FAUST: A framework for algorithm understanding and sonification testing

Abstract

One of the main obstacles to experimentation with algorithm sonification is the lack of simple tools for auditory display. There is considerable overhead both in creating sounds and in deciding which sounds are best suited to a particular algorithm. The goal of FAUST is to provide a framework that programmers can use to easily sonify their programs. FAUST is a modular tool which allows simple mapping of algorithm events to sound parameters and provides the actual structure needed to create the sound. Programmers can thus test sonification options without having to understand the underlying sound synthesis mechanisms. However, the underlying sound synthesis framework does allow interested programmers to easily change sound synthesis algorithms, or to add features and parameters to the existing algorithms.