This folder contains a demo version of the program SuperCollider. SuperCollider is an environment for real time audio synthesis which runs on a Power Macintosh with no additional hardware. SuperCollider features: a built in programming language with real time incremental garbage collection, first class functions/closures, a small object oriented class system, a mini GUI builder for creating a patch control panel, a graphical interface for creating wave tables and breakpoint envelopes, MIDI control, a large library of signal processing and synthesis functions a few of which are found nowhere else, and a large library of functions for list processing of musical data. The user can write both the synthesis and compositional algorithms for their piece in the same high level language. This allows the creation of synthesis instruments with considerably more flexibility than allowed in lower level synthesis languages. Since it is easy to create control panels and graphic displays, SuperCollider is well suited as a tool for teaching various synthesis techniques.
The demo version is crippled in several ways:
you cannot stream audio to or from files.
you can only load the provided audio file 'floating_1'
you cannot save patches
you cannot edit the source code for the patches
I plan to make SuperCollider available for purchase by January 1996.
To hear the demo patches, open them by double clicking on their icon in the Finder, or use the 'Open…' dialog, then choose the 'Execute' command (cmd-/) in the 'Synth' menu. To stop synthesis, type cmd-period.
Tips to run the demo:
To audition a wave table or sample window press the space bar.
While viewing an audio sample:
up arrow decrease magnification
down arrow increase magnification
left arrow scroll left
right arrow scroll right
While executing:
cmd-[ reduce volume 3dB
cmd-] increase volume 3dB
cmd-\ L and R output repatching
When editing the GUI window:
return key open the GUI item edit dialog
arrow keys nudge selected GUI items one pixels
tab select next item
shift-tab select previous item
cmd-D duplicate item along the item's minor axis
cmd-shift-D duplicate item along the item's major axis
To map faders:
Choose the 'MIDI Map Faders' command. All mappable sliders will turn green. Click on a slider or sliders to select them, they will turn yellow. Wiggle a MIDI controller and the sliders will turn red to indicate that they have been mapped. You can keep on selecting and mapping. Press return when done.
