At SynthFest 2018, Olly Larkin presented the Web Audio Modules, a new audio technology that lets you play plugins (Synthesizer…) directly in the Google Chrome browser!
Interesting news comes from the SynthFest Sheffield. Our friends from SonicState interviewed Olly Larkin, one of the developer of the Web Audio Modules. This a new audio technology that lets you play plugins (Synthesizer, drum machine, piano…) inside the Google Chrome browser. Since Chrome supports Web MIDI, you can even play these instruments with a classic MIDI keyboard.
The plugins will have a bit more latency than VST plugins but we will still be able to play. A certainly exciting project in my opinion that shows nicely that music technologies goes further. It will not replace the DAW but have other aims. One idea is it to simplify the test process of plugins. So you can test a plugin on the web before buying the VST version and you can bypass the step to install a demo version on your computer, which expires after 14 days.
Good example is here already Propellerhead Software which has released in the past a free web version of the Europa Synthesizer. Don’t know if this web Synthesizer is based on the same technology but shares the similar approach. Another good point is that it’s platform independent. So it can be used in the same way on Windows, MacOS, Linux etc.
So seen a cool new technology that is now available and I’m curious how it goes on.
Overview
Musician use the browser as a virtual instrument or effects device. WAMs are complete synthesizers and audio effects units compatible with external MIDI instruments
Web Developer embed WAMs into any web page with just a few lines of code
- WAMs integrate easily with existing web APIs
- Web Audio API
- Web MIDI API
- Web Components
- and more
Plugin Developer reuse existing C++ audio code in browser environments, or use JavaScript for quick prototyping. WAMs load with the rest of the web page without manual installation
Web Audio Modules is now available for free.
More information here: Web Audio Modules
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