Resources for presentations and talks I've given
This repository holds materials for the various talks and presentations I’ve given. Links to video recordings where available can be found below.
Website version at domenicostefani.com/talks
Everything else about me and my work lives at domenicostefani.com.
Template/Repo Style from Dave Rowland’s https://github.com/drowaudio/presentations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has invaded the music world! News articles discuss the most recent AI song generation tools, how realistic the results are, and how musicians will lose their jobs to AI. On social media we keep seeing example of AI-generated songs ranging from memes to scary uncanny songs. But is full song generation the only thing AI can do in the music world, or can it be useful as a tool in a musician’s toolkit? In this talk, we will leave most song-generating AIs behind and explore various ways AI can be used in music, from composition to performance and sound design, and how it can aid the creative process rather than replace the musician. Examples span from stem separation to experimental timbre manipulation and sound matching. Finally, we will lay the groundwork for reflections on the concepts of agency and creativity in AI and music. This talk presents the current state of AI in music and many practical examples of AI tools.
Tackling a project that involves swapping the cores of two audio plugins seemed straightforward at first:
Yes, spatial audio is complex, but these are two similar JUCE plugins and I can just swap the core code components, it will be easy, right?
It wasn’t, and it uncovered many unexpected challenges and learning opportunities.
In this talk, I will share my experience of improving an existing spatial audio plugin (SPARTA 6DoFConv) by replacing its convolution engine with a more efficient alternative. This process required deep dives into complex and sparsely commented audio DSP code and problem-solving.
The core of this presentation will focus on the general learning points from this endeavor. I will discuss some of the strategies I employed to understand and navigate complex codebases and the practical steps taken to embed a new convolution engine in an audio plugin. Additionally, I will explore the unforeseen issues that arose, such as dealing with the drawbacks of highly optimized algorithms and integrating a crossfade system, compromising between efficiency and level of integration.
This talk aims to provide valuable insights for developers, especially those who are starting out and want to start understanding and customizing other people’s code. Join me in exploring the lessons learned, strategies employed, and trade-offs considered in creating a more efficient six-degrees-of-freedom spatial audio plugin.
1 page submission abstract can be found here.