algorithmic composition in Pure Data

[Oscillator]

Very cool, both sound and arrangement! Did you do both the synth-construction and composition in Pure Data?

I've never used Pure Data but have been thinking about trying to do some basic synth-building with it. How would you recommend getting started?

[acreil]

Originally Posted by Oscillator

Did you do both the synth-construction and composition in Pure Data?

Yes, it's almost all my designs, effects and everything. No samples.

I've never used Pure Data but have been thinking about trying to do some basic synth-building with it. How would you recommend getting started?

It's useful for that sort of thing, but there aren't a lot of high level DSP functions built in (as you'd find in Reaktor or other such software). So you either have to look through libraries that others have built (which may or may not be buggy and poorly documented), or read up on DSP and build everything from scratch. There's a significant learning curve, but the example files are pretty good, and Miller Puckette's book helps. You can get a decent start just messing around with the example patches.

Look into Max/MSP also. It should be a lot more friendly.

[Oscillator]

Max/MSP I've looked into also and it seems nice, except that is costs compared to Pure Data. I've studied signal processing (got a MSc in engineering physics) and done programming and signal processing scripts in MatLab so hopefully I've got the basics down to write my own stuff. But if Max/MSP is a lot more user friendly maybe it's worth buying.

Sorry for the hijack and once again, cool track, I'd be interested to hear more

[acreil]

Mostly the advantage of Pd is that it's open source, which makes it more flexible for hacking and re-purposing. For Max I think you can write your own objects in C and also make a compiled standalone application out of an entire patch, which other people can then run without owning the full application. But Pd has been ported to mobile platforms (i.e. RjDj) and that sort of thing, which you wouldn't be able to do with Max.

What you're paying for with Max is mostly a fairly sophisticated bunch of libraries. In Pd you have to do a lot more yourself. As far as I'm concerned, that's almost a plus. I get to learn how to do everything as I build it from scratch. If you're not afraid of digging in and reading some papers, it's not so hard, but it's still a lot of work.

Anyway I've got some other stuff on soundcloud and youtube, and I'm always working on more material. Here's a fairly nice selection:

[Oscillator]

Cool sounds once again, impressive to think it's all in PD

Think I'll have a look at PD rather than Max then, open source is a big positive. Now I need to find a good forum on the topic to start learning.

[acreil]

Originally Posted by Oscillator

Think I'll have a look at PD rather than Max then, open source is a big positive. Now I need to find a good forum on the topic to start learning.

There's a forum here but it's not very active: PURE DATA forum~

These are the best resources:
The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music
Pure Data
Programming Electronic Music in Pd

Max/MSP I think again has a lot more literature available.