Introduction to SuperCollider

by Andrea Valle

Overview

Originally developed by James Mc Cartney in 1996 and now an open source project, Super Collider is a software package for the synthesis and control of audio in real time. Currently, it represents the state of the art in the field of audio programming: there is no other software available that is equally powerful, efficient or flexible. Yet, Super Collider is often approached with suspicion or awe by novices, but why? One of the main reasons is the use of a textual user interface. Furthermore, like most software packages that deal with audio, Super Collider prerequisites a series of skills, ranging from expertise in analog/digital signal processing, to musical composition, to computer science. However, as the beginner overcomes these initial obstacles and understands the powerful flexibility of Super Collider, what once were seen as weaknesses become its strengths. Super Collider's features also mean versatility in advanced software applications, generality in terms of computer modelling, and expressivity in terms of symbolic representations. This book aims at providing a brief overview of, and an introduction to, the Super Collider programming environment. It also intends to informally present, by employing Super Collider, a series of key notions relevant to what is broadly referred to as computer music. Andrea Valle is a researcher/aggregate professor in film, photography and television at the University of Turin-DAMS, and is active as a musician and composer. He has been a Super Collider user since 2005.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783832540173
Publisher:	Logos Verlag Berlin
Publication date:	06/15/2016
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	374
Product dimensions:	6.65(w) x 9.45(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

1 Getting started with SuperCollider 1

1.1 About SuperCollider 1

1.2 SC overview 3

1.3 Installation and use 6

1.4 Objectives, references, typographical conventions 9

2 Prograrnming in SC 13

2.1 Prograrnming languages 13

2.2 Minima objectalia 16

2.3 Objects in SC 19

2.4 Methods and messages 26

2.5 The methods of type post and dump 33

2.6 Ntimbers 36

2.7 Conclusions 39

3 Syntax: basic elements 41

3.1 Brackets 41

3.2 Expressions 42

3.3 Comments 43

3.4 Strings 44

3.5 Variables 45

3.6 Symbols 49

3.7 Errors 51

3.8 Functions 52

3.9 Classes, messages / methods and keywords 57

3.10 A graphic example 59

3.11 Control Structures 64

3.12 Yet another GUI example 67

3.13 Conclusions 71

4 Synthesis, I: Fundamentals of Signal Processing 73

4.1 A few hundred words on acoustics 73

4.2 Analog vs. digital 76

4.3 Synthesis algorithms 81

4.4 Methods of Signal 89

4.5 Other signals and other algorithms 93

4.6 Still on signal processing 105

4.7 Control signals 109

4.8 Conclusions 117

5 SC architecture and the server 119

5.1 Client vs. Server 119

5.2 Ontology of the server as an audio synthesis plant 123

5.3 The server 132

5.4 SynthDefs 134

5.5 UGens and UGen graphs 138

5.6 Synths and Groups 144

5.7 A theremin 149

5.8 An example of real-time synthesis and control 151

5.9 Expressiveness of the language: algorithms 154

5.10 Expressiveness of the language: abbreviations 156

5.11 Conclusions 160

6 Control 161

6.1 Envelopes 161

6.2 Generalizing envelopes 167

6.3 Sinusoids & sinusoids 174

6.4 Pseudo-random signals 180

6.5 Busses 184

6.6 Procedural structure of SynthDef 197

6.7 Multichannel Expansion 201

6.8 Conclusions 208

7 Organized sound: scheduling 211

7.1 Server-side, 1: through UGens 211

7.2 Server side, 2: Demand UGen 217

7.3 Language-side: Clocks and routines 221

7.4 Clocks 226

7.5 Synthesizers vs events 229

7.6 Graphic interlude: drawings and animations 236

7.7 Routines vs Tasks 239

7.8 Patterns 243

7.9 Events and Event patterns 252

7.10 Conclusions 260

8 Synthesis, II: introduction to basic real-time techniques 261

8.1 Oscillators and tables 261

8.1.1 Synthesis by sampling 269

8.1.2 Resampling and interpolation 271

8.2 Direct generation 275

8.2.1 Synthesis by fixed waveform 276

8.2.2 Modulation 277

8.2.3 Ring and Amplitude modulation 278

8.2.4 Ring modulation as a processing technique 280

8.2.5 Frequency modulation 285

8.2.6 C:M ratio 288

8.2.7 Waveshaping 292

8.3 Spectral modelling 297

8.3.1 Additive synthesis 297

8.3.2 Subtractive synthesis 305

8.3.3 Analysis and resynthesis: Phase vocoder 311

8.4 Physical Modeling 319

8.5 Time-based methods 327

8.5.1 Granular synthesis 328

8.5.2 Techniques based on the direct generation of the waveform 331

8.6 Conclusions 335

9 Communication 337

9.1 From server to client: use of control buses 337

9.2 From server to client: use of OSC messages 341

9.3 OSC to and from other applications 346

9.4 The MIDI protocol 349

9.5 Reading and writing: File 353

9.6 Pipe 359

9.7 SerialPort 362

9.8 Conclusions 365