there's been little interest in it
Usually, I don't get any feedback at all
Have you heard of https://sonic-pi.net/ ?
Sonic Pi uses generated beeps and pre-recorded sounds, applying effects to them.
If I understand correctly, saugns doesn't work with pre-recorded sounds,
so the comparison isn't quite honest.
Still, it is the approach that I like:
At the very frontpage Sonic Pi offers enticing examples - short and elegant code producing rocking audio.
Having downloaded the app, the built-in help is extensive and no boring, guiding you from first steps through all the goodies it has to offer. And not requiring music theory knowledge.
A newcomer knows from the beginning how cool can Sonic Pi be and advancing is a pleasue.
lacking in both some audio quality niceties and enough expressiveness for musical purposes
Whatever, almost every project out there is incomplete, in-progress, under construction etc.
I see saugns has potential. But having compiled and listened to examples I am not sure whether I want to invest efforts and go further. I like some examples like rainy_thunder, bg-noise*, cat-purr, music-elem*, voicelike*, wooddrum, defaulttime*, panning, tone_seq-v[1..4], drum-cat-rand[1..2], drum-sin and random-drumming1. Quite some. But I don't know what else and how much more can I get from saugns. Most example demos sound like, well, demos. I would welcome less demos but more finished compositions. Something exciting, that a user might want to set as his ringtone or humm to or dance to. Or want to produce his own composition on par with what he just heard. tone_seq-v[1..4] are the closest. A real tune! How about adding drums, voicelikes, purr etc. to produce a composition?
Spark interest among would-be users!
Compositon script code would also provide an advanced reference.
SAU language first look impression:
Sonic Pi looks tidier, SAU looks noisier.
Like ruby/python vs c/sh/perl.
I have a hunch that most musicians, even coding ones, are not that techy and would prefer a cleaner-looking code.
I personally prefer less typing, provided that the result is legible. And I am in favor of symbols like $*#^& and more - I find APL one of the prettiest-looking languages.