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Show HN: What if your synthesizer was powered by APL (or a dumb K clone)?

https://octetta.github.io/k-synth/
46•octetta•4h ago
I built k-synth as an experiment to see if a minimalist, K-inspired array language could make sketching waveforms faster and more intuitive than traditional code. I’ve put together a web-based toolkit so you can try the syntax directly in the browser without having to touch a compiler:

Live Toolkit: https://octetta.github.io/k-synth/

If you visit the page, here is a quick path to an audio payoff:

- Click "patches" and choose dm-bell.ks.

- Click "run"—the notebook area will update. Click the waveform to hear the result.

- Click the "->0" button below the waveform to copy it into slot 0 at the top (slots are also clickable).

- Click "pads" in the entry area to show a performance grid.

- Click "melodic" to play slot 0's sample at different intervals across the grid.

The 'Weird' Stack:

- The Language: A simplified, right-associative array language (e.g., s for sine, p for pi).

- The Web Toolkit: Built using WASM and Web Audio for live-coding samples.

- AI Pair-Programming: I used AI agents to bootstrap the parser and web boilerplate, which let me vet the language design in weeks rather than months.

The Goal: This isn't meant to replace a DAW. It’s a compact way to generate samples for larger projects. It’s currently in a "will-it-blend" state. I’m looking for feedback from the array language and DSP communities—specifically on the operator choices and the right-to-left evaluation logic.

Source (MIT): https://github.com/octetta/k-synth

Comments

hmokiguess•2h ago
Pretty cool, one suggestion for the site would be to have templates you can quickly load, copy, edit, and share. Sort of like strudel.cc has!
octetta•2h ago
i wimped out and just have the patches being loaded from my github repo. good suggestion though.
xrd•1h ago
Did you know you can embed strudel?

https://strudel.cc/technical-manual/project-start/

hmokiguess•1h ago
I don’t think this is relevant to my analogy there, what were you thinking here?
xrd•24m ago
You are right but I wondered if octetta had considered combining his ui with strudel. I am fascinated by it and have been attempting to riff off it and create new creative interfaces.
octetta•17m ago
I'll take a look... it's probably not obvious, but the language engine is actually written in C and emscripten-ed to WASM, so I've already crossed several bridges to get this done. Absolutely riff off this interface... would love to see what you can make. My stuff is MIT licensed, so tear it up! On a side note, I was able to meet Sam Aaron of SonicPi / Tau5 at Goarmire back in September which was cool... he teased us with Super Collider in JS then and and since, he's crossed the finish line on that stuff. We live in amazing times! Have fun!!!
octetta•56m ago
Strudel (and PureData, and ChucK, and SuperCollider, and AMY) are all great projects, but they weren't scratching my itch, so after I got laid off from a FAANG role, I rage/anxiety started writing code for stuff fun-ner than writing code for radios and routers and satellites... this is where my cortisol / dopamine lead me. No disrespect to those other projects... all have been inspirational and are a heck of a lot more "respectable" than my playground code.
octetta•53m ago
At any rate, in case it's hard to see, definitely try loading the dm-bell.ks patch, putting it in slot one so the melodic pad can play it... it's quick and dirty to see what's capable in a few keystrokes... although I'm sure the PD and ChucK and SC and ... wizards could put me to shame in a showdown, LOL.
steveBK123•2h ago
This is great
octetta•2h ago
thanks!
jart•2h ago
How do we get it to play Kompressor? https://youtu.be/9tlA0IyKjiI
octetta•1h ago
Wowie... Jart commented! I'm on it my friend. Certainly sequencing is a good thing to add.
octetta•1h ago
I have a CLI and desktop versions on github (all MIT license)

https://github.com/octetta/k-synth https://github.com/octetta/ksynth-desktop/

it's been a blast to play with... and a great excuse to learn array languages

jodrellblank•1h ago
Marshall Lochbaum's APL-derived language BQN has some nods towards audio synthesis too:

https://mlochbaum.github.io/BQN-Musician/synth/index.html

octetta•1h ago
BQN kicks-ass and I've spent hours listening to the Array Cast podcast while in SoCal traffic. I'll check his stuff out with an eye towards the audio stuff.

I'm an APL newb... while I've been writing code-for-cash forever (C, etc.) I've had a long-time interest in APL languages, but I'm just messing around after working on waveform generation for another sound project I have in the works (https://github.com/octetta/skred ... https://youtu.be/L5-3gBpJsAo?si=JdBlntzn4doY-c3s).

While I was working on this I remember the first book I saw in the public library on computer programming was about APL (probably sometime around 1976)... I didn't have access to a "real computer" for another year after that and no APL for decades, but some ideas stick around, LOL.

bradrn•9m ago
Also Uiua:

https://www.uiua.org/tour#audio

https://www.uiua.org/tutorial/audio

octetta•2m ago
Wowie! I'M NOT WORTHY! Cool stuff!
jdontillman•34m ago
See also: Stanley Jordan, "APL For Music".

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/75144.75174

(!!!)

(Wait, what? That Stanley Jordan?) (Yep.)

octetta•21m ago
Wow! I had no idea, will look here for inspiration too. Thanks!

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