SOUND DESIGN TOOLKIT (SDT)

Overview
Documentation
Implementation
Installation
- Downloadable ready-made products
- Compiling from Source
Acknowledgements
Contacts

Overview

The Sound Design Toolkit (SDT) is an open-source (GPLv3) framework for ecologically founded sound synthesis and design. Think of it as a virtual Foley-box! It can simulate various acoustic phenomena arising from solid interactions (e.g. collision, rubbing, rolling, scraping), liquids (e.g. dripping, streaming water), gasses (e.g. explosions, blowing wind), and machines (e.g. combustion engines, electric motors). The library consists of physically informed sound synthesis models, audio processing algorithms and analysis routines.

The SDT is mainly aimed at research and education in Sonic Interaction Design (SID), but it's been successfully used in musical contexts as well.

The SDT sound synthesis algorithms have been implemented according to three main points:

auditory perceptual relevance;
cartoonification, i.e. simplification and exaggeration of the underlying physics in order to increase both computational efficiency and perceptual clarity;
parametric temporal control, which ensures appropriate, natural and expressive articulations of sonic processes.

Documentation

API documentation can be found online here: https://skat-vg.github.io/SDT

Implementation

The core library (framework and API) is implemented in the C language, making it suitable for developing interactive media such as games, audio and VR applications.

In addition, the SDT algorithms are made available as ready-to-go externals and patches for Cycling '74 Max and Pure Data (Pd). In particular, a package is provided for Max which offers an advanced front-end GUI, as well as examples with presets and tutorials.

Instructions for developers are collected in DEVELOPERS.md.

Installation

Downloadable ready-made products

A Max package (Mac OS and Windows) and a Pd library (Mac OS, Windows and Linux) which include patches and precompiled externals, as well as the SDT shared core library / Apple framework are provided as release assets of this repository at: https://github.com/SkAT-VG/SDT/releases Unpack the appropriate .zip file for your operating system and target platform into the desired destination folder.

Compiling from Source

Users may as well build on their machines the Max package, Pd library, and shared core library or Apple framework.

Before moving on to the instructions, you should install Git and clone this repository. Make sure to pull the SDT repository including the submodules. If you are cloning from the command-line interface, we suggest running git clone with the following options to speed up the download: the option --recurse-submodules will check out all submodules, while --filter=blob:none and --also-filter-submodules will avoid downloading unneeded blobs (but may not be supported in older git versions).

Especially on Windows systems, avoid cloning the MacOSX SDKs to avoid invalid path errors. Consider using this command on Linux systems too, since that submodule won't be needed.

git clone --recurse-submodules=":(exclude)3rdparty/MacOSX-SDKs" \
	--filter=blob:none --also-filter-submodules \
	git@github.com:SkAT-VG/SDT.git

On MacOS systems, you should clone all submodules.

git clone --recurse-submodules \
	--filter=blob:none --also-filter-submodules \
	git@github.com:SkAT-VG/SDT.git

If you are using a git client that doesn't check-out submodules automatically, enter the following git command:

git submodule update --init --recursive

or enable the equivalent option in the git preferences of your GUI client.

Dependencies (Windows)

To compile the SDT under Windows, you need a distribution of the GNU C Compiler, Make, and a UNIX style shell, as provided in MinGW + MSYS (https://www.msys2.org, recommended) or Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com). We use i686-w64-mingw32-gcc for 32-bit systems and x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc for 64-bit systems.

Dependencies (MacOS)

To compile the SDT under MacOS, you need a distribution of the Clang C Compiler (https://clang.llvm.org) and Make (https://www.gnu.org/software/make).

The Makefile will build fat binaries compatible with both x86_64 and arm64 (Apple Silicon), so you will need a Clang C Compiler version that supports arm64: we use version 12.0.0. We are building against version 11.0 of the MacOSX SDK (included in this repository as a submodule).

Dependencies (Linux)

To compile the SDT under Linux, you need a distribution of the GNU C Compiler (https://gcc.gnu.org) and Make (https://www.gnu.org/software/make).

Instructions

In a terminal, type the following command to compile all the software for your operating system: Make should be able to correctly detect your OS.
```
make -j8
```
If Make doesn't correctly detect your OS, or if you are cross-compiling, you can specify the target OS manually
```
make -j8 TARGET=<target>
```
Supported targets are: linux, win32, win64, macosx.
We suggest using the -j<N> option to run N compile jobs in parallel.

Install one or more pieces of software. Make will install the selected products in the given destination <path>, creating a SDT subfolder:

make install_max  TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

make install_pd   TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

make install_core TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

To clean the build directories after installation:
```
make clean TARGET=<target>
```

To uninstall one or more products, run the corresponding command:

make uninstall_max  TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

make uninstall_pd   TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

make uninstall_core TARGET=<target> DSTDIR=<path>

Please, provide the same arguments you provided for installation.

Acknowledgements

The SDT was developed through the years with the contribution of the following EU-projects:

2001-2003 'SOb' http://www.soundobject.org/
2006-2009 'CLOSED' http://closed.ircam.fr/
2008-2011 'NIW' http://www.soundobject.org/niw/
2014-2016 'SkAT-VG' http://www.skatvg.eu/

Contacts

SoundDesignToolkit@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/SDT.Max.Pd

SkAT-VG / SDT