Sample-based synth - is it possible/wise?

[geraintluff]

If I wanted to implement a synth that loaded its samples from WAV files when it needed to (instead of holding them all in memory at once), what would be the best way to do that? Has anyone implemented this?

As far as I understand it: the file_open() function returns a handle, and if the file is a WAV then file_var() or file_mem(). I can hopefully keep the handle, reading out samples when I need them until the note is finished. I don't see a way to seek within a file, but I think I can work around that.

Is this an unwise idea?

[Xenakios]

You will go insane trying to implement something like that with JesuSonic.

[IXix]

Originally Posted by geraintluff

Is this an unwise idea?

Haha, that's a terrible idea but I'm sure you'll have fun trying to make it work!

[geraintluff]

Well, the actual idea is not too hard - here's a proof-of-concept demo that I just knocked together. That doesn't cache the files at all (so it will get multiple handles for the same file if multiple notes are using the sample), and it uses simple linear interpolation, but it still works.

I was more wondering what kind of performance issues or whatever I might run into, or if there are technical limitations to this kind of approach that are going to scupper me months later.

For example, many sample-based synths that stream from disk will buffer ahead, but that's something you can only do if you have threads, so not being able to do that might have latency implications. Does using file_open() with a number (instead of a string) keep some kind of reference to the file in the file system, or is resolving the filename every time the file is opened?