i also see that he says:
"Csound is better adapted
than Pd for batch processing and it handles
polyphony much better than
Pd does. On the other hand, Pd has a better
developed real-time
control
structure than Csound."
is that last statement really true
(anymore)?
If better means "easier to figure out how to do"
then yes, it is
still true.
I would also say easier to implement. I'm exploring other
possibilities than Pd now, but it is still far
quicker to hit
Ctl-Shift-V and place a vertical slider than it is
to type all the
necessary FLTK commands, or Tk. Do you want to teach your
students
how to write FLTK code to construct sliders, or how
to manipulate
sound?
I have always liked Pd too for its data structures
and arbitrary
drawing of elements, but honestly that's pretty
hard to do for
anything practical. Probably just as simple to use
Tcl/Tk in that
case.
Pd is useful for showing how stuff works for 2
simple facts: you can
see the entire program flow visually, and anything
useful you do has
to be assembled from the ground up. I tend to prefer Csound even
for
low-level stuff just because it's quicker to type
than to mouse; but
as far as others understanding what you're doing,
there's something to
be said for graphical connections. The algorithms in Csound's
higher-level opcodes are completely hidden from
those not in the know.
I'm not convinced Csound is the best educational
tool for all
occasions, but for certain subjects and certain
students, definitely.
I tend to think people who are turned off by sine
wave equations will
be turned off by code too. Non-csounders who look over my
shoulder
while I'm using Csound usually have no idea or
interest in what I'm
doing.
But if I were working with pretty motivated and
intelligent people,
I'd push them towards Csound.
How important is real-time control to your
class?
-Chuckk
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