I Play JavaScript: Making a Web Audio Synthesizer (Neil McCallion)

When I was six years old, my folks bought me a Bontempi toy keyboard for my birthday. I mashed those keys every day until it broke, and beyond. My parents were scarred for life, but a love of The Synth was planted in me that remains to this day.

Synthesizers are a cornerstone of modern music. Evolving from room-sized analog monsters to cutting-edge boxes, they’ve captured our imagination for more than half a century.

Did you know there’s one inside your browser?

With just a few lines of JavaScript and a little bit of experimentation, we can turn our browser into our own bespoke, one-of-a-kind instrument - no extra hardware or plugins needed.

Join me for a beginner-friendly, retro-tinted journey into creative Web Audio in the browser. We’ll tweak some virtual knobs, make some weird sounds, get a beat going, and throw it all together. Help me bring the noise-pop stylings of my formative years full circle, and learn about creative browser APIs, JavaScript data structures, and web audio in the process!