Audio & GUI With Windows

Hi, I would like to write a software musical instrument (a synthesiser) for Windows. I've written a simple prototype using SDL to create a crude 'front end'. The audio isn't real time either - it dumps its output to a RAW file, which I listen to with a wave editor.

So my first issue is getting real time audio. Years ago I did some simple things with Port Audio - is this still a viable choice for what I'm doing, or is there something better I should be looking into?

It's been a few years since I've coded so I'm a bit rusty.

I've used Code::Blocks before but I've just installed MSVS2010. I'm not sure what to go with here, not just in terms of compiler/IDE but with what API(s) to use. I tried to get into wxWidgets ages ago but I couldn't get it working.

Should I stick with the Windows API or go with something else?

Altogether I just need a few pointers as to what technologies I need to brush-up on before I get stuck into this endeavour - any help would be appreciated.

You could start digging here -> Windows Multimedia | Microsoft Docs

Hey thanks a lot. I vaguely remember having to link projects with winmm.dll. I'll get reading.

Do all Windows programs require this, or is there an alternative library? I've got a feeling that was a dumb question but I just want an idea as to how fundamental it is.

Thanks again.

> Do all Windows programs require this, or is there an alternative library?
Any sufficiently complex Windows program is going to reference all sorts of different APIs.

It's really up to you to read the documentation for each function you're using and make sure you include relevant .h files in your source code, and tell the linker relevant library names to pull in the API implementation.

What I meant was, does every Windows app have to use winmm.dll or is that just one possibility? I'm just curious.

As for GUI programming, can you recommend a starting point?

I meant every Windows program that uses sound.