Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Despite all the challenges that come with saving legacy code – like old source control and build systems, missing dependencies, or outdated libraries – why go through the effort of resurrecting an old synth?
The reality is that as software ages very quickly and requires constant maintenance to keep pace with today’s technologies. From the moment development is abandoned or support ended, an invisible timer starts ticking, and it becomes more and more difficult with each passing year to run that software on modern systems.
Even a single macOS version, for example, can require sweeping changes across your app. Or, as we’ve seen in the gaming industry, your favorite game could suddenly be cut off from updates – until it one day becomes unplayable.
So Cesare Ferrari and Jules Storer created Cmajor, which they’re pitching as a language for DSP code that’s more future-proof, independent from any specific platform or plugin format. And to test out its capabilities, they successfully port over thousands of lines of C++ code for Native Instrument’s Pro53 synth (which is a little over 20 years old).
Despite all the challenges that come with saving legacy code – like old source control and build systems, missing dependencies, or outdated libraries – why go through the effort of resurrecting an old synth?
The reality is that as software ages very quickly and requires constant maintenance to keep pace with today’s technologies. From the moment development is abandoned or support ended, an invisible timer starts ticking, and it becomes more and more difficult with each passing year to run that software on modern systems.
Even a single macOS version, for example, can require sweeping changes across your app. Or, as we’ve seen in the gaming industry, your favorite game could suddenly be cut off from updates – until it one day becomes unplayable.
So Cesare Ferrari and Jules Storer created Cmajor, which they’re pitching as a language for DSP code that’s more future-proof, independent from any specific platform or plugin format. And to test out its capabilities, they successfully port over thousands of lines of C++ code for Native Instrument’s Pro53 synth (which is a little over 20 years old).
