Developing Audio Effect Plugins with CLAP

Audio effect plugins, including filters, delays, phasers, reverb effects, and more, have become ubiquitous in modern music and audio production, and offer a powerful platform for unique and experimental digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms. CLAP is a modern and forward-thinking plugin standard that has gained popularity in recent years due to its flexibility, performance, and extensibility.

In this workshop, participants will learn the fundamentals of audio plugin development and audio DSP through hands-on, real-world examples. Along the way, they will design and build their own audio effect plugins using the CLAP standard, gaining a deep understanding of both the signal processing concepts and how to implement them in practice.

The week-long workshop will be structured as follows:

• Day 1: Introduction to the CLAP plugin standard. Participants will build their first simple plugins and explore core CLAP features.
• Days 2–3: Deep dive into core digital signal processing techniques for audio effects, including filter design, waveshaping, dynamics processing, delay effects, and modulation effects, with guided implementation of multiple plugins.
• Days 4–5: Independent project work. Participants will design and build their own plugins, alongside discussions of more advanced topics in plugin architecture and DSP.

Jatin Chowdhury is a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He previously earned a Master’s degree in Music, Science, and Technology from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Jatin is an audio signal processing engineer and plugin developer who has released numerous commercial plugins in partnership with companies such as BABY Audio, Schwabe Digital, and Bogren Digital, as well as open-source plugins and software libraries under the name Chowdhury DSP.

Gabriel Soule is a Master’s student at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University. His research interests include physical instrument modeling and novel synthesis techniques/audio effects. He develops and maintains a collection of open-source audio plugins and software libraries. In past years, Gabriel worked as a cryptographic researcher designing new zero-knowledge proof systems and other cryptographic protocols, but these days he prefers music technology and signal processing.

Participants are expected to be familiar with programming in at least one low-level language (C, C++, Rust, etc.) and should be comfortable with high-school-level mathematics.

Please bring:

• A laptop (Windows / macOS / Linux), with a working compiler for your low-level language of choice.
• A pair of headphones.

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