AudioMulch

AudioMulch is modular audio software for making music and processing sound. The software can synthesize sound and process live and pre-recorded sound in real-time.

AudioMulch has a patcher-style graphical user interface, in which modules called contraptions can be connected together to route audio and process sounds. Included are modules used in electronic dance music such as a bassline-style synthesizer and a drum machine, effects like ring modulation, flanging, reverb and delays, and other modules such as a delay-line granulator and stereo spatializer. As well as these internal contraptions, AudioMulch supports VST and VSTi plugins.

Origins of AudioMulch
AudioMulch grew out of musician Ross Bencina's performance practice in the mid-1990s. At this time, live, computer-based sound processing systems were often expensive and restricted to use within research institutions. By 1995 however, the processing capabilities of the personal computer were sufficient that Bencina was able to create OverSYTE, a real-time performance granulator. OverSYTE was used by Bencina to process sound in his real-time performances with vocalists and instrumental musicians. AudioMulch grew out of the limitations of OverSYTE, which could process only one sound at a time. In contrast, AudioMulch can process multiple sounds sources at once.

Development of AudioMulch
AudioMulch has been in development since 1997. The first release made available for download on the Internet was beta version 0.7b1, in March 1998. There were 36 Beta releases prior to Version 1.0 of the software, which was released in February 2006. AudioMulch 1.0 was developed for Microsoft Windows in the C++ programming language, using the Borland C++ Builder development environment.

Version 1.0
Version 1.0 was released on 21 February 2006.

Version 2.0
AudioMulch 2.0 was released 5 June 2009. According to the website, this version is available for both Windows and Macintosh computers.

Version 2.1
Version 2.1 was released 4 August 2010. Version 2.1 supports custom time signatures, Audio Unit plugin support on Mac OS X, dynamic processing contraptions, and an alternate light gray color scheme.

AudioMulch 1.0 features

 * An interactive user-interface with three main panes:
 * 1) a patcher for routing audio between contraptions
 * 2) a pane containing control panels for each contraption
 * 3) an automation timeline supporting automation of contraption parameters
 * Support for real-time sound-processing and performance.
 * 24 channels of real-time input/output.
 * Multi-channel recording and playback of multiple sound files.
 * Contraptions including signal generators, effects, filters and mixers.
 * Input sound can be taken from sound files or real-time audio input.
 * Output is heard in real-time and can be simultaneously recorded to a sound file.
 * Any processing parameter in AudioMulch can be controlled by MIDI. This includes the use of external hardware such as knob boxes, gaming controllers, virtual reality gloves and custom control devices.

AudioMulch 2.0 features

 * A new Patcher with advanced drag-and-drop patching and MIDI routing
 * MIDI and automation control for Clock transport (tempo, stop, start) and Metasurface interpolation.
 * Enhanced Drums contraption with 8 channels and a new pattern editor supporting arbitrary length high-resolution patterns
 * Expanded multichannel audio I/O capability to support up to 256 channels in each direction and improved compatibility with consumer multichannel audio interfaces using DirectSound and Windows Multimedia drivers.

Future
As outlined in AudioMulch's road map, future versions should bring new sound mangling, filtering and resonating contraptions, an overhauled undo system, 3rd party host integration and performance modulation, as well as further enhancements to existing sound and keyboard controls.

As of April 2024, the long-promised 64-bit compatible version of AudioMulch has not yet been released despite encouraging remarks documented in the application's website forums that include anecdotes from encounters with Ross that indicate Audiomulch remains under development. The website remains fully active and there is a sizeable global user base still using the application.

Musicians that use or have used AudioMulch

 * Nine Inch Nails
 * Girl Talk
 * Four Tet
 * Lackluster
 * Erdem Helvacioglu
 * Shitmat
 * Pimmon
 * Tim Hecker

The discography on the AudioMulch website has a list of other artists that have used AudioMulch in commercial releases.