WolfTalk: Podcast About Audio Programming (People, Careers, Learning‪)‬ Jan Wilczek

Eric Tarr is a professor at the Belmont University where he teaches Audio Signal Processing. In the audio programming community, he’s most famous for his book “Hack Audio” on the basics of digital signal processing using Matlab and his point-to-point modeling library for analog audio circuit emulation.
Eric’s work has definitely been an inspiration for starting the WolfSound blog and the YouTube channel so it’s really exciting to have him on the show!
In the podcast, we’ll delve into his story, how he learned audio signal processing, how he managed to work with some amazing audio companies (Sennheiser, Epic Games, Skywalker Sounds), and top tips on how to learn DSP coming from Eric’s teaching experience. We also discuss in detail how to model analog audio circuits for audio plugins (so called virtual analog modeling). Here, Eric describes which state-of-the-art methods are available and how you can learn them. He also shares the details of this point-to-point modeling library which allows you to easily emulate analog audio circuits.
As a special feat, I’d asked my coachees who follow Eric’s work to provide questions to him concerning a variety of different topics, including the impact of AI on the virtual analog modeling space.
All in all, it’s an episode that you don’t want to miss!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 
In this podcast episode, you will learn:
how Eric learned digital audio signal processing based on his passion for music and electronics,how he became a professor for Audio Engineering Technology at the Belmont University,how he wrote the famous “Hack Audio” book,why he uses Matlab instead of Python in his teaching,how he was able to deliver numerous audio-related projects to various companies worldwide,how he developed his point-to-point audio circuit modeling library,how you can learn digital signal processing (even if you’re just starting out),what is the go-to language and technology stack for creating commercial audio products,what are the state-of-the-art methods to model analog audio circuits,is it worth going to the Audio Developer Conference?
This episode was recorded on January 19, 2024.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Chase Kanipe: a cybersecurity professional, a musician, and an audio programmer (formerly C++ with JUCE, currently Rust). Chase is most widely known through his incredible Audio Developer Conference talks:
Tips From a Hacker on License Checking at ADC22Writing Elegant DSP Code with Rust at ADC23 (to be released soon)
Both were really insightful and of incredibly high quality. One could not overlook Chase’s personal culture and the depth with which he explained the concepts. Not to mention that both of his talks made it into my “Top 10 ADC Talks” videos for both ADC22 and ADC23!
Chase is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Machine Learning at the University of Maryland. At the same time, he’s working on his breakthrough audio project in a self-grounded company Procedural Audio.
In the podcast, we discuss his path of being a classically trained musician, a passionate cybersecurity specialist, and then transitioning into audio programming with Rust and into AI. He’s an incredibly inspiring individual and I have learned a lot from interviewing him!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 
In this podcast episode, you will learn:
Should an audio programmer learn assembly?What every audio programmer should know about cybersecurityMost common types of vulnerabilities in audio pluginsShould you use Rust instead of C++ for audio projects?How to optimize your audio code?Best resources on learning: cybersecurity, digital audio signal processing, Rust, and assembly.Music for optimal programming productivity 💪
This episode was recorded on January 3, 2024.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Ruurd Adema: a freelance audio developer from the Netherlands working primarily in JUCE and C++ (but not only).
I met Ruurd at the Audio Developer Conference 2023 and I believe his story is incredibly inspiring; he went from being a live sound engineer doing front-of-house (FOH) mixing at the biggest events in the Netherlands to contracting as a freelance audio developer.
In the interview, he shares his story and a ton of useful resources and tips to help others follow his footsteps.
If you’re looking for inspiration and a clear learning path to become an audio developer this is an episode for you!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode contents 
In this podcast episode, you will learn:

how Ruurd become a mixing engineer of one of the largest live shows in the world,the secret to mixing it right 😉how he started learning audio programming on the side (and how you can too),how he successfully launched his freelance audio dev career by taking 5 (sic!) projects at once,top resources to learn audio programming on your own,top tools to use in audio software development,how to find new clients in freelance audio programming, andhow to structure your workday for maximum programming productivity. 🚀
This episode was recorded on December 13, 2023.

