Screenshot of Plink by DinahMoe Labs

Web Audio – A new way to make projects?

A few days ago a lecturer mentioned to me what is possible using a relatively new API called Web Audio. It piqued my curiosity, and I found that there are some exceptional examples of it being used, such as Dinah Moe’s Plink.

Screenshot of Plink by DinahMoe Labs
Screenshot from http://labs.dinahmoe.com/plink/ – this is an illustration of what is possible in Web Audio.

My first thought was how impressed I was with the performance that Web Audio seems capable of, as in the half an hour of various Web Audio projects, I never once experienced lag or slowdown of any description on my Phone or Laptop. The next thought was mostly to do with Plink, as it dawned on me that the project is exactly what it claims to be – multiplayer music! This is exactly the kind of collaboration that I have been striving for with the Quadraphonic Project, as well as the Hull History Centre Max Patch. Both of these projects were aimed to be as accessible as possible, and geared towards a public release – and yet here is someone making a prettier implementation ready for the web without any plugins!

I am seriously contemplating a Quadraphonic remake for Web Audio on the back of this brief exploration, as parts of Quadraphonic have been made, a theremin has even been made! Although it wouldn’t be easy to pick it up and learn from scratch, a collaborative experience of that project without Max MSP and UDP would be the ideal result to strive for.

I’d love to hear if anyone has experiences with Web Audio and to get some discussion going, so feel free to leave a comment about it! Here is a link to the documentation for it on GitHub in case it is of use to anyone. 🙂

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