Supercollider, SonicPi, Pure Data, Tidal Cycles
You may have come across ChatGPT and I’m blown away by what it can do. So somewhat cheekily I thought, how about getting it to write an introduction to the above musical programming language tools and furthermore, how they can interface with software products we may already own.
So here goes!
Supercollider is a programming language designed specifically for audio synthesis and sound design. It is highly flexible and allows users to create custom audio processing algorithms and interactive sound systems.
SonicPi is a live coding music platform that allows users to create music in real-time using a simple programming syntax. It is designed to be easy to use and is particularly well-suited for creating electronic and experimental music.
Pure Data (Pd) is an open-source visual programming language for audio, video, and graphical processing. It allows users to build interactive systems for processing and synthesizing audio, video, and other media.
Tidal Cycles is a live coding music platform that uses a declarative syntax to create complex patterns and rhythms. It is particularly well-suited for creating electronic music and has a strong community of users.
All of these tools can be connected to Logic Pro or VCV via MIDI, which allows users to control and manipulate their audio creations using these DAWs. This allows users to integrate their audio processing and synthesis creations with traditional music production tools and workflows.
I then went on to enquire, which languages the tools are based on:
Supercollider is based on the Supercollider programming language, which is a high-level, object-oriented language that is used for creating and manipulating audio.
SonicPi is based on the Ruby programming language, which is a dynamic, interpreted language that is commonly used for web development and scripting.
Pure Data is based on the Pure Data programming language, which is a graphical, open-source programming language that is used for creating interactive media and audio processing.
So there you have it and in 2023, I’ll be writing about all of them, experimenting with them and exploring music through code.
In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas!