Creating Synthesizer Plug-Ins with C++ and JUCE
$ 34.99
$ 34.99
- 381 pages
- PDF & EPUB formats
- Access to private Discord group for Q&A
One book, two formats:

About the book
Audio programming is an exciting intersection between software development, digital signal processing (DSP), and creativity. It's enjoyable and rewarding once you've learned the basics, but how do you get started?
In this book, we introduce you to this exciting world with a step-by-step guide to building a synthesizer plugin. We provide straight-forward explanations to the concepts and keep the math simple.
Why build a synthesizer? Building a synth plugin is a fantastic way to learn and walk through some of the fundamental concepts of audio programming, including:
The building blocks of a synth (oscillator, filter, envelope, & LFO)
With this knowledge, you’ll be able to create your own sounds from scratch.
The basics of digital audio and DSP
Just enough math to get by.
Understanding and handling MIDI communication
Includes instruction on how to send and receive MIDI messages.
The fundamentals of real-time audio programming with C++
So you can start building your own audio plugins today.
When I started The Audio Programmer community in 2017, I imagined a day when audio software development could be more accessible for anyone who was interested in learning. Back then, the available resources and communities were catered towards the more experienced portion of our industry. As a beginner, I wished for more resources that were able to explain these topics with everyday language, rather complex terms and confusing acronyms.
This book is an important step in that dream. Matthijs has graciously shared the opportunity for us to collaborate for this amazing work. “Creating Synthesizer Plug-ins with C++ and JUCE” seeks to provide easy to follow explanations for anyone seeking to learn more about audio software development - whether you're just starting, or already actively developing and seeking to take your next steps.
Josh Hodge
Founder, The Audio Programmer
What you’ll learn
In this book, we create a follow along using C++ and the JUCE Framework. These are professional tools that are used throughout the industry, and this is one of the only books available on using the JUCE Framework.
We provide in-depth explanations on not only the how, but more importantly the why of each step of the process. This is a great resource for developers of all levels, whether you're just starting on your journey or actively working within the industry.
Anyone with at least a basic understanding of programming concepts will find this book useful!




Table of Content
⚠️ Developer Note: Grid items reorder on publish (fills top-to-bottom, then left-to-right). This message won't display on the published site.
Introduction
Chapter 1: What is a synth, exactly?
Chapter 2: Getting started with JUCE
Chapter 3: MIDI in, sound out
Chapter 4: Handling MIDI events in JUCE
Chapter 5: Introduction to oscillators
Chapter 6: The sawtooth oscillator
Chapter 7: Plugin parameters
Chapter 8: The ADSR envelope
Chapter 9: Combining oscillators
Chapter 10: Polyphony & voice management
Chapter 11: Modulation
Chapter 12: The filter
Chapter 13: User interface
Chapter 14: Where to go from here
What Readers Are Saying
Absolutely great book and I cant wait for the next!! I have little to no experience in c++ coming from Pure Data and I’m really enjoying this journey a lot! Thank you for putting this together.
Broken Pencil (Discord)
I have been doing audio apps and such but was using another's audio engine. This book gave me all the missing pieces for the synthesis part that I already 80% understood. I always wanted to write synths and sequencers based off of my own understanding not copy paste things from OS stuff. Going through all this allowed me to let go of the training wheels once and for all. So it really helped me out for the future.
The book is perfect mix of technical and playfulness. It eases the stress of how DSP feels.
TeotiGraphix (Discord)
About the Author
From the mind of Matthijs Hollemans
Matthijs Hollemans is a professional audio programmer. In his spare time he's a hobbyist musician who really needs to learn how to play the piano properly. Matthijs wrote the best-selling book The iOS Apprentice and is a co-author of Machine Learning by Tutorials from Kodeco (formerly raywenderlich.com). Check out his audio development blog at audiodev.blog.


Creating Synthesizer Plug-Ins with C++ and JUCE
One book, two formats
- 381 pages
- PDF & EPUB formats
- Access to private Discord group for Q&A