In this podcast episode, I was very pleased to guest Linus Corneliusson: a mixing engineer and editing assistant at Fascination Street Studios who has shifted towards audio plugin development.
I met Linus (and his colleague Jacek) at the Audio Developer Conference 2022 and he’s definitely one of the most friendly and funny people in the community. What is even more amazing, he’s worked in the studio with top-notch heavy metal bands, like James LaBrie, Soilwork, DragonForce, Haken, Leprous, Dark Tranquility, Between the Buried and Me, and Fates Warning (basically most of the major names in the progressive metal genre).
In the podcast, we discus how Linus started creating simple audio plugins on the side which led him to pursuing a full-blown career as an audio programmer for Bogren Digital. We also discuss tools, tips, and resources he used and recommends for starting in audio programming.
Are you a mixing engineer looking for a way to transition into audio development? Are you seeking advice on which path to take and which resources are the best to reach out for? Do you need inspiration and motivation? Then this episode is for you!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏
Episode Contents In this podcast episode, you will learn:
how Linus started his studio career and ended up working with the top metal bands 🤟 in the industryhow a mixing engineer can start writing their own plugins 🎚️how Linus decided to pursue the audio programming path and which resources he usedwhat are the tools he’s using day-to-dayis the Audio Developer Conference worth going to (spoiler: it is but find out why 😉)
This episode was recorded on November 29, 2023.

For this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Ian Hobson: a former DJ who transitioned to audio programming, worked at Ableton, and then launched a successful freelancing career.
Ian is well-known in the community for his talks on Rust at the Audio Developer Conferences and on YouTube. He’s also created his own programming language: Koto.
We met at the Audio Developer Conference 2022 and he was kind enough to agree on recording an interview with him. I must say that after recording the podcast, I respect his drive to continuously learn and improve even more!
Ian shares a ton of useful knowledge on
freelancing,Rust for audio programming,learning Rust,self-organization,learning DSP,maintaining the internal drive in the professional career,and more!I highly encourage you to listen to the podcast in full!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏
Episode Contents In this podcast episode, you will learn:
how Ian got into DJ-ing and how he then went back to the univerisity to become an audio programmerhow he landed his job at Abletonwhy he started exploring Rust for audiowhy is Rust more programmer-friendly than C++how to become a freelancer in the audio programming spacehow to stay organized as a freelancerwhat is Ian’s go-to tech stack at the moment.
The episode was recorded on November 3, 2023.

In this podcast episode, I was lucky to interview Oliver Larkin: an audio programming legend from the UK.
Starting with a passion for music, going through Max, SynthEdit, PureData, then C++ to JavaScript and others, there is no audio technology that's not known to him. He has worked on projects with Arturia and Focusrite (among many more) and nowadays works for Ableton. He has conducted research in spatial audio, and has created successful plugins, like the Casio CZ-101 synthesizer emulation.
He is most widely known as the co-author of Web Audio Modules and iPlug2: an C++ framework for creating audio plugins and web-hosted audio apps. It allows you to have a single codebase that builds various plugin formats out of the box, e.g., VST, AAX, and AU. Sounds familiar? That's because it is an alternative to the JUCE framework.
With 20 years of experience in audio programming, he can be a role model for aspiring audio programmers.
All this and more, including Oli’s learning path is discussed in this podcast episode!
Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. Thank you for doing this 🙏
Episode Contents In this podcast episode, you will learn:
how Oli has learned audio programming thanks to his passion for musichow his carreer path unfolded from the university up until today when he’s working full-time for Ableton in Berlinhow he collaborated with Plugin Boutique at its very starthow he came up with the idea of iPlug2 and what are the challenges involvedhow he came across the idea of Web Audio Modules and helped develop them furtherhow to be a successful freelancer in the field of audio programminghow indie developers can make their audio plugins successfulwhat’s his tech stackbest resources on learning music DSP