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Vult

Vult is a simple and powerful language to program high-performance algorithms that may run in small microprocessors or microcontrollers. Vult is specially useful when programming Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms like audio effects or synthesizers.

The Vult compiler is a transcompiler, which takes Vult code and produces plain C/C++ code that can be compiled in any platform with a C/C++ compiler, for example: Arduino or Teensy boards (using fixed-point arithmetics). Vult can also generate JavaScript that can be run directly in the browser or C/C++ that can be compiled as Pure Data externals. Code written in Vult has freedom.

Check out the documentation and tutorial in http://vult-dsp.github.io/vult/ or take a look at the Wiki.

Basics

To generate C/C++ code with floating point arithmetic you have to execute vult as follows:

$ vultc -ccode infile.vult -o outfile

This will produce the files outfile.h and outfile.cpp. In order to compile and link these files you need to include in your project the files runtime/vultin.h and runtime/vultin.cpp.

To generate code with fixed point arithmetics you need to execute:

$ vultc -ccode -real fixed infile.vult -o outfile

Fixed point arithmetics are performed in q16 format; 16 bits for the integer part and 16 for the decimal.

Vult provides a few templates; for example to generate objects compatible with the Teensy Audio Library or Pure Data externals.

You can check these repositories for examples:

PicoADK (Raspberry Pi Pico) https://github.com/DatanoiseTV/PicoADK-Firmware-Template
WebAudio https://github.com/modlfo/vult-webaudio
PureData https://github.com/vult-dsp/vult/tree/master/examples
Teensy Audio https://github.com/modlfo/teensy-vult-example

In the Wiki

The DSP code for all Vult VCV Rack and Vult Eurorack modules is written in the Vult language.

Credits

Vult is maintained by: Leonardo Laguna Ruiz with the help of Carl Jönsson and Johan Rhodin

Logo design by: John Klimt https://www.facebook.com/JohnKlimt

Installing

There are three flavors the Vult compiler:

command line (native executables and node.js version)
node.js library
web browser library

Installing with npm

You need to have node.js and npm installed. This version of the compiler is 4x slower than the native version. If you have a large project it is recommended to install the native compiler. To install the Js version with npm run:

$ npm install vult -g

This will install provide vultc command in your path. Vult is updated frequently, you can use the same command to update Vult.

Installing the native executable

The native executables can be downloaded from the releases page. Pick the executable corresponding to your operating system and place it in a location pointed by your PATH variable.

Installing the compiler as a JavaScript library

To install the node.js library use:

$ npm install vultlib

Embedding in a Web page

The compiler can be embedded in a web page providing and it provides all the functionality.

<script src="https://modlfo.github.io/vult/javascripts/vultweb.js"></script>

For an example check:

https://github.com/modlfo/vult-webaudio

A glipse of Vult

Vult is based on the idea that a single function can be a full processing unit. Think of it as being a block or a box in your favorite graphical audio environment e.g. a box in PureData. Functions can store information. Consider the following code for a digital biquad filter:

fun biquad(x0, b0, b1, b2 ,a1 ,a2) : real {
    mem w1, w2;
    val w0 = x0 - a1 * w1 - a2 * w2;
    val y0 = b0 * w0 + b1 * w1 + b2 * w2;
    w2, w1 = w1, w0;
    return y0;
}

That function declares two memory (mem) variables w1 and w2 which will remember the state of every instance of this filter.

Every time we need a new biquad instance, we just need to call the function. For example:

fun process(i1, i2) {
   val o1 = biquad(i1, ....);
   val o2 = biquad(i2, ....);
}

The filter that process the signal i1 is completely independent of the one that process i2.

Vult also has a bunch of useful features, like the possibility of creating compile-time lookup tables and embedding wav files (with and without interpolation). For example, the following function is replaced by a lookup table which would be more efficient than executing the body of the function.

fun pitchToRate(d) @[table(size=127,min=0.0,max=127.0)] {
   return 0.00018539226566085504 * exp(0.057762265046662105 * d);
}

The Vult compiler can generate C++ code that performs all the calculations using fixed-point arithmetics. Fixed-point arithmetics executes faster than floating-point arithmetics in processors that do no have a dedicated FPU. For example AVR Arduinos, Teensy 3.2 and Raspberry Pi Pico.

Text editor support

SublimeText

Put the syntax file in the corresponding Sublime Text User packages.

In Mac, the path is the following $HOME/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3/Packages/User/vult.sublime-syntax.

Visual Studio Code

Install the extension vult available in the marketplace.

Compile from source

If you want to compile the Vult source, it is recommended to use a Linux or Mac computer. It is possible to compile on Windows but the process is more difficult.

First you need to install Opam. Check the alternatives on https://opam.ocaml.org/

Opam can be installed on Linux using your package manager. If you use a Debian/Ubuntu based distro you can use:

$ sudo apt install opam

In Mac you can install Opam using brew

$ brew install opam

Installing the compiler and dependencies

The simplest way to install all requirements is with Opam.

$ opam switch 4.14.0
$ opam install ocamlbuild containers ppx_deriving pla result ounit js_of_ocaml js_of_ocaml-ppx

Compiling Vult

To compile the native executable:

$ make

Compile the node.js code:

$ make jscompiler

Running tests (Linux and macOS):

$ make test

vult-dsp / vult

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