Patterns in SuperCollider with SuperClean
is not your average SuperCollider course.
EMS is backing me for another semester with the same course material so I must be doing something right.
Course plan and implementation
Get sat up to have SuperCollider automagically boot with sensible defaults.
Sequence your own samples in a CPU efficient way without all the hassle.
Use the built in effect chain, FM and additive synths to find your personal sound.
Integrate best practices regarding safety into a workflow you know you can trust.
All of the above and more on day one. The course aims to get everyone over the initial threshold to a place where they are using SuperCollider with confidence and personal expressivity. Through its unique approach of focusing exclusively on the Patterns paradigm, and providing something truly expressive to sequence, the course offers unparalleled coherence and approachability.
Isn’t SuperCollider just for 1337 hax0rz and genius types?
Regardless if this is your first or umpteenth time trying to get into SuperCollider this course will not only get you there, but make sure you stay there.
Why should I learn SuperCollider when I can do anything in my DAW of choice?
Really though, can you?
Throughout the course we will explore new approaches to making music and organizing sound in powerful and abstracted ways.
Through the use of algorithmic composition, defining musical outcomes through parameterization and generative design concepts, together we’ll uncover emergent behaviour far beyond the confines of linearity. Countless infinities of variation to be constructed with ease from an elegant subset of a uniquely powerful language.
I would love to learn more about the class - do you have a syllabus or the like that you’re able to share?
I’m just getting started with SC, though I’m generally familiar with coding, basic OOP, and can work my way through basic procedural things with brute stupidity. I’ve never use coding languages specifically to make sound though.
I’m also fairly versed in Max, again, not really sound for a lot of sound stuff, mostly for extending MIDI controllers, or for physical computing projects.
I’ve also been using synths and DAWs for quite a long time.
Not a ton of maths knowledge, but I think I’m quite good with signal chains, logical problem solving, and generally a lot of the dependencies involved in being able to read and plan code, variables, etc etc.
I just picked up a few books and hunting around the net, thinking of teaching myself by going through these resources, but working through projects in the context of a class sounds pretty joyous. And your mention of working on music through parameterisation, recursion, and general expressiveness with the language are what I’m after. I just want to make sure it’s a good fit.
Cool that you are getting started with SC. A big part of what I’m doing with this course is providing a platform on day one that lets you make music in ways that are personal to you. That’s where SuperClean comes in. It provides a no nonsense way to hit the ground running with your own sounds, that you care about. The alternative usually with SC is a single 440hz sine wave in your left ear, or the default SynthDef which is, not my cup of tea. SuperCollider is big and provides a lot of different ways of doing things. Don’t get me wrong here, different strokes for different folks is great once you know what you want. It’s easy to get lost in the beginning though, because SuperCollider offers so many different ways of doing things. My course focuses on the Patterns paradigm which strikes a very elegant balance between approachability and powerfully expressive abstraction.
I used to do Max, that’s a long time ago now. We bring with us all of our past experiences in life, and they all serve us well in making us who we are. I remember I liked an object called Urn in Max. In my course the interface is always the keyboard, through which we write and manipulate code.
SuperClean has a bunch of synths in it that you can summon by name, real easy, on day one. Also we’ll take a look at integrating SC with a DAW for a couple of different reasons and use cases.
Math knowledge is not really necessary here. SuperCollider is a great calculator as well as a state of the art synthesis engine. Everything that we do in class will make a sound. Often times we can use the fact that we hear what is going on as a diagnostic tool. We’ll also look at ways to keep our code readable and understandable.
The social aspect of this course really has been joyous, especially in these trying times. Being able to share in the experience of exploring and learning together with people all around the world really has been amazing, even though I am fully aware of how corny that sounds.
If you’d like to email me with any other questions you might have about the course, you can find my email on my site.
Some folks have asked me some things about the course through email.
Elektronmusikstudion selects a group of between 10 and 15 people for participation in the course and strives to strike a 50/50 balance between male and non-male participants.
The scope of the course allows for some forays into other paradigms as they become relevant for discussion. For example functions and routines through contact with Pfunc and Prout. Data sharing as a broader topic leads us to touch on using environment variables in a Pattern centric workflow.
If any of the participants are geographically located on the opposite side of the planet, we can, as a group discuss another time to meet.
I am not married to the idea of using Zoom for our meetings. I would rather use an open source software. If this is a dealbreaker for you, let’s discuss this. I am confident we can find a solution.
I would have LOVED to take this but it would be at 3 AM for me (Pacific Standard Time, USA), if I read that correctly on the site, it is in CET stockhold time, which is 9 hours ahead of me, and the course is at 6 PM, which is just about the worst time possible unfortunately.
Today is the last day to apply for this course.
Please don’t take your guitar to the pawn shop over this. I am speaking from experience when I say that you will regret it.
Hopefully there will be more of these in the future:
Thanks!. Ok now the next hurdle is crushing poverty lol