Build your own world of sound.
Create synthesizers, audio effects, interactive installations, and generative music with Csound — the free, open-source audio programming language with over 1,500 unit generators running on desktop, web, mobile, and embedded hardware.
Pling — Self-scheduling modal resonator percussion in few lines of code.
instr Pling
// Modal filter excited by an impulse with random pitch & damping
plg:a = mode(mpulse(ampdb(random(-22, 0)), p3),
mtof(random(80, 100)), 10^(p3 - 1))
out(pan2:a[](plg, random(0, 1)))
// Recursively schedule the next event
schedule(Pling, rnd(1), random(1, 4))
endin
schedule(Pling, 0, 1)instr start_sequences
rate:k = scale(rspline:k(0,1,0.1,2)^2,10,0.3)
cps:k = cpsoct(rspline:k(4.3,9.5,0.1,1))
pan:k = rspline(0.1,4,0.1,1)
wgoct1:k = rspline(6,9,0.05,1)
wgoct2:k = rspline(6,9,0.05,1)
schedkwhen(metro(rate),0,0,wguide2_note,0,4,cps,wgoct1,wgoct2,pan)
endin
schedule(start_sequences, 0, -1)instr Tone
amp:i, freq:i = p4, p5
hrd:i, pos:i = random:i(0.1,0.9), random:i(0,1)
res:a = vibes(amp,freq,hrd,pos,1,6,0.05,2,0.1)
// panning and dry output
dryl:a,dryr:a = pan2(linen(res,0,p3,p3/2),random:i(0,1))
out(dryl,dryr)
// send part of it to reverb
rsend:i = random(0.2, 0.4)
Rev1 += rsend * dryl
Rev2 += rsend * dryr
endinOne audio engine. Every sonic paradigm.
From classic additive and FM synthesis to spectral phase vocoders, granular clouds, and physical models—Csound gives you sample-accurate control and unmatched longevity.
Deep Sound Design
Combine over 1,500 built-in opcodes for subtractive, FM, granular, spectral (PVS), waveguide, and modal synthesis—or write custom DSP with User-Defined Opcodes.
Plugins & Standalone Apps
Design custom graphical interfaces with Cabbage to export VST3/AU plugins for any DAW, build interactive instruments in CsoundQt, or score in Blue.
Host APIs & Live Coding
Drive Csound from Python (Jupyter notebooks, ctcsound, csoundengine), C/C++, JavaScript/WASM, Max/MSP, or PureData.
Run Anywhere
Deploy the exact same .csd orchestra on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Unity, Godot, WebAssembly, Raspberry Pi, Bela, ESP32, and ARM Cortex-M7.
Expressive modern syntax meets 40 years of stability.
Csound 7.0 introduces explicit colon type annotations (sig:a, cutoff:k), user-defined struct types, function-style UDO definitions, and a modernized host API—while running classic Csound pieces from the 1980s without modification.
- Explicit Types & Structs: Descriptive variable names and custom data structures.
- Functional & Classic Styles: Write
outall(moogladder:a(vco2:a(0.2, 440), 2000, 0.4))or classic orchestra lines. - Zero-Install Browser Workflow: Learn interactively in the Csound Web IDE and FLOSS Manual.
instr SubSynth
// Explicit variable typing in Csound 7
amp:i = p4
freq:i = p5
env:k = madsr:k(0.05, 0.3, 0.6, 0.4)
osc1:a = vco2:a(amp, freq)
osc2:a = vco2:a(amp, freq * 0.995)
filtered:a = moogladder:a((osc1 + osc2) * 0.5, 4500 * env, 0.35)
outall(filtered * env)
endin
schedule(SubSynth, 0, 2.5, 0.25, 220)
schedule(SubSynth, 0, 2.5, 0.25, 330)Latest News & Releases
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