WebChucK

ChucK => now on the Web

Web-based computer music programming with ChucK for online audiovisual experiences, web apps, musical instruments and more! Take ChucK with you on the go!

Example image

WebChucK?

github | docs | npm

WebChucK brings ChucK, the strongly-timed audio programming language, to the web! ChucK’s C++ source code has been compiled with Emscripten to WebAssembly (WASM) and runs via the AudioWorkletNode interface of the Web Audio API. With near-native performance, WebChucK runs on modern desktop browsers as well as tablets and mobile devices! Bring together ChucK’s real-time sound synthesis engine and the interconnectivity of the web to create new experiences and develop creative workflows. Embed WebChucK into any website to power online audiovisual experiences, immersive multi-channel audio web apps, or shareable musical instruments! Check out the GitHub to learn more or contribute!

WebChucK powers WebChucK IDE: an amazing web-based programming sandbox for ChucK

Read more about WebChucK and WebChucK IDE:

Featured Projects

Feedback Delay

Feedback Delay - Terry Feng

A stereo pitch-shift feedback delay effect for live improvisation performance and electronics.

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SoundscapeAI

SoundscapeAI - Terry Feng

Extract environmental sonic features for real-time ambient soundscape generation with concatenative synthesis. Utilizes Chuck for AI (ChAI) tools.

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ChucK Timbre Library

Virtual Instrument Timbre Library - Jack Atherton

Connect a MIDI keyboard to play some web-based virtual synths. Jack’s Timbre Library for ChucK provides several examples of web-based virtual synths in action.

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Chauvet Cave Beep Ploc Symphony

Chauvet Cave Beep Ploc Symphony - Luna Valentin

A data sonification project examining the effect of increased extreme weather phenomena on the ecological balance of caves in France, previously inhabited by our Paleolithic ancestors 36,000 years ago.

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Image Sonifier

Image Sonifier - Cole Simmons

An image-to-sound converter that uploads an image from the user, retrieves various parameters like minimum and maximum hue and saturation, and sonifies the calculated data with WebChucK.

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Gutter Synthesis

Barrel Synth - Josh Mitchell

A unique virtual instrument inspired by Tom Mudd’s Gutter Synthesis algorithm. A bank of sliders lets you control the amount of feedback between a set of unruly chaotic oscillators.

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Getting Started

CDN

Embed WebChucK as a JS module into your index.html.

<html>
  <head>
    <script type="module" defer>
      import { Chuck } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/webchuck/+esm';

      document.getElementById('action').addEventListener('click', async () => {
        // Initialize default ChucK object, if not already initialized
        window.theChuck ??= await Chuck.init([]);
        // Run ChucK code
        theChuck.runCode(`
          SinOsc sin => dac;
          440 => sin.freq;
          1::second => now;
        `);
      });
    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <button id="action">Start and Play</button>
  </body>
</html>

theChuck will be available as a global variable.

NPM

Install WebChucK via npm. WebChucK can also be used with TypeScript.

$ npm install webchuck

import { Chuck } from 'webchuck'

// Initialize default ChucK object
const theChuck = await Chuck.init([]);

// Run ChucK code
theChuck.runCode(`
    SinOsc sin => dac;
    440 => sin.freq;
    1::second => now;
`);

Note that many browsers do not let audio run without a user interaction (e.g. button press). You can check for a suspended audio context and resume like this:

if (theChuck.context.state === 'suspended') {
    theChuck.context.resume();
}

Documentation

Getting Started Documentation Guide: here

WebChucK full documentation and API reference (communicating between JS and ChucK):