Story

Show HN: What if your synthesizer was powered by APL (or a dumb K clone)?

octetta Sunday, March 15, 2026

I built k-synth as an experiment to see if a minimalist, K-inspired array language could make sketching waveforms faster and more intuitive than traditional code. I’ve put together a web-based toolkit so you can try the syntax directly in the browser without having to touch a compiler:

Live Toolkit: https://octetta.github.io/k-synth/

If you visit the page, here is a quick path to an audio payoff:

- Click "patches" and choose dm-bell.ks.

- Click "run"—the notebook area will update. Click the waveform to hear the result.

- Click the "->0" button below the waveform to copy it into slot 0 at the top (slots are also clickable).

- Click "pads" in the entry area to show a performance grid.

- Click "melodic" to play slot 0's sample at different intervals across the grid.

The 'Weird' Stack:

- The Language: A simplified, right-associative array language (e.g., s for sine, p for pi).

- The Web Toolkit: Built using WASM and Web Audio for live-coding samples.

- AI Pair-Programming: I used AI agents to bootstrap the parser and web boilerplate, which let me vet the language design in weeks rather than months.

The Goal: This isn't meant to replace a DAW. It’s a compact way to generate samples for larger projects. It’s currently in a "will-it-blend" state. I’m looking for feedback from the array language and DSP communities—specifically on the operator choices and the right-to-left evaluation logic.

Source (MIT): https://github.com/octetta/k-synth

Summary
The article introduces K-Synth, an open-source synthesizer web application that allows users to create and manipulate sound waves, assign them to musical notes, and save their creations. The application is designed to be an accessible, browser-based tool for music creation and experimentation.
44 15
Summary
octetta.github.io
Visit article Read on Hacker News Comments 15