Wow, Matlab is slow

[eub]

Especially when you write for-loops in it instead of doing pure vector programming. Though I'd figure interp1() would be the hotspot here. Anyway for eight seconds of audio I'm waiting fifteen minutes, I expect. (I'm generating a sound example to proselytize for a synthesis technique I suggested, bandlimited hard sync.)

I was thinking of buying a computer tonight, but I guess I'll do laundry instead.

Comments

[seanmcguire.livejournal.com]

I always wondered how to use matlab for sound.

Actually I'd like to know a lot more about sound and synthesis so I can create my own hardware and software sounds and effects and sound-munging-doohickeywhatsits. Any books you'd suggest as an intro?

[eub.livejournal.com]

For using Matlab, the key things I use are wavwrite() and the signal-processing toolbox. Actually Matlab is kind of a giant pain in the ass, except that you can plot graphs to help debug your routines.

There's not really any broad intro, that I know of, just specific ones. For DSP, Ken Steiglitz's _A DSP Primer_ is supposed to be a good intro, but I haven't read it. Oppenheim and Schafer is canonical, and not such hard going after you swap your math back in. Computer music programming has some problems and techniques that are different from DSP. Moore's _Elements of Computer Music_ is good if it's in print. All of these are too expensive.

I haven't read any books on effects, but http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/effects-explained.html
is pretty good for a start.

Julius Smith on digital filters:
http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/filters/Introduction_Digital_Filter.html

Do you have an idea yet what you're interested in? Maybe we can zoom in.

BTW, the thing that took fifteen minutes is
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~eli/tmp/eightsec.wav