Haskell and sound (was: [Haskell-cafe] Toy application advice wanted)

[Claus Reinke]

> Sound on linux tends to center around the "jack" sound
> architecture.  This is a demon for connecting audio and midi gadgets

the problem with os-specific solutions is that they, and code
based on them, don't work on other platforms - reduces the target
audience and the potential gain for anyone wanting to invest time.

for graphics, we've got OpenGL, and a nice Haskell binding to it, 
so I wonder whether there's a similar option for sound? e.g., does 
anyone have experience with PortAudio/PortMusic/PortMidi?

    PortAudio - portable cross-platform Audio API (platforms including 
    Windows, Macintosh (8,9,X), Unix (OSS), SGI, and BeOS)
    http://www.portaudio.com/

    PortMusic APIs - Platform Independent Libraries for Sound and MIDI 
    ( PortMusic is open-source and runs on Windows, Macintosh, and 
    Linux.  Currently, libraries support Audio I/O and MIDI I/O)
    http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~music/portmusic/

would that be a useful basis for a portable Haskell sound binding?
or has anyone already implemented such bindings, for this or any
other sound API (SOE's music component includes Midi file 
support, and also talks about csound)?

cheers,
claus

ps. just had a look at their mailing list archives, and saw a reply by 
    Roger Dannenberg, confirming that PortMidi is still being developed
    http://www.create.ucsb.edu/pipermail/media_api/2004-May/000305.html
    
    (given his background in functional real-time control and music 
    languages, he should be interested if anyone wanted to provide
    a Haskell binding!-)