Exploring Modularity, Reusability, and Instrument Identity in Audio Software - Gonçalo Bernardo

https://audio.dev/ -- @audiodevcon​
ADC Japan - 1st - 3rd June
ADC Bristol ​- 9th - 11th November​
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Should Audio Plugins Have “Everything Everywhere All at Once”? - Exploring Modularity, Reusability, and Instrument Identity in Audio Software - Gonçalo Bernardo - ADC 2025
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Modern plugin development often faces a central dilemma: how much feature commonality is too much? What began as a highly specific tool inside one instrument—designed to solve a particular creative need—unexpectedly gained traction among users. The overwhelmingly positive feedback raised an important question for the team: could this feature be abstracted into a flexible, reusable component across multiple instruments? This led to a deeper architectural shift.

By elevating the original feature into a generic, SDK-level module—complete with modulation systems, advanced sequencing, effects, and routing—we enable a consistent user experience across diverse plugins, while reducing development overhead. However, this raises new design questions: when does standardization enhance creativity, and when might it flatten the unique identities of individual instruments? This talk explores the balance between shared modules, features/frameworks, and product specificity in modern audio software.
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Slides: https://data.audio.dev/talks/2025/should-audio-plugins-have-everything-everywhere-all-at-once.pptx
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Gonçalo Bernardo

Gonçalo Bernardo is an Audio Software Engineer at ARTURIA, where he develops and maintains core audio engine components and plugin frameworks used across software instruments and effects, shaping workflows for advanced music and sound production.
With a background in spatial audio and generative systems, his work explores the intersection of software design, creative coding, and computational acoustics, supported by publications in computational music and ambient generative systems. He previously contributed to the development of spatial sound tools and synthesizers at Sound Particles. Alongside his engineering practice, Gonçalo maintains an artistic activity under the alias “ÇALO DO MAR E DA TERRA” exploring immersiveness through interactive and generative installations.

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Streamed & Edited by Digital Medium Ltd: https://online.digital-medium.co.uk
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Organized and produced by JUCE: https://juce.com/
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Special thanks to the ADC25 Team:

Sophie Carus
Derek Heimlich
Andrew Kirk
Bobby Lombardi
Tom Poole
Ralph Richbourg
Jim Roper
Jonathan Roper
Prashant Mishra

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