Olivier Bélanger - Audio Software Developer and Teacher

About

Olivier Bélanger (1977) completed in February 2009 a doctorate in electroacoustic composition, computer music and software development orientation, at the Université de Montréal, under the direction of Jean Piché and Caroline Traube. His work has focused on creating a model of singing voice synthesis, developing algorithmic controls of synthesis tools and designing audio softwares. As an audio software developer, his projects focus on algorithms for audio synthesis, sound transformation and new environments for audio programming and live coding. His work allows composers and sound designers to manipulate sound creatively (Cecilia, Soundgrain, ServerGris) as well as to explore the different paradigms of audio signal processing (DSPDemo, Plugex, CookDSP). Its pyo audio module is used all over the world, both in teaching and production. From 2003 to 2020, Olivier was a lecturer at the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal where he taught courses on digital signal processing theory and audio programming. As such, he has contributed significantly to the program by designing numerous courses and creating multiple teaching resources (course notes, tools and software). Over the years, he has taught audio programming and digital signal processing with Csound, MaxMSP, Puredata, Python, C/C++ and Reaper's plugin language JS. Olivier now works at Audiokinetic as a software developer in the Cross Platform team.

Software Design and Development (2005 - today)

• Pyo - A Python module of more than 300 objects dedicated to audio signal processing. The audio code, written in C, is highly optimised and written according to the state of the art.
• E-Pyo - E-Pyo is a simple IDE especially configured to edit pyo audio programs.
• Cecilia 5 - Cecilia is an audio signal processing environment aimed at sound designers. It uses pyo as its audio engine.
• Soundgrain - Soundgrain is a graphical interface where users can draw and edit trajectories to control granular sound synthesis.
• Plugex - More than 40 PLUGin EXamples made with JUCE.
• Zyne - Zyne is a Python modular synthesizer using pyo as its audio engine.
• DSPDemo - Tool to analyze and visualize digital signal processing.
• CookDSP - DSP library for Reaper’s plugin language JS.
• ServerGRIS - ServerGRIS is an external multichannel sound spatializer for different configurations of speakers.
• OLPC-TamTam - Member of the development team of OLPC-TamTam, a suite of four music and sound related activities for the XO.
• Ounk - Ounk is a Python audio scripting environment that uses Csound as its engine. This project is deprecated, see Pyo instead.
• Cecilia4Csound - Cecilia is an audio signal processing environment using Csound as its audio engine. This project is deprecated, see Cecilia5 instead.

Teaching (2003 - 2020)

Creation and teaching of the following courses:

• Analyse, synthèse et traitement des sons - MUS-1321 - UdeM
• Création musicale en langage Python 1 - MUS-1323 - UdeM
• Création musicale en langage Python 2 - MUS-3327X/6327X - UdeM
• Traitement sonore en temps réel 1 - MUS-3324X/6324X - UdeM
• Traitement sonore en temps réel 2 - MUS-3325X/6325X - UdeM
• Projet en informatique musicale - MUS-3329X/6329X - UdeM
• Éléments d'acoustique - M08 313 94 - Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal (2007)

Individual follow-up:

• Cours projet: lutherie audionumérique 1 à 4 - MCT-2541/45 - UdeM

Course notes and teaching materials developed for the Python/pyo and Puredata classes:

• La création musicale avec Python (PDF et scripts)
• La création musicale avec Puredata (PDF et patchs)

Sound Engineer (2000 - 2005)

From 2000 to 2005, Olivier worked as technical director and sound engineer for Code d'accès and Réseaux des arts médiatiques.

Awards

• Teaching excellence award (educational innovation component), Université de Montréal, 2014.
• Second place for pyo at LoMus2012 music software contest, AFIM (Association Française d’Informatique Musicale), 2012

Thesis

Le cycle des voix is composed of four sections.

• Development of a source-filter singing voice synthesis.
• Development of a virtual model of the didjeridu.
• Creation of the audio scripting environment Ounk.
• Use of these tools in the compositional approach of Le cycle des voix.

The seven pieces of Le cycle des voix can be listened to on SoundCloud.

Publications

• Bélanger, O., Traube, C., Modélisation du didjéridou et de ses modes de jeu, CIM05, Université de Montréal, 2005
• Bélanger, Traube, Piché, Designing and controlling a source-filter model for naturalistic and expressive singing voice synthesis, ICMC, Copenhagen, 2007
• Bélanger, O., Ounk - An audio scripting environment for signal processing and music composition, ICMC, Belfast, 2008
• Products of Interest, Ounk: Audio Scripting Environment, Computer Music Journal, Summer 2009, p119.
• Ounk and pyo published in The audio programming book, MIT Press, Richard Boulanger et Victor Lazzarini, Boston, 2010
• Bélanger, O., La programmation audio avec Python, GNU Linux Magazine France, éditions diamond, volume 157, 2013
• Bélanger, O., Pyo: A Dedicated Module For Digital Signal Processing, Pycon 2014, Montréal, 2014
• Bélanger, O., Cecilia 5, la boîte à outils du traitement audio-numérique, JIM 2014, Bourges, 2014.
• Bélanger, O., Création dynamique de plugiciels avec le langage JS de Reaper et la librairie CookDSP, JIM 2015, Montréal, 2015.
• Michaud, P., Bélanger, O., Paris, L., Le Projet Q-Live, JIM 2015, Montréal, 2015.
• Bélanger, O., Pyo, un module python dédié au traitement de signal audio, Rencontres Francophone de Lutherie Augmentée 2016, Neuchâtel, Suisse, 2016
• Bélanger, O., Pyo, the Python DSP toolbox, ACM MultiMedia 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2016
• Bélanger, O., La création d'interfaces graphiques avec WxPython, GNU Linux Magazine France, éditions diamond, volume 200, janvier 2017
• Bélanger, O., La programmation audio multicoeur avec Python, GNU Linux Magazine France, éditions diamond, volume 203, avril 2017
• Ledoux, D., Normandeau, R., Bélanger, O., Lengelé, C., SpatGRIS/ServerGRIS, Creative tools for 2D and 3D sound spatialization, ICMC 2018, South Korea, August 2018
• Ledoux, D., Normandeau, R., Bélanger, O., Lengelé, C., Vers une approche immersive de la composition musicale par le développement d’outils de spatialisation sonore: ControlGRIS et ServerGRIS, JIM 2019, Bayonne, France, mai 2019

Workshops

• Création de plugiciels audio avec le langage JSFX de Reaper, UdeM, 2015
• Pyo, Making Sound with Python, McGill/CIRMMT, 2012
• Ounk, A Python Audio Scripting Environment that uses Csound as its Engine, McGill/CIRMMT, 2008

Music

Olivier's music can be listened to on SoundCloud and on Radio Pyo.

Video Links

• Pyo demo - use cases
• Pyo running on the Bela platform
• Soundgrain demo - getting started
• Soundgrain demo - granulation controls
• Soundgrain demo - drawing features
• Cecilia5, la boîte à outils du traitement audio-numérique, JIM 2014, 22.05.2014
• Sounds delights for Pythonistas with pyo, MontréalPython 20, 4.11.2011
• Ounk, un environnement de scripting musical, MontréalPython 07, 27.05.2009

Contact

belangeo@gmail.com