h. james harkins, composer

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supercollider

SuperCollider projects

SuperCollider is a programming language for audio synthesis and computer-aided composition, created in 1996 by James McCartney and now in its third major version. It’s especially good at interactive music, including the use of computers onstage as musical instruments. In this, it’s in the same category as Max/MSP, but SuperCollider is a text-based, object-oriented programming language with a wide array of conveniences for audio and musical work:

I have been an active user and developer since late 2002. Since then, I have created a number of pieces for myself to perform (with and without other instruments), pieces with other performers on acoustic instruments, and a large project with dancers and video projection (Affectations, whose SuperCollider code runs for 45 minutes without interruption). In addition, I’ve built some extensions that simplify some common tasks.

Some representative SuperCollider music is on my Works page.

Projects

These are a couple of my recent larger projects, which don’t fit into the categories of compositions or quarks extension libraries (below).

cl-livecode

A live-coding dialect that controls ddwChucklib processes. A compact language, feasible to type in front of an audience, represents rhythms and note parameters in a visually expressive way that is then translated into SC patterns, according to a translation table in the target process. The performer builds up a library of phrases, which are chosen in turn by a partially-randomizable sequence. My personal setup uses TouchOSC running on an Android tablet to make it easier to start and stop processes quickly and adjust the mix interactively.

Video demo: On Youtube, On Youku (for mainland China)

JITModular

JITModular is an approach to synthesis pedagogy, using SuperCollider’s Just-In-Time Library as a monophonic modular synthesizer. Each “module” (oscillator, filter, envelope generator, LFO etc.) becomes a JITLib NodeProxy, defined by a very short code block whose purpose is instantly clear. JITLib allows NodeProxies to be patched and repatched at will, using simple syntax, and it can display parameters for graphical manipulation automatically. Students can experiment with different arrangements of modules interactively, learning both synthesis and audio programming through a process that feels more like play. A new event type \psSet and proxy type of the same name make it easy to run SC patterns as if they were analog-style step sequencers.

Example

s.boot;
p = ProxySpace.new.push;

// a stable output location,
// connected (by .play) to the hardware output
~out = { \in.ar(0!2) }; ~out.play;

// a sawtooth oscillator
~osc = { |freq = 60, amp = 0.1|
    Saw.ar(freq, amp).dup
};

// connect to output
~osc <>> ~out;

// detune it
~osc = { |freq = 60, amp = 0.1, detun = 1.006|
    Mix(Saw.ar(freq * [1, detun], amp)).dup
};

// a filter -- \in.ar(0!2) defines an audio input
~lpf = { |ffreq = 800, rq = 1|
    RLPF.ar(\in.ar(0!2), ffreq, rq)
};

// repatch
~osc <>> ~lpf <>> ~out;

// amp envelope
~eg = { |gt = 1|
    \in.ar(0!2) * EnvGen.kr(
        Env.adsr(0.01, 0.1, 0.6, 0.1),
        gt
    )
};
~lpf <>> ~eg <>> ~out;

// now too quiet
~osc.set(\amp, 0.2);

// run some notes
TempoClock.tempo = 124/60;

~player = \psSet -> Pbind(
    \skipArgs, [\amp],
    \midinote, Pseq([Pn(36, { rrand(3, 8) }), 39], inf),
    \dur, Pwrand([0.25, 0.5], [0.9, 0.1], inf)
);

// filter eg
~ffreq = 400;
~feg = { |t_trig = 1, freqMul = 25|
    var eg = EnvGen.kr(
        Env.perc(0.01, 0.1, level: freqMul),
        t_trig, levelBