Custom Audio Effects in JavaScript with the Web Audio API

You can get pretty far with the built-in Web Audio API nodes, but to really turn things up to 11, you may need to write custom audio effects in JavaScript. This post shows you how.

To demonstrate the effects, we’ll be using the following reference tone throughout the post:

var effect = audioContext.createGain();

Reference Tone

Simple Lowpass Filter

Let’s get warmed up with a simple lowpass filter. This filter simply averages the current input sample with the previous output sample:

var bufferSize = 4096 ; var effect = ( function () { var lastOut = 0.0 ; var node = audioContext . createScriptProcessor (bufferSize , 1 , 1 ) ; node . onaudioprocess = function (e) { var input = e . inputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; var output = e . outputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; for ( var i = 0 ; i < bufferSize ; i ++ ) { output[i] = (input[i] + lastOut) / 2.0 ; lastOut = output[i] ; } } return node ; } )() ;

Simple Lowpass

I don’t know about you, but I could barely tell a difference between that and the reference tone. But take a look at how the effect is coded – this will serve as the basic template for all of the upcoming audio effects.

The first thing to note is the buffer size. Set it too low, and you’ll get audio glitches known as buffer underruns. Set it too high, and you’ll introduce latency. Set it to 0, and the Web Audio API will pick a value for you.

Now for the actual filter definition. I’ve wrapped it all in a closure to encapsulate the filter’s internal state (in this case, the previous output sample, lastOut ). The AudioNode that actually performs the computation is the ScriptProcessor . To create a ScriptProcessor , use audioContext.createScriptProcessor() :

audioContext . createScriptProcessor (bufferSize , numInputChannels , numOutputChannels) ;

Take a look at how node is instantiated: 1 for numInputChannels and 1 for numOutputChannels . This means that this simple lowpass filter processes audio in mono. The good news is that we don’t have to worry about down-mixing from stereo and up-mixing back to stereo – the Web Audio API takes care of all that automatically.

The magic happens within the onaudioprocess callback. Within this callback, we get access to two buffers: one for reading the incoming audio data, and the other for writing the outgoing audio data. Each of these is an array of size bufferSize . The general pattern for the onaudioprocess callback is to loop through each sample of input, modify it somehow, and write the corresponding sample of output.

At this point, you may be wondering how to actually use this effect. It turns out that these custom effects use exactly the same interface as any other AudioNode :

var oscillator = audioContext . createOscillator () ; oscillator . connect (effect) ; effect . connect ( audioContext . destination ) ;

On the other hand, this effect doesn’t really do much, and I can’t think of any reason why you’d use it instead of the existing BiquadFilter . Let’s take a look at some more interesting effects.

Pinking Filter

Previously, I demonstrated how to generate pink noise with the Web Audio API. It was implemented as a series of filters designed to reduce the amplitude of white noise by 3dB per octave. We can use this same filter series on any input signal – not just white noise.

var bufferSize = 4096 ; var effect = ( function () { var b0 , b1 , b2 , b3 , b4 , b5 , b6 ; b0 = b1 = b2 = b3 = b4 = b5 = b6 = 0.0 ; var node = audioContext . createScriptProcessor (bufferSize , 1 , 1 ) ; node . onaudioprocess = function (e) { var input = e . inputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; var output = e . outputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; for ( var i = 0 ; i < bufferSize ; i ++ ) { b0 = 0.99886 * b0 + input[i] * 0.0555179 ; b1 = 0.99332 * b1 + input[i] * 0.0750759 ; b2 = 0.96900 * b2 + input[i] * 0.1538520 ; b3 = 0.86650 * b3 + input[i] * 0.3104856 ; b4 = 0.55000 * b4 + input[i] * 0.5329522 ; b5 = - 0.7616 * b5 - input[i] * 0.0168980 ; output[i] = b0 + b1 + b2 + b3 + b4 + b5 + b6 + input[i] * 0.5362 ; output[i] *= 0.11 ; // (roughly) compensate for gain b6 = input[i] * 0.115926 ; } } return node ; } )() ;

Pinking Filter

Qualitatively speaking, the filter smooths out the reference tone and makes it less “harsh” – kind of like the relationship between pink noise and white noise.

If you look closely, this filter is using the same basic technique as the simple lowpass filter (averaging the last output sample with the current input sample). The only difference is that now there’s six simple lowpass filters, where previously there was only one. In other words, filter b0 averages its last output sample (the previous value of b0 ) with the current input sample, b1 averages its last output sample (the previous value of b1 ) with the current input sample, and so on. These six filters are then combined together with the appropriate weights to approximate a -3dB/octave filter, in aggregate.

Noise Convolver

The ConvolverNode is arguably the most powerful node in the Web Audio arsenal. Combined with JavaScript, it’s absolutely devastating.

var effect = ( function () { var convolver = audioContext . createConvolver () , noiseBuffer = audioContext . createBuffer ( 2 , 0.5 * audioContext . sampleRate , audioContext . sampleRate ) , left = noiseBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) , right = noiseBuffer . getChannelData ( 1 ) ; for ( var i = 0 ; i < noiseBuffer . length ; i ++ ) { left[i] = Math . random () * 2 - 1 ; right[i] = Math . random () * 2 - 1 ; } convolver . buffer = noiseBuffer ; return convolver ; } )() ;

Noise Convolver

So what we’ve done here is create 0.5 seconds of stereophonic white noise and a ConvolverNode that uses it. You can create some really interesting effects with this technique: create a sound buffer with JavaScript, then use it to convolve an arbitrary input signal.

If you don’t know much about convolution, that’s OK. I’ll be covering the ConvolverNode in depth in a future post. For now, I’ll just say that you can use it to emulate anything from the reverb of a massive cathedral hall to the tone of a Vox AC30.

Moog Filter

Many have tried to emulate the classic Moog filter; few have succeeded. The following is based on a pretty good approximation:

var bufferSize = 4096 ; var effect = ( function () { var node = audioContext . createScriptProcessor (bufferSize , 1 , 1 ) ; var in1 , in2 , in3 , in4 , out1 , out2 , out3 , out4 ; in1 = in2 = in3 = in4 = out1 = out2 = out3 = out4 = 0.0 ; node . cutoff = 0.065 ; // between 0.0 and 1.0 node . resonance = 3.99 ; // between 0.0 and 4.0 node . onaudioprocess = function (e) { var input = e . inputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; var output = e . outputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; var f = node . cutoff * 1.16 ; var fb = node . resonance * ( 1.0 - 0.15 * f * f) ; for ( var i = 0 ; i < bufferSize ; i ++ ) { input[i] -= out4 * fb ; input[i] *= 0.35013 * (f * f) * (f * f) ; out1 = input[i] + 0.3 * in1 + ( 1 - f) * out1 ; // Pole 1 in1 = input[i] ; out2 = out1 + 0.3 * in2 + ( 1 - f) * out2 ; // Pole 2 in2 = out1 ; out3 = out2 + 0.3 * in3 + ( 1 - f) * out3 ; // Pole 3 in3 = out2 ; out4 = out3 + 0.3 * in4 + ( 1 - f) * out4 ; // Pole 4 in4 = out3 ; output[i] = out4 ; } } return node ; } )() ;

Moog Filter

Notice the resonance. The caveat with this approach is that you can’t modulate cutoff and frequency the way you can with a normal AudioParam . I thought I could get around this by creating a dummy BiquadFilter and hijacking its frequency and Q parameters. Unfortunately, the computedValue attribute referenced in the docs doesn’t appear to be publicly accessible. If anyone knows a way around this, I’d be very interested to hear about it.

Bitcrusher

Let’s take a look at one last effect: the lo-fi bitcrusher (based on this code):

var bufferSize = 4096 ; var effect = ( function () { var node = audioContext . createScriptProcessor (bufferSize , 1 , 1 ) ; node . bits = 4 ; // between 1 and 16 node . normfreq = 0.1 ; // between 0.0 and 1.0 var step = Math . pow ( 1 / 2 , node . bits ) ; var phaser = 0 ; var last = 0 ; node . onaudioprocess = function (e) { var input = e . inputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; var output = e . outputBuffer . getChannelData ( 0 ) ; for ( var i = 0 ; i < bufferSize ; i ++ ) { phaser += node . normfreq ; if (phaser >= 1.0 ) { phaser -= 1.0 ; last = step * Math . floor (input[i] / step + 0.5 ) ; } output[i] = last ; } }; return node ; } )() ;

Bitcrusher

It works by quantizing the input signal. In other words, it samples the input signal every so often, then “holds” that sample until it’s time to sample again (based on the bits and normfreq settings).

Conclusion

Hopefully this will get you started implementing some crazy audio effects. There’s a whole wild world of DSP algorithms out there, just waiting to be implemented in JavaScript.

For a great practical introduction to the art of programming audio effects, I highly recommend Designing Audio Effect Plug-Ins in C++. It was published in 2013 and covers the cutting-edge of virtual analog filter design, among many other interesting topics.

As I was researching for this article, I noticed there’s not really any good central repository for DSP effects. With the Web Audio API, a GLSL sandbox for audio effects is suddenly possible. I think a central repository for open-source audio effects with in-browser previews would be really cool. If anyone is interested in building such a platform, let me know.

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