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by raytracer 3076 days ago
This looks great. Congratulations on releasing the beta.

* Is it possible to work with incoming data in real time?

* Is it possible to use MIDI and audio as data sources?

* If so, can the applications also output MIDI and audio in real time?
2 comments
spiralganglion 3075 days ago
It sounds like you’re looking for a nicer version of Max/MSP. I’d certainly be keen to see Luna’s GUI applied to that domain, but I think it’d be better to hope that Max take UI / language design lessons from Luna than Luna add audio processing. The std lib in Max is so astoundingly rich — the number of highly optimized DSP ops implemented in C is going to be hard to match. Even if, say, there was a way to run Luna on the browser, so as to leverage the Web Audio API, you’d have nothing close to what Max has for processing.

But of course, Max’s UI and the design of their atomic language constructs really leave a lot to be desired. In this regard, it seems Luna is already flying circles around them. (Though I say this without having actually used Luna, so... grain of salt.)

Comparing the two is so fun, as it shows just how underexplored the world of node-based dataflow languages is.

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raytracer 3075 days ago
> It sounds like you’re looking for a nicer version of Max/MSP

Exactly. Max/MSP is great and I really want to like it, but despite making several attempts at using it in my practice, it hasn't stuck yet. Max doesn't have enough abstractions to make in depth development enjoyable IMHO. After a certain point I get bogged down and long for a regular programming language with an IDE. I'd probably enjoy Max more if I was comfortable in C.

Max's std lib is rich and it would hurt to start from scratch in another environment, but you don't need that many DSP modules to start building interesting patches. An LFO, filter, ADSR and an oscillator get's you a long way towards a usable synth. And there are many open source libraries to draw from.

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spiralganglion 3073 days ago
Have you played with the Web Audio API? It’s got all the primitives you need to build some really cool stuff (plug: ivanish.ca/diminished-fifth), and you have the full power of JS to build your abstractions atop... but you’ll almost certainly wish you had all those DSP goodies before long.

On that note, I wonder what sort of libraries people have written on top of Web Audio. That might be a viable leverage point.

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CyberDildonics 3075 days ago
You want to check out Touch designer. It can do a lot, you including midi, and is made to work in real time.
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