ADC Japan Hackathon June 1st

The ADC Japan Hackathon is a one-day, high-energy build event bringing together audio developers, programmers, and creative technologists to prototype innovative audio tools, plugins, and experiences.

Participants can work:

In teams (recommended) or
As individual contributors

By the end of the day, all participants will demo their project live to the group.

The hackathon emphasizes:

Rapid prototyping
Collaboration
Exploration of audio technologies
Sharing ideas with the ADC community

An ADC Japan Conference ticket is required to participate in the hackathon. Spots are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to register for ADC Japan early to secure your place.

Once registered, you can add the ADC Japan Hackathon to your schedule via the conference’s Sched platform

Goals

Foster collaboration across audio developers
Encourage experimentation with audio tech and tools
Surface innovative ideas relevant to the ADC community
Provide a fun, low-pressure environment for building and learning
Create demos worth sharing beyond the event

Suggested Hackathon Themes

These align with typical ADC topics and help guide participants without restricting creativity.

Core Audio Development

Audio DSP experiments (filters, synthesis, effects)
Real-time audio processing tools
Plugin prototypes (VST3, AU, CLAP)

Developer Tools & Infrastructure

Audio debugging/visualization tools
Plugin development frameworks
Build systems or testing tools for audio software

AI + Audio

Generative audio tools
AI-assisted mixing/mastering
Audio classification or analysis tools

Creative / Experimental

Interactive audio experiences
Web audio experiments
Spatial audio / immersive sound

Hardware + Software

MIDI controllers / integrations
Embedded audio systems
Hybrid hardware/software instruments

Participants are encouraged to explore any idea within the audio development ecosystem.

Hackathon Flow (Day 1 Schedule)

Total Duration: ~8–10 hours

1. Kickoff (30–45 min)

Welcome and overview
Rules and expectations
Theme inspiration
Logistics (WiFi, food, schedule, demo format)

2. Idea Pitches & Brainstorming (45–60 min)

Open mic pitches (30–60 seconds each)
- “What problem in audio dev annoys you?”
- “What tool do you wish existed?”
- “What would be fun to build in 1 day?”
A visible list of project ideas
Early clustering of interests

3. Team Formation (30 min)

Form teams organically around ideas
Recommended team size: 2–4 people
Solo participants welcome

4. Hacking Session (5–6 hours total)

Block 1 (2–3 hours)

Initial setup
Define scope (keep it small!)
- Use existing libraries/frameworks (recommended)
Start building
- “Show something working” over perfection

Midday Checkpoint (15–20 min)

Quick progress sharing (optional)
Mentors circulate
Teams can pivot if needed
- Collaboration between teams if encouraged

Block 2 (2–3 hours)

Build core functionality
Prepare demo
- “Show something working” over perfection

5. Demo Preparation (30–45 min)

Prepare a 2–3 minute demo
Focus on:
- What it does
- Why it’s interesting
- Quick live demo (preferred)
Slides (optional)
GitHub repo (optional)

6. Final Demos (60–90 min)

Each team presents (2–3 min + 1 min transition)
Live demos encouraged

7. Wrap-Up & Recognition (15–30 min)

Hackathon Rules

You may work solo or in teams
All work should be created during the hackathon
- (Using existing libraries/tools is encouraged)
Keep scope realistic—focus on a demo, not a product
Be respectful and collaborative
Share your work at the end

Recommended Tech Stack

Participants are free to use anything, but common tools include:

JUCE
Web Audio API
Max/MSP / Pure Data
Rust audio libraries
C++ frameworks
Python
Unity / Unreal