SuperCollider 101
SuperCollider Workshop
SuperCollider is one of the most powerful programming environments for real time sound synthesis and processing, algorithmic & generative composition, and many other audio related applications. It is widely used by artists and scientists alike for both research and actual artistic creation. It features a powerful state-of-the-art sound engine and an easy to learn, fully featured object oriented language. Moreover, it is open source and totally free of charge. SuperCollider works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.This five-day intensive workshop welcomes participants of any discipline with or without prior programming or musical experience. The class is aimed at musicians, composers, researchers, sound artists, programmers, and all computer & electronic music enthusiasts interested in learning more about SuperCollider. If you have no prior experience, we will guide you through the creation of your first sounds, instruments and musical structures in SuperCollider. If you have some prior experience with SuperCollider or other similar software, you will be able to move more quickly into advanced topics with help and advice from the instructors.
This is a project-based class in which you will learn practical skills along with the study of technical, theoretical and artistic related topics. People of all computer skill levels are welcome in this learning environment. Participants immediately start working on projects the first day and are expected to finish a short piece by the last day. We will end the week with a listening session where all participants will play and discuss their final projects.
Participants will have access to the state-of-the-art facilities at CCRMA, including two multichannel composition studios. You should plan to use your own laptop during the workshop; alternatively, you may use one of the several CCRMA workstations available in the building.
Pictures!
Everybody likes pictures. Click here to see pictures from last year's workshop.Topics Covered
Below are some examples of topics presented in past workshops. Exact list may vary depending on class interests. The lectures essentially cover the entire content of the book A Gentle Introduction to SuperCollider.What is SuperCollider and how it compares to other programming environments such as Pd and Max/MSP;
Patterns: Pbind, Pseq, Prand, Pwhite, Pn, Pspawner, Pshuf, and more
UGens (Unit Generators): oscillators, filters, delays, granulators, etc.;
Building your own Synth Definition (SynthDef);
Synth Server & Language
Audio and control busses
Using external controllers (MIDI or OSC)
Tasks, Routines, Events
Building GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) in SuperCollider.
Algorithmic composition
Overview of synthesis techniques: additive, subtractive, AM, FM, granular synthesis;
Fundamentals of spatialization techniques (ambisonics, amplitude panning, VBAP, reverberation)
Please install and test SuperCollider on your laptop before the workshop starts. We will of course try to help troubleshooting your install if it does not work, but it it would be much better if you have a working setup before the workshop starts.
If you are not sure how to install SuperCollider, or cannot bring your own laptop, you can have a CCRMA desktop computer available for you (please notify us in advance).
About the instructors
Fernando Lopez-Lezcano is a composer, performer, lecturer and computer systems administrator at CCRMA, Stanford University.Bruno Ruviaro is a composer, and author of the book "A Gentle Introduction to SuperCollider" (2014). He teaches composition and electronic music at Santa Clara University.
Choose the schedule that fits your schedule
You'll notice you can register to either one of two different SuperCollider workshop formats. One of them is called "Evenings Only." This part-time status will allow students to attend only the evening lectures for reduced tuition. The regular SuperCollider tuition will give full time students individual assistance during afternoon labs in addition to evening lectures.The evening lectures will form a cohesive, self-sufficient introductory course to SuperCollider, so if you choose the Evenings-Only option the only thing you miss is the opportunity to benefit from one-to-one assistance from the instructors in afternoon labs. If you are local and have a day job, this may be just the right option for you.
The full time option includes all evening lectures plus the opportunity to work on your personal project in the afternoon labs, with plenty of time to get individual help from the instructors. This is the best option if you have the time available and want to really dive into an intensive hands-on week of learning SuperCollider.
In both cases, note that Sunday 6/21 is the first day of class for everyone (part time and full time), morning and afternoon.
Here's how the schedule looks like:
Sunday 6/19 | Monday 6/20 | Tuesday 6/21 |
Wednesday 6/22 |
Thursday 6/23 |
|
morning |
10-1pm everyone | --- | --- | --- | --- |
afternoon | 2-6pm everyone | 1-5pm full-time only | 1-5pm full-time only | 1-5pm full-time only | 1-5pm full-time only |
evening | --- | 6-9pm everyone | 6-9pm everyone | 6-9pm everyone | 6-9pm everyone |
Evenings-Only option
Total hours for this group: 19 hours of class.
Total hours for this group: 35 hours of class.
Fee: $450
Click on the big button below to register. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.
For information on the Women in Computer Music Scholarship for the SuperCollider workshop, please visit this page.
You can download SuperCollider from:
http://supercollider.sourceforge.net/downloads
And you can get started with help from:
http://supercollider.sourceforge.net/learning
Screenshots, anyone?
A lot more screenshots can be seen in this photo album.
2015 SuperCollider Workshop
Group photo of 2015 SuperCollider Workshoppers.
Click here for more pictures!
2015 Participants (not in picture order):
Allen Wu, Neha Chriss, Randall West, Ching-Fang Wu, Steven Trimmer, Daphna Raz, Rodger White, Revital Hollander, Aziz Ege Gonul, Nicolás Arnáez, Raimundo Gonzalez, Adam Sohn, Michael Flora, Sanna Wager, Caroline Record, Julia Wilkins, Aaron Bail, Shanna Polley, Drew Cranfill, Jeff Blanding, Pranav Srinivas, Phillip Munck, Reilly Farrell (TA).
Here are some examples of topics developed as final projects by workshop participants:
- Sonification of a text file, character by character
- Sonification of the QuickSort sorting algorithm
- Composition using Patterns and Formant Synthesis SynthDef
- Exploration of FFT to creatively modify a sound
- Live coding to generate evolving drones
- Writing a SynthDef based on the layout and architecture of the classic Arp Odyssey
- Using the Leap Motion to control parameters of a SuperCollider synth.
- Creating sound for an interactive piece that uses face tracking to put words into your mouth.
- Live coding performance experiment
- Melodic composition tool for composers, with a Graphical User Interface (GUI)
- Building a sampler controlled by a MIDI interface
- Composition / live performance using a custom Class for a sample synthesizer
- Sound installation: a cell phone hanging from the ceiling sends OSC messages to SuperCollider to generate sound
- An experiment with 8 channel panning using PanAz
- Experimenting with various synthesis techniques
- Multichannel composition using granular synthesis of location recordings and synthetic bird song
2014 SuperCollider Workshop
Aileen Chao, Aurimas Bavarskis, James Perley, Andrea Steves, Brent Townshend, Elizabeth Davis, Madalyn Merkey, Fernanda Aoki Navarro, Monika Madsø, Vasudha Rengarajan, Philip Lee, Joel Hunt, Andrew Francis, Darin Donovan, Yue Yu, Krishna Kumar, Maxim Krikun, Stefan Rimola, Matt Mitchell. [participants: if link is missing or incorrect, please contact Bruno]Back to CCRMA Summer Workshop Main Page