When tech meets music and creativity, you get innovators like Julian Coy. Julian is a software engineer, hardware tinkerer, musician, event organizer, and all-around tech creative. His work stands out for blending cutting-edge technology with musical artistry in unique ways. From developing gesture-controlled instruments to powering art installations with pedal power, Julian’s contributions are as diverse as they are inspiring.
Versatile Tech Talent with Musical Flair
Brady UX: Where are you from?
Julian: I have lived in the Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for most of my life. I was born at Shady Grove Hospital in nearby Montgomery County.
Brady UX: Tell us about your experience building instruments.
Julian: I have been building musical instruments for a long time. As a kid I made flutes out of bamboo and PVC tubing. About 10 years ago I started designing digital electronic synthesizers. Now I am preparing to release an application for Windows, Mac, and Linux. In parallel I have been receiving advice from members of the Baltimore Node Makerspace on one of my digital flute designs.
I use OpenSCAD to precisely specify the shape of each flute in three parts. After 3D printing them they must be assembled with a rubber hammer. The result is a plastic Andean “Qena” flute tuned to the G major scale. This tuning makes it easy to play with guitarists who play G and Em chords frequently. I have been recording this instrument together with the Scream With Friends neospiritual hymn group.
This is Scream with Friends. We have been meeting for 3 hour singing sessions at St Luke’s Church on the Avenue in Hamden. We sing and play esoteric music from the traditions of the world with an emphasis on music from the Americas.
This mock album cover is only a taste of things to come. Keep an eye on this group!
My upcoming application is currently codenamed “QT Sine Synth”. The user can play the keys on their QWERTY computer keyboard, and beautiful sampled harp music can be heard. Care has been taken to keep the latency low. Also the user can choose between the tuning systems of the world! Westerners are most familiar with 12-Tone Equal Temperament (12TET). Many will experience the time-revered Pythagorean tuning system for the first time. They can also select favorites from the Indosphere and Arabian traditions.
Julian’s technical skillset is remarkably broad. He codes in everything from Python, JavaScript, C++ to even VHDL (FPGA programming). This versatility shows in his projects, which range from web apps to low-level hardware systems. For example, he built CloudDoc, a web-based MRI image viewer and processor, and SoundJSON, a custom JSON format for audio samples – showcasing his ability to innovate in both healthcare tech and audio technology.
Brady UX: Are you planning to monetize your Synthesizer application?
Julian: Yes, I have a unique idea for that. The software itself will be free and possibly open-source software (It’s FPOSS!). And there will be a number of good patches that will also be free. This will encourage people to download and use the software. But the Eb and Bb will be flattened in the Arabian Rast style until they buy the Pro version. So if they ever want to play with a musician on our side of the world they’ll have to buy the software.
Brady UX: Surely you’re joking.
Julian: Yes. I’m half joking. Actually I’ll probably facilitate a samples marketplace within the application. I will sell my own samples there and take a small cut from other people’s sales, a mixture of the monetization strategy of Gumroad and DownLoadable Content (DLC).
Brady UX: What have you learned from your numerous designs in the computational music space?
Julian: My computational music journey started in about 2015 with some Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) designs. I really got a feel for what FPGA is good for (and what it’s not). FPGAs can be power efficient and low latency, but they are expensive and limited in overall computational speed. The design cycles are incredibly slow, requiring much time to compile the Hardware Description Language (HDL) code. When I stopped using FPGA for music I published the entire HDL library I had developed for it. Roughly 6 years of code development. I published a PCB design as well, for the Xilinx Zynq. There were just too many things about that technology that made it infeasible for commercial production. Around 2022 I wrote a synthesizer from scratch in Python NumPy. That same year I wrote one for GPU with Vulkan. Last year I rewrote that in C. And now this year I have integrated that optimized C engine with a QT6 user interface, just in time to take advantage of some recent Linux improvements in low-latency audio.
Also some time during that I developed a simple synth that detects hand poses. First I did this in Python and then Javascript. Try it by pinching your fingers to your thumbs here.
Computational audio is a very demanding application because of the significant latency requirements. A good musician can hear a 10 millisecond latency, so this is the minimum rate the audio buffers need to be computed. That’s 100 times per second. So I have found the limitations of various hardware when operating them at this quick rate. Oftentimes my algorithms are memory-bounded, meaning the bottleneck is at the memory speed. Certain access patterns can be employed to reduce these constraints.
Julian’s background includes working in serious tech roles at major companies like Intel and Equinox. That foundation in industry complements his personal projects. He holds professional certifications as an AWS Solutions Architect and Scrum Product Owner, underscoring his solid grasp of cloud technology and agile product development. It’s not just about coding in one language or domain for Julian – he’s fluent across many, and he applies that knowledge to creative endeavors.
Innovating Interactive Experiences 🎛️
One thing that makes Julian’s work unique is how it brings people into the technology. A great example is the Rainbow Rider project, which Julian helped develop as Head of R&D at Bike Powered Events. Rainbow Rider lets users pedal a bike to power a light installation, turning physical activity into a colorful interactive art experience. This installation literally runs on human energy – attendees at events can hop on a stationary bike and generate electricity to illuminate towering LED sculptures in real-time. Julian’s contribution here blended engineering with whimsical design, proving that tech can be both fun and engaging. It’s an art-meets-tech experience that highlights Julian’s knack for creating immersive, hands-on projects.
Julian: Rainbow Rider is a lot of fun for kids and adults. It really makes you feel powerful when you light up an entire tower with only the power of your kick. Sometimes they have it at ArtScape.
Julian doesn’t keep his talents confined to a lab or studio; he’s active in the tech community, sharing knowledge and inspiring others. He serves as the Organizer at Code Collective, an in-person tech meetup for Baltimore Tech Professionals. This meetup draws software engineers and developers from all over Maryland for networking, coding workshops, and collaboration.
Whether he’s organizing weekly gatherings or running a weekend workshop on GitHub best practices, Julian is passionate about fostering community. In fact, his leadership in Baltimore’s tech scene earned him recognition as one of the city’s RealLIST Engineers in 2024 – a testament to how he matches technical prowess with community impact.
Julian: Technical.ly is a good resource for entrepreneurship in East Coast cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia. UpSurge is also noteworthy for sharing data on the current state of the Baltimore tech scene.
Entrepreneurial Spirit and Creative Vision 🚀
What truly makes Julian stand out is how authentically he bridges two worlds: high-tech engineering and artistic musical expression. It’s not every day you meet a developer who can discuss GPU-accelerated audio processing algorithms and jam on a self-built synthesizer. Julian does both with equal enthusiasm. His projects invite others to experience technology in a playful, creative way, whether it’s by waving their hands to make music or biking to light up the night.
In summary, Julian Coy is a rare talent who wears many hats – engineer, inventor, musician, mentor, and community builder. His work is a reminder that technology and art can play in harmony. Keep an eye on Julian’s journey, because he’s continually pushing boundaries of what tech can do in the realm of music and interactive experiences. As he likes to demonstrate, innovation is most powerful when it’s shared – and Julian is sharing his in the most inspiring ways.
— Brady (Brady UX)
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