Chris Nash

Director / Founder

nash.audio

About Me

Chris Nash is a software developer, composer, educator and researcher in things that go beep in the night. Following a PhD on music software design at Cambridge, he has worked on technology and music projects across academia and industry, including for the BBC, Steinberg/Yamaha, and multiple start-ups, and independently develops and maintains several software projects, specialising in computer music and making music programming more accessible, including Manhattan (a hybrid DAW/programming language), Klang (a C++ dialect for audio), rapIDE (a plug-in based C++ IDE) and reViSiT (an award-winning plug-in based sound tracker). Dr Nash is the architect of pointblank (London)’s pioneering MuSE (Music Systems Engineering) course, developed in collaboration with industry to be the world's first
professional audio developer degree programme, as well as Senior Lecturer in Software Development for Audio, Sound, and Music at UWE Bristol. In 2022, Chris founded nash.audio, a non-profit organisation supporting creativity and learning in music technology, and the development of tools for audio programming.

Sessions

  • Workshop: Four Plugins in Four Hours (or less)

    Learn the Code and DSP Behind Two Effects and Two Synthesisers – No Experience Necessary!
    13:30 - 17:00 UTC | Monday 10th November 2025 | SS Great Britain
    Beginner
    Intermediate
    Advanced

    This workshop provides an immersive, practical introduction to plugin development in C++ using Klang Studio, a plugin-based IDE designed for audio development, supporting live C++ in the DAW, explored the development of four audio plugins: Gain, Distortion, Subtractive, and SuperSaw. Developed by pointblank and nash.audio, and presented in association with The Audio Programmer, the session walks you through the creation of two basic effects, gain and distortion, before looking at subtractive synthesis, culminating in the creation of a JP-8000-style SuperSaw synth. Showcasing the Klang C++ dialect for audio programming, the session will also include instructions on how to transfer your […]

  • Level Up! Procedural Game Music and Audio

    Towards richer, more dynamic soundtracks for games and interactive audio experiences.
    14:00 - 14:50 UTC | Tuesday 11th November 2025 | Conservatory
    Beginner
    Intermediate
    Advanced

    What if games had access to (and control of) every note in the soundtrack? What are the limits for gameplay-driven music and music-driven gameplay? How do you craft a soundtrack that dynamically adapts to the game world? This talk presents new techniques and technologies for crafting richer, more dynamic music and sound FX to develop more immersive and interactive game soundtracks in both Unity and Unreal – and marks the launch of game music development kits for Manhattan and Klang (C++) on the Unity Store and FAB.com, which will be provided free to ADC 25 delegates. DETAIL After a brief […]

  • Workshop: Klang: Live and Expressive C++ for Audio

    What if C++ had built-in audio semantics? What if you could develop C++ plugins, live in the DAW?
    14:00 - 17:00 UTC | Monday 11th November 2024 | SS Great Britain
    Beginner
    Intermediate
    Advanced

    A practical introduction to Klang, a C++ dialect (language extension) for audio, and rapIDE (rapid audio prototyping IDE), a complete C++ development environment in a DAW plugin, supporting live code editing, recompiling, and debugging. Developed to improve the liveness and usability of professional DSP practices, both tools facilitate the expressive design of new interfaces, sounds, and audio processes, while lowering the threshold to C++ for newcomers and learners, without compromising its expressive ceiling or performance. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP The workshop will feature discussions, live demonstrations, structured practical exercises, and assisted open exploration of the Klang language and rapIDE development platform, […]