MicroOrchestra

MicroOrchestra image

Electroacoustic Laptop Performance using Pure Data

An intro to interactive audio using the graphical open source computer music platform, Pure Data. We'll cover some digital audio & musicianship basics and make some beeps, bonks, and various noises along the way. Bring a laptop, a mic, headphones, and things which make interesting sounds.

Length: 2-3 hours w/ concert (if time is available)

What You Need

  1. Install Pure Data "vanilla" 0.47+
    • Download from puredata.info
    • Also available as a Linux distro package, ie. "puredata" on Debian
    • or build from source(?!)
  2. Grab the patches for the workshop: MicroOrchestra.zip & IntroToPureData.zip

External Libraries

There are many additional objects that can be added to Pure Data, either from compiled source code or resuable patch abstractions. You can also download & install some externals using Help -> Find externals.

Here are a couple of useful patch-only libraries (which may not be found in the externals search):

Pd needs to know where these libraries are located when it tries to create objects. You can place them in a location relative to your patches and add the path using the [declare] object or you can put them in a global location such as HOMEDIR/Pd/externals. See Preferences -> Path... to add global search paths.

Keep in mind, if you share patches which use external libraries, either include the patch abstractions and/or include information about which externals need to be installed.

Useful Links

A Few Projects Using Pd

Previous Workshops


Live recording of a short jam session by participants @ the EDP MicroOrchestra workshop, Apr 9 2017
Performers: Ben, Rich, Parker, & Dan