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Web Audio Modules (WAM) is a mature proposal for Web Audio plug-ins. Started in 2015, this open-source proposal reached version 2.0 in 2021. This paper reviews the background that led to the publication of the WAM standard and then details its characteristics. The second part is devoted to an analysis of the ecosystem that has grown up around the standard, focusing on notable achievements and applications, particularly those that have demonstrated their value within the web platform for which it was designed. Since its release, WAM V2.0 has been the subject of numerous publications, demonstrations, and presentations at various international conferences. As a direct result, there is now a large set of plug-ins and hosts in the WAM format, along with new online tutorials and tools to facilitate plug-in development (online IDEs, etc.), the vast majority being open source. An initiative called the WAM Community has also emerged to encourage the sharing of plug-ins, accompanied by an API and many online tools. New WAM hosts have been introduced, including two DAWs, collaborative applications, and compatible visual programming languages. Additionally, the WAM format now supports extensions, and this article describes some of them.
Author (s): Buffa, Michel;
Burns, Tom;
Ferrari, Cesare;
Kleimola, Jari;
Larkin, Oliver;
Lebrun, Jerome;
Letz, Stéphane;
Orlarey, Yann;
Ren, Shihong;
Yi, Steven;
Affiliation:
Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Sequencer Party, Ottawa, Canada; Cmajor Software Ltd, London, England; Ableton AG, Berlin, Germany; iPlug2, London, England; Générateur de Ressources et d’Activités Musicales Exploratoires (GRAME), Lyon, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Lyon, France; Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Shanghai Key Laboratory for Music Acoustic; Independent audio developer
(See document for exact affiliation information.)
Publication Date:
2025-12-16
DOI:
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Buffa, Michel; Burns, Tom; Ferrari, Cesare; Kleimola, Jari; Larkin, Oliver; Lebrun, Jerome; Letz, Stéphane; Orlarey, Yann; Ren, Shihong; Yi, Steven; 2025; Ten Years of Web Audio Modules: Audio Plug-ins for the Web [PDF]; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Sequencer Party, Ottawa, Canada; Cmajor Software Ltd, London, England; Ableton AG, Berlin, Germany; iPlug2, London, England; Générateur de Ressources et d’Activités Musicales Exploratoires (GRAME), Lyon, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Lyon, France; Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Shanghai Key Laboratory for Music Acoustic; Independent audio developer; Paper ; Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23110
Buffa, Michel; Burns, Tom; Ferrari, Cesare; Kleimola, Jari; Larkin, Oliver; Lebrun, Jerome; Letz, Stéphane; Orlarey, Yann; Ren, Shihong; Yi, Steven; Ten Years of Web Audio Modules: Audio Plug-ins for the Web [PDF]; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Sophia-Antipolis, France; Sequencer Party, Ottawa, Canada; Cmajor Software Ltd, London, England; Ableton AG, Berlin, Germany; iPlug2, London, England; Générateur de Ressources et d’Activités Musicales Exploratoires (GRAME), Lyon, France; Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), Lyon, France; Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Shanghai Key Laboratory for Music Acoustic; Independent audio developer; Paper ; 2025 Available: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23110
@article{Buffa2025ten,
title={{Ten Years of Web Audio Modules: Audio Plug-ins for the Web}},
author={Buffa, Michel and Burns, Tom and Ferrari, Cesare and Kleimola, Jari and Larkin, Oliver and Lebrun, Jerome and Letz, Stéphane and Orlarey, Yann and Ren, Shihong and Yi, Steven},
year={2025},
month={may},
journal={Journal of the Audio Engineering Society},
volume={73},
number={12},
pages={804-826},
}
TY – paper
TI – Ten Years of Web Audio Modules: Audio Plug-ins for the Web
SP – 804 EP – 826
AU – Buffa, Michel
AU – Burns, Tom
AU – Ferrari, Cesare
AU – Kleimola, Jari
AU – Larkin, Oliver
AU – Lebrun, Jerome
AU – Letz, Stéphane
AU – Orlarey, Yann
AU – Ren, Shihong
AU – Yi, Steven
PY – 2025
JO – Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
VO – 73
IS – 12
Y1 – May 2025
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