During the first part of 2025, I had the amazing privilege of conducting a research residency as part of the Speculative Synthesis project, during which I explored applying virtual ant colonies as an audio synthesis method. As this technique grew out of earlier ChucK and Ocaml experiments, I thought it would be a nice moment to reflect on my own path through synthesis of the last few years, and speculate on possible further paths. My full contribution (which includes many video and audio examples) may be found here. During the project I also updated (and simplified) the CISP installation instructions.

During my residency, there was quite a bit of exchange with two other artists: Shuoxin Tan and Joseph Baader, who were exploring their topological approach to musical composition (with special interest in the torus and mobius strip). Be sure to check out their documentation as well!

Many thanks to everyone at Speculative Synthesis!