The FAUST compiler embedded in a Pd external

The faust~ object is an external with the FAUST just-in-time (JIT) compiler embedded that allows to load, compile and play FAUST files within the audio programming environment Pure Data. FAUST (Functional Audio Stream) is a functional programming language specifically designed for real-time signal processing and synthesis developed by the GRAME. The FAUST JIT compiler - built with LLVM - brings together the convenience of a standalone interpreted language with the efficiency of a compiled language. The faust~ object is a very first version with elementary features, any help and any contribution are welcome.

This faust~ object for Pd is inspired by the faustgen~ object for Max developed by Martin Di Rollo and Stéphane Letz.

• llvm
• faust
• pure-data
• pd.build

The FAUST compiler requires LLVM 5.0.0 backend (or higher - 6.0.0). The fastest solution is to download the precompiled binaries from the LLVM website. For example, on the Travis CI for MacOS, we assume for example that the binaries are installed in the llvm folder at the root of the project:

curl -o ./llvm.tar.gz http://releases.llvm.org/5.0.0/clang+llvm-5.0.0-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.xz
tar zxvf ./llvm.tar.gz && mv clang+llvm-5.0.0-x86_64-apple-darwin llvm

You can also use HomeBrew or MacPorts on MacOS or APT on Linux the compilation of the sources last around 50 minutes and in this case, you change the LLVM_DIR with the proper location. On Windows, you must compile from sources using the static runtime library. You can also use the pre-compiled libraries used on the Appveyor CI. Compiling LLVM with the Microsoft Visual Compiler requires to use the static runtime library, for example:

cd llvm-6.0.0.src && mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64" -DLLVM_USE_CRT_DEBUG=MTd -DLLVM_USE_CRT_RELEASE=MT -DLLVM_BUILD_TESTS=Off -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="./llvm" -Thost=x64
cmake --build . --target ALL_BUILD (--config Debug/Release)
cmake --build . --target INSTALL (optional)

git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Useful CMake options:

• USE_LLVM_CONFIG to disable default LLVM location for FAUST (for example: -DUSE_LLVM_CONFIG=off).
• LLVM_DIR to define LLVM location for FAUST and the Pd external (for example: -DLLVM_DIR=./llvm/lib/cmake/llvm).

see also the files .travis.yml and appveyor.yml.

Once the binaries are uploaded with Travis and Appveyor to the releases section of GitHub, the external can be published using Deken. First of all, you must have an account on the website https://puredata.info and the Deken plugin for developers installed. On Windows run the script FaustDeken.bat with the version of the external, for example: FaustDeken 0.0.1.

• FAUST institution: GRAME

• FAUST website: faust.grame.fr

• FAUST developers: Yann Orlarey, Stéphane Letz, Dominique Fober and others

• faust~ institutions: CICM - ANR MUSICOLL

• fauts~ website: github.com/grame-cncm/faust-pd

• faust~ developer: Pierre Guillot