Windows editor

[Ludvig]

Hey !

I have been getting into supercollider the last few weeks ( or rather psycollider since I'm on windows xp ) and I really enjoy it. It really is a fantastic tool and a rather beautiful language. I like the short and compact statements and how very complex musical ideas can be compressed into just a few lines of code. But... I really dont like the windows editor and since my soundcard ( and some other hardware ) wont work with linux I am stuck with xp for some time. I have tried to find some alternative to the native editor on windows but I havent had any luck. The closest ive come is to be able to use python against the server but it's not the language that i have a problem with, it's the lack of options ( fonts, color, syntax highlighting ) and tabs. So any tips, hints or links would be most welcome. Thanks!

[v-un-v]

Hi Ludvig!

I don't know about the XP version of SC but I do know that many have given up on it- mainly I think because development was slow and buggy- I think.

I reckon that you have probably got three options. Either;

1. Keep working and supporting the PC build, but be prepared for a lot of waiting

2. Get a really cheap secondhand Macintosh, running OS9 or OS X (you can pick up old iMac's for £30- £40 (about $70)

3. Have a go at Chuck instead (or at least for now).

I hope these suggestions help

PS, on my Mac I've also go XP running too. If you've got some spare cash, I can't recommend these Intel-based machines more

[Ludvig]

Hi v-un-v

I really have no idea if the development of psycollider is "slow and buggy" since I've only been using it for a couple of weeks. I havent had any problems with the software or the language so far. It installed like a charm, required no configuration whatsoever and hasnt crashed once. My only problem is that i dont like the editor that comes with it. I could use another texteditor but the big advantage that the psycollider editor has is that you can execute code straight from the editor. On linux i know that there are plugins for emacs and gedit that gives those editors the same ability to run code without having to move it to the supercollider environment. Im sorry if i was unclear about what I wanted.

I have tried chuck but i really prefer supercollider. Also, when I tried it chuck was executed from the commandline so in that case i think that actually using supercollider with two separate editor windows would be a similar work flow ( that is, code is written in one window and executed in another ).

Regarding your second suggestion, i guess i could use an old mac to interface with a supercollider server running on my xp machine. That might not be a bad idea. I have to check out if that is possible. Is that what you meant?

Thanks for your input.

[v-un-v]

[Ludvig]

I have tried using SC on a mac at school ( I go to uni in Stockholm ) and the implementation is very nice on mac I must say. Loads really fast and is very responsive. I wont be able to buy a new computer for a while, and if I got some money I think I would buy a new soundcard and go for ubuntu on my xp machine.

Since the code is fully portable ( exept for some guistuff ) I wont have to relearn anything if I switch machine in the future. I aim for SC to replace Max/MSP in my workflow and that involves producing sound that I use in a DAW but also creating live environments for improvisation. I havent yet finished any project that is nearly that big ( like a complete live environment ) but if the windows version is slower than the mac and linux version this might not be possible on my current machine. I would build an interface with python or processing ( which I am both familiar with ) and communicate with the server via osc.

What can I say, a colourful world it is!

I will continue to search and learn and hopefully I will be back with some code to share soon.

[Ludvig]

Oh and I can't wait to hear what "the SC meister!" has to say on the subject

[Kassen]

[v-un-v]

[Ludvig]

[dewdrop_world]

Sorry, pretty busy these days, haven't had time to chime in yet.

The windows version has made a lot of progress -- makes my lunch hours at work more productive!

Right now the Python-based editor is locked in. Probably it will take someone with M$ Visual C++ experience to compile an sclang.exe that could be used by emacs (sc-emacs-lisp or scel) or some other editor, with Linux being the model.

I don't have the expertise to do this, I'm afraid.

Re: ChucK vs SC, no, it isn't a flame war (at least, I hope it isn't) -- I have nothing against ChucK -- in fact I think it's a really fascinating tool with a lot of potential, but its focus is different from SC and the capabilities don't fully overlap (that is, some things that are easy in ChucK would be very difficult in SC and SC has some features that would be hard to replicate in ChucK). I'm all for using the right tool for the job, whatever the tool is. If somebody finds that ChucK suits her needs exactly, then I would say, by all means, don't use SC just because I like it!

My gripe is just that whenever audio programming languages would come up for discussion on this board, too often the only answer that people offer is ChucK. So I decided to make a point. The point is not anti-ChucK, it's anti-one-dimensional-answers. I think it's great that ChucK gets a good deal of attention here -- but if somebody comes in and asks what tools are available, nobody is served well if the answer is too strongly biased in favor of one or another kit.

James

[Kassen]

[Ludvig]

The tools one uses often impose or encourage a certain 'mind set', that I very much agree with. The implications of this is an interesting topic and one not limited of course to synthesis environments. When reading the posts on the ChucK and SC forums here on EM I get the impression that many posts are concerned as much with digital signal processing or synthesis or music as they are with the specifics of one or the other language. I know that it's practical to separate the discussions acording to what tool they concern but one thing I've learned from switching between different tools ( reaktor, the nord modular, g2, max/msp, supercollider among others ) is how it truly is the ideas you bring to the tools that makes the difference.

Out of all the tools available for open architecture sound production ChucK and SC seems to ( at least from my beginner point of new ) share more with each others 'mind set' than perhaps with any other tools.

Hmmm I don't know where I am going with this so I'll just stop. Time for coffee and some La Monte Young. Now what's that quote again... "draw a straight Pbind and follow it" ?

[Kassen]

Yes, I agree with all you said.

I'd go even further; I'd say that the line from the specifics of a given system through digital synthesis extends towards one's ideas about music in general and indeed one's whole mental state.

I think this is because in such systems nothing will happen at all until we have a idea to implement in it and unlike some other systems that offer suggestions in various ways these languages expose any uncertainty or vague elements in our ideas.

Quite often people ask me questions about DSP these turn out to be linked to larger artistic and often personal questions people have. This seems entirely healthy and beneficial to me but it's not at all surprising that between systems this leads to communication issues and misunderstandings

[Ludvig]

That is very well put.

[Ludvig]

So I read on supercollider.sourceforge.net that the scsynt.exe can be scripted or controlled from the commandline. Maybe I could hack something together to at least save some keystrokes. Does anyone have experience with anything similar? Maybe save to a special filename and run a script or batch file or something that stops everything running on the scsynth and evaluates the code in the file.

[Ludvig]

By the way. What is the workflow of the SC users on the forum ? What do you use to write your code? The native editor? External editor?

[dewdrop_world]