A Programmer's Guide to Sound by Tim Kientzle

Product Details

Synopsis

Author appearance

"I just wish this book had been available years ago."
-Bobby Prince, composer and sound designer for computer games including Doom and Duke Nukem 3D

"This is the kind of book that will stand as one of the defining works in the specialization of audio programming."
-Gene Turnbow, senior programmer and game designer for Sound Source Interactive, Inc.

"I'm amazed at the breadth and depth of Tim's coverage."
-George Wright
Information Systems, Loyola College, Maryland

A Programmer's Guide To Sound provides detailed technical information about audio storage, processing, and compression, and includes tested C++ source code. Developers who want to add sound technology to their applications will find all the details they need to:

• access low-level sound services on Win32, Mac OS, and UNIX
• decompress MPEG, IMA ADPCM, and µ-Law data
• read from WAVE, VOC, AIFF, and AU file formats
• play MIDI and MOD music files.

This book also includes accessible introductions to related topics, such as instrument synthesis, musical tuning, human sound perception, digital filtering, and Fourier Transforms.

Developers will especially appreciate the emphasis placed on practical details. For every topic, the author provides complete source code to demonstrate the principles involved. The source code from the book compiles into a sample program that reads and plays a wide variety of different sound files on Win32, Mac OS, and UNIX. The CD-ROM includes all 40,000 lines of source code from the book, in addition to project files for popularcompilers, sample sound files, and contributed software and related information.

Whether you are an audio professional who wants to learn more about programming or a computer programmer who wants to know more about implementing audio, this comprehensive resource will be an invaluable reference for years to come.

Biography

Tim Kientzle has a PhD in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and has developed software for PDAs, embedded systems, and desktop systems. In addition he has taught mathematics, and has written numerous books and magazine articles on software development. Currently he works as a senior technical editor for Dr. Dobb's Journal.