Topics

• Faust programming
• Digital Signal Processing for sound synthesis and audio effects (i.e., band-limited oscillators, filters, tremolo, physical modeling, reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion, echo, etc.)
• Fundamentals of low-level/bare-metal embedded audio signal processing
• 2D CAD modeling (i.e, OpenScad, Inkscape, etc.)
• Laser cutting
• Basic electronics/sensors (i.e., circuit design, soldering, knobs, buttons, switches, etc.)

Instructors

• Romain Michon — Researcher and Lecturer — GRAME-CNCM, Lyon (France) & CCRMA, Stanford University (USA)
• John Granzow — Assistant Professor — University of Michigan (USA)

Lab Kit

The workshop registration fee includes a $100 lab kit containing all the required elements (i.e., microcontroller, audio codec, electronic components, casing, etc.) to build your own modular synth module, guitar pedal, etc. Each participant will leave with his own custom piece of hardware!

Additional Information

This workshop is intended for musicians, makers, engineers, computer scientists, etc. Previous background in computer programming and sound synthesis/processing is preferred but not mandatory. Participants should bring their own laptop. A lab kit fee of $100 will be added to the regular registration fee. Lab kits will include all the necessary elements to complete final projects (e.g., Teensy 4.0, Audio CODEC/Shield, knobs, switches, buttons, plastic for laser cutting, misc electronic components, cabling/wiring, etc.). Feel free to contact the workshop instructors for additional information.

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Registration/Contact

• For technical questions about the workshop, feel free to contact Romain Michon (rmichon_at_ccrma_dot_stanford_dot_edu) or John Granzow (jgranzow_at_umich_dot_edu).
• For questions about registration, feel free to contact Nette Worthey (networth_at_ccrma_dot_stanford_dot_edu).
• Follow this link to register to the workshop!