Audio Effects Theory, Implementation and Application

Audio Effects: Theory, Implementation and Application explores digital audio effects relevant to audio signal processing and music informatics. It supplies fundamental background information on digital signal processing, focusing on audio-specific aspects that constitute the building block on which audio effects are developed. The text integrates theory and practice, relating technical implementation to musical implications. It can be used to gain an understanding of the operation of existing audio effects or to create new ones. In addition to delivering detailed coverage of common (and unusual) audio effects, the book discusses current digital audio standards, most notably VST and AudioUnit. Source code is provided in C/C++ and implemented as audio effect plug-ins with accompanying sound samples. Each section of the book includes study questions, anecdotes from the history of music technology, and examples that offer valuable real-world insight, making this an ideal resource for researchers and for students moving directly into industry.

Introduction and Fundamentals. Delay Line Effects. Filter Design. Filter Effects. Amplitude Modulation. Dynamics Processing. Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz. The Phase Vocoder. Spatial Audio. The Doppler Effect. Reverberation. Audio Production. Building Audio Effect Plug-Ins.

Joshua D. Reiss, Ph.D, is a senior lecturer with the Centre for Digital Music in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London. He has bachelor’s degrees in both physics and mathematics, and earned his Ph.D in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Audio Engineering Society, and co-founder of the company MixGenius. Dr. Reiss has published more than 100 scientific papers and serves on several steering and technical committees. He has investigated music retrieval systems, time scaling and pitch shifting techniques, polyphonic music transcription, loudspeaker design, automatic mixing for live sound, and digital audio effects. His primary focus of research, which ties together many of the above topics, is on the use of state-of-the-art signal processing techniques for professional sound engineering.

Andrew P. McPherson, Ph.D, joined Queen Mary University of London as a lecturer in the Centre for Digital Music in September 2011. He holds a Ph.D in music composition from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Eng in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Queen Mary, he was a postdoc in the Music Entertainment Technology Laboratory at Drexel University, supported by a Computing Innovation Fellowship from the Computing Research Association and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. McPherson’s current research topics include electronic augmentation of the acoustic piano, new musical applications of multi-touch sensing, quantitative studies of expressive performance technique, and embedded audio processing systems. He remains active as a composer of orchestral, chamber, and electronic music, with performances across the United States, Canada, and the UK at venues including the Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals.