DSPlayground Demo

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So, Why Bother?

Lightweight terminal environment for live coding DSP in C++ without any guard rails or limitations
Fast iteration with runtime hot loading of new code with no audio dropouts. Auto-loads DSP code on file save
Find sweet spots in real time with the Terminal UI parameter controls, preconfigured with parameter smoothing
Realtime visual feedback with oscilloscope visualisers for rapid debugging
Export .wav recordings for hi-def post-analysis
Realtime-safe multithreading so you can safely pass data between the worker thread and audio thread without glitches or data races
Use your favorite text editor and enjoy a keyboard focussed workflow
Prototype DSP code in a simple environment, similar to your deployment environment but without the long compile time waits
No more porting protoypes from another language!
Codebase carefully commented so you can take your protoypes as far as you like or just keep them simple, up to you

Platform Support

Built and tested on MacOS with Apple Silicon
Should now be Linux & Windows friendly but still untested! You'll need to tweak the CMakeLists.txt if you're looking to install system-wide. Swap out the Apple frameworks for the relevant ones for your distribution / operating system.
If you’d like to help with Linux or Windows testing we’d love to hear from you

Dependencies

You’ll need an existing C++ build environment, if you’re programming in C++ you probably already have these
- GCC / Clang
- CMake
- Make
Included submodules
- RtAudio for interfacing with your soundcard
- FTXUI for the terminal UI

[!TIP]

If you’re still using the built-in Terminal app it’s time for an upgrade!

You'll want a modern one for proper display rendering (among many other things)

Popular modern terminal emulators = Ghostty, Alacritty

Any text editor
- Neovim + Tmux is a pretty killer workflow though!

Installation

git clone --recursive https://github.com/ReclaimedBCN/DSPlayground.git

[!IMPORTANT] You can either choose to install RtAudio and FTXUI on your system or build the libraries locally in their submodule folders. Installing system-wide will mean much faster build times (key if you want fast hot-reloads) but the choice is up to you.

Building locally (the default)

# build from DSPlayground's root directory
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --parallel

Installing system-wide

In the external/ directory, enter the RtAudio and FTXUI submodule folders
Read their README files / documentation and install them system-wide based on their instructions. Both of them support CMake so you can run CMake commands from their repo directories
Now return to the DSPlayground repo directory and edit the CMakeLists.txt to enable the options below

option(USE_SYSTEM_RTAUDIO "Use system-wide install of rtaudio" ON)
option(USE_SYSTEM_FTXUI "Use system-wide install of FTXUI" ON)

Build DSPlayground

# build from DSPlayground's root directory
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --parallel

Usage

[!CAUTION] Before running DSPlayground you'll want to turn your system's volume all the way down. RtAudio's output can be quite loud.

# start DSPlayground from the repo's root directory
./run.sh

Slowly turn up your volume
Now you can navigate the UI with your keyboard. Vim keybindings (h,j,k,l), arrow keys and enter and supported. Or if you prefer, you can use your mouse too.
Use the controls to change the parameters of the audio engine in real-time
Open up plugin.h in a text editor
Make changes to the algorithm, when you save the file the DSP code will be hot reloaded.

[!TIP] FYI the default values of the UI sliders determine the initial state of the parameters that they control when you first run DSPlayground. These can be changed in the globals.h file in the UiParams struct. You will need to recompile the binary (not the whole project) for this to take affect.

# recompile the binary when making changes to source files other than plugin.h
# from DSPlayground's root directory
cmake --build build --parallel

# rebuild the project when making changes to the project structure
    # e.g. adding files, changing CMakeLists.txt
# from DSPlayground's root directory
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --parallel

Have fun and experiment away!

[!TIP] p.s. to leave the DSPlayground, use the close buttons to close the UI and ctrl + c to end the audio stream. Or just ctrl + c twice. Long live the terminal!

Future Plans

[ ] Linux testing
[ ] Windows testing
[ ] MIDI support

If you’d like to help with any of the above we are open to pull requests and collaboration :)

Thanks

Big thanks to thestk and ArthurSonzogni for RtAudio and FTXUI respectively. Both amazing projects that deserve some recognition. Also thanks to Thrifleganger for the .wav encoding tutorial!

License

DSPlayground's license is similar to the MIT License. Please see LICENSE.

Disclaimer

The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.

DSPlayground

Install / Use

README