A Programmer's Guide to Sound [With Contains the Full Source Code from the Book...]

by Tim Kientzle

Book Overview

From the roar of the jet engines in a flight simulator to the use of voice annotations, sound is becoming a critical aspect of all applications. This text provides a comprehensive, practical resource... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0201419726
• ISBN13: 9780201419726
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good cross-platform intro to sound

This is the only book that I've come across that covers any of the trivialities of cross-platform sound programming. Sure there are better books on the various platform APIs, but they don't cover the differences between playing sound on Windows vs Mac. Small things like signed and unsigned data and byte swapping for 16 bit data are covered here. You won't find these things in Petzold's book. I did find a few small problems in the example code, but if you actually read the book, they're easy to spot. If you're writing cross-platform sound code, this book will be very helpful.

Great C++ resource. Not a good academic resource.

The CD included with this book will get you started programming *fast*. But be forewarned, the style of C++ used is written using the latest standard which includes namespaces and STL. You'll need a current C++ compiler with libraries.Kietzle really just tries to plow through the theory so he can cut to describing the included code. And I don't blame him. The inheritence and polymorphism used allows *extreme* flexibility and takes some patience to understand.If you want to *really* understand antialising, sample rates and the Nyquist frequency, then you'd be better off with "The Computer Music Tutorial" (Roads). The book delivers as advertised and makes a great resource for all programmers who have an interest in audio.

This book is an excellent reference for sound formats

I have spent a lot of time trying to find information on many of the topics covered and to find 1 resource that has all information and is well tested is a gold mine. I have recommended that professors use the book in their DSP classes. The source code is easy to follow and compiles without a hitch. It is an excellent resource.

An introduction with a good c++ framework

WHAT THIS BOOK DOES WELL:* Explains audio signals, frequency, pitch, and Fourier transforms at a level suitable for anyone who understands trig, and in a highly readable way* Explains file formats (WAV, AU, AIFF, MPEG formats, MIDI, MOD formats, etc.), and compression schemes, complete with tested implementation code* Explains basic frequency filtering (with code)* Implements readable, usable c++WHAT'S BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS BOOK:* In depth DSPs, physics, acoustics, or mathematics* More complex transforms, like pitchbending without changing the length, noise reduction, adding reverb, flanging, etc.* Highly optimized numerical algorithmsIN SHORT: if you need an introduction to the subject or just want a royalty-free code base for file format handling, this is an excellent book. If you already know all the basics, you won't learn very much.

Excellent audio intro

Covers basics of the generation and perception of sound, then shifts into discussion of the various formats in common use by software engineers and hackers. Every programming concept is illustrated with C++ example code, from which Kientzle builds a reusable framework. This framework is available on a CD that is included with the book. This book serves well as a compendium of audio knowledge scattered around in specs, standards, and papers.I would love to see a future edition with Java bindings to the C++ framework.