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Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

sonic-pi.net

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Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#51

Post by seph-reed »

> Powerful enough for professional musicians.

Having worked with professional electronic musicians, I will say this is likely really useful for getting some interesting layers, but is not a professional environment in and of itself.

I don't mean to say this isn't fun, or that you can't make some really cool stuff. It's just not that there's wayyy more programmers involved with VSTs and DAWs than in this one project, and there's ultimately no competition from a professional perspective.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#52

Post by Rampoina »

r4vik wrote: post #14
albybisy wrote: post #10

What's the advantage of a "code-based" music creation respect of the classic one musicians use?

you can translate your thoughts into sound without having to have any sort of manual dexterity or years of practice

You can do that with a traditional notation music program like Musescore. You just need to learn music notation.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#53

Post by fredfjohnsen »

jayjader wrote: post #49
fredfjohnsen wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While playing off sheet music and focusing on dexterity exercises can be rewarding, they are not creative activities. Of all the idiotic things written in the comments of HN (there are plenty...) this has to be, hands down, the most idiotic. There are literally an infinite number of possible expressions in terms of muscle movement & hand / eye coordination involved in an activity like playing the piano & this is BE…

Ok. Not the person you're quoting, but I _do_ have ~20yrs experience playing piano, and got to a _decent_ level when I was still pursuing tutoring/classes. There definitely is a creative aspect to interpretation, and I agree it is big (in potential if not how much it is exploited often). However you're playing with fundamentally different building blocks for your artistic expression. Interpretation is much more subtl…

I don't disagree with anything you said. I also understand that the "skip" you refer to probably is fun for people that don't have traditional musical experience. That's fine. However, anyone who thinks that typing start & stop into a terminal or text editor to trigger loops is MORE CREATIVE than playing a musical instrument is wrong.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#54

Post by DarkCrusader2 »

StrauXX wrote: post #20

Did anyone get this running on Ubuntu/Mint? When I `sudo apt get install sonic-pi` and start sonic-pi (even with root privileges) the loading screen appears and nothing happens. There are no logged error-messages in the terminal either.

After mucking around a bit, I found this doc[1] which worked pretty well for me on Ubuntu 19.10. There is also some effort underway to build an appimage on their forums[2].

[1] https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/INSTALL-LIN...

[2] https://in-thread.sonic-pi.net/t/sonic-pi-as-an-appimage/274...

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#55

Post by delineator »

StrauXX wrote: post #20

Did anyone get this running on Ubuntu/Mint? When I `sudo apt get install sonic-pi` and start sonic-pi (even with root privileges) the loading screen appears and nothing happens. There are no logged error-messages in the terminal either.

Robin Newman has just released today a Sonic Pi 3.2.2 deb file for Ubuntu 20.04, see: https://twitter.com/rbnman/status/1257673599755915265

He notes this deb will NOT be suitable for Ubuntu 18.04.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#57

Post by jameshart »

albybisy wrote: post #10

What's the advantage of a "code-based" music creation respect of the classic one musicians use?

Musicians don’t use ‘one’ music creation mechanism. Musicians use instruments, sure, and musical scores, and they also use audio processing and production systems and digital audio workstations and MIDI controllers...

Some musicians use woodworking tools and materials science to manufacture new instruments to make new sounds. Others use CNC machines and 3D printers. Some use soldering irons and electronic components to build audio processing units and tone generators.

There’s a very active community of modular-synthesizer musicians who take electronic devices and patch them together, adjusting knobs and flicking switches to create music.

And there’s others who build all those same capabilities in software.

And Sonic pi sits on that tradition - of bringing more powerful programmatic tools to bear on the configurability of signal generators and sequencers and audio processing chains as a means to create music.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#59

Post by WillPostForFood »

opminion wrote: post #40

Sonic Pi is an instrument designed for optimal usability by a ten year old, while using text-based syntax just like a normal programming language. I have seen a 9-year old reinventing nested loops with it, just because that's what she needed to make a tune. The install and learning curve is as flat as it gets, there's no excuse for not trying it if you are curious.

I'm upvoting because I agree it is a great tool for kids, and a fun way to introduce some coding. But people might misinterpret what you are saying as meaning it is dumbed down, or too simple for real work. It is just well designed IMO, great for a 10 year old, but equally great for sophisticated technical user. I.e., this is not Scratch.

Re: Sonic Pi is a code-based music creation and performance tool

#60

Post by bwanab »

I would feel remiss not pointing out Sam Aaron’s prior project Overtone which while similar in spirit to Sonic-Pi is much more oriented toward the programmer/musician and less to the musician/programmer. It’s interface language is Clojure which probably tells a lot.

Both projects are amazing, but, after playing with Sonic-Pi, I’ve stuck with Overtone as my coded music synthesis toolset.

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