https://audio.dev/ -- @audiodevcon
---
Cross-Platform Framework for Textural Granular Processing - Aman Jagwani & Victor Lazzarini - ADCx Copenhagen 2026
---
This talk presents a cross-platform C++ framework for real-time textural time-domain and spectral granular processing called Granular Recipes.
Granular synthesis is a well-explored area of audio DSP that exposes a large number of parameters to users, such as density, pitch, grain size, position, and jitter, resulting in a wide range of sonic possibilities from dense clouds to rhythmic stutters. While this breadth is what makes granular synthesis so powerful, the abundance of parameters and possible sonic outcomes can also lead to a loss of focus or an overwhelming decision-making process, especially during live performance.
Our framework proposes a different approach to granular program development and performance. Instead of exposing raw parameters, we introduce a system of “recipes” or behavioral structures that developers write to define how granular parameters relate to each other and evolve over time. A recipe functions like a developer-level preset that provides a single sonic identity to the resulting granular synthesis, such as pitch-shifting micro-loops, sparse textural bursts, dense clouds, or tempo-synced stutters. This approach allows the developer to constrain or choreograph the parameter space, embedding a sense of compositional intent directly into the programming process.
Once a recipe is active, the performer controls the evolution of texture through just two macros: energy and intensity. Modulating these macros animates the sound while remaining within the sonic signature defined by the recipe. The use of only two macros also makes the resulting instrument particularly conducive to gestural and sensor-based control, since only two mappings, and therefore only two sensors, are required to produce comprehensive transformations of the sound.
In the talk, we present the framework’s layered architecture, consisting of a platform-agnostic core DSP engine, the recipe API, and thin platform bindings that allow the same C++ recipe code to run on desktop, microcontroller, and FPGA targets. On FPGAs, the grain engine runs as custom IP modules in the programmable logic, enabling ultra-low latency and high parallelism, while the recipe system runs on the ARM processing system. By leveraging the throughput and parallelism offered by the FPGA, we have also implemented spectral granular processing, which can interact with the same recipe API, extending the system into the frequency domain within this embedded environment.
---
Aman Jagwani
Aman Jagwani, from Mumbai, India, is an audio programmer, musician, and researcher. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Electronic Production and Design and Drum-set Performance at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and later earned a Master of Science in Sound and Music Computing from Maynooth University.
Currently, Aman is undertaking his Ph.D. at Maynooth University with supervisor, Prof. Victor Lazzarini, for which he received the Hume Fellow Scholarship Award. His research centres on audio DSP, embedded systems, FPGAs and interactive musical experience design.
Victor Lazzarini
Victor Lazzarini is a Professor of Music at Maynooth University. A BMus graduate of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, he received his AMusD from the University of Nottingham, UK. His academic interests include musical signal processing and sound synthesis; computer music languages; electroacoustic and instrumental composition, and improvisation. He has authored over one hundred fifty peer-reviewed publications in his various specialist research areas. He is the author of Aulib and Aurora, two object-oriented libraries for audio signal processing, and is one of the project leaders for the Csound sound and music programming system.
---
ADC is an annual event celebrating all audio development technologies, from music applications and game audio to audio processing and embedded systems. ADC’s mission is to help attendees acquire and develop new audio development skills, and build a network that will support their audio developer career.
Annual ADC Conference - https://audio.dev/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/audiodevcon
https://facebook.com/audiodevcon
https://instagram.com/audiodevcon
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiodevcon/
https://mastodon.social/@audiodevcon
---
Streamed & Edited by Digital Medium Ltd: https://online.digital-medium.co.uk
---
Organized and produced by JUCE: https://juce.com/
---
Special thanks to the ADC Team:
Bence Kovacs
Martin Swanholm
Sophie Carus
Derek Heimlich
Andrew Kirk
Bobby Lombardi
Tom Poole
Ralph Richbourg
Jim Roper
Jonathan Roper
Prashant Mishra
#adc #audiodev #dsp #audio #conferenceaudio #audioprocessing #audioproduction #audioprogramming #sound #music #musictech #soundtech #audiotech #audiotechnology
