SynthDefs in servers

[ianscott111]

Hi,

I'm really new to SuperCollider 3, and have been going over the help files and tutorials over the past couple of days. One thing I noticed however is that the number next to SynthDefs (in the servers) seems to start at 69. Is there a way to reset that number to 0, since I noticed that every 'synth' that I define (not really sure if I'm actually making any sense) adds on to the number in the server. Thanks in advance for any help!

[dewdrop_world]

Many of the classes in the main library create synthdefs for later use -- the classes won't work without those synthdefs being created.

In short, no, there isn't a way to force the server to start with 0. Nor would you want it to... if it did, at some point you would try do to something that requires one of those startup synthdefs and magically, you would get a "SynthDef not found" error.

By default you can load 1024 synthdefs at one time. 69 is less than 7% of that... how many synthdefs do you expect to create? I've never run out of defs in about 4 years of basically daily use.

If you do need more, do this before booting the server:

// you can also substitute Server.internal or Server.default
Server.local.options.maxSynthDefs = 2048; // double the number

hjh

[dewdrop_world]

Something else I forgot to mention... if you're making noise by using Function:play -- { }.play -- then yes, it will make a new synthdef every time you do that. Generally that isn't a problem because that usage is meant for testing when you're developing a new sound (during testing, if you run out of synthdef space, you can always reboot the server).

The recommended way for production use is to name your synthdefs explicitly using SynthDef(\name, { }) and then, whenever you want it to sound, use Synth(\name, [args]) -- that is, send or load the synthdef to the server once but use it many times.

Also be aware that { }.play necessarily introduces timing jitter, so this is not a good way to do things in an actual composition.

Instr and Patch, used together, are another way to make reusable synthdefs -- they have more power, but also do more than SynthDef by itself.

Just ask if you have more questions.
James

[ianscott111]

Thanks for the answers! I feel that SuperCollider could be very useful for me in the future once I learn it.