Blendwave: a sound design tool for audiovisual authors

Abstract

This paper presents Blendwave, an online sound design application inspired by the ease of use of samplers and the “sfxr family” of sound creation software. Starting from the hypothesis where current software tools have made the creation of sound inaccessible for non-specialist users, we analyze the problems with the musical bias ingrained in DAWs and Patchers, the standard sound design tools. After identifying the Web Audio API as an appropriate technological backbone for an accessible tool, recent online applications are surveyed, followed by popular software used in a rapid prototyping scenario. By acknowledging the merits and shortcomings of these sound creators, we present Blendwave, the byproduct of a practice-based research and development effort towards democratizing sound design as a rapid prototyping activity for audiovisual authors. The idea of a sampler architecture is proposed as a way to augment the sound possibilities of sfxr-based tools while keeping their simplicity. Finally, we report on the current state of development and outline the next steps.