This book, originally developed under National Science Foundation grant support, was written to bridge academic disciplines and areas of practice that include music production, audio engineering for theatre and film, and computer science. Apart from the first and the last chapters, each chapter is divided into three sections. The first section covers general concepts, the second discusses applications, and the third delves into the mathematics and algorithms that underpin digital audio processing.

It is not intended that a single course would cover all the material in this book. Rather, portions of the book could be used in college-level courses such as the following:

- Theatre or film sound design and production.

- Digital music production

- A course covering sound in a New Media or Digital Media or Digital Arts program (particularly in programs that are interdisciplinary between computer science and music).

- A computer science course introducing digital signal processing.

- A computer science course which engages students in programming through audio applications.

The special value of this book is that it provides a broad context for students. In academic programs that emphasize applications, students are still able to ""look under the hood"" to have a deeper understanding of audio processing at a lower level of abstraction. For students of computer science, physics, or mathematics, the relationship between science and applications provides interest and motivation.

The book also serves as a reference for anyone interested in digital audio processing. This includes hobbyists, those who are "self-taught" in music production, and even those already in the audio processing or music production industry who want a deeper understanding of their art and craft.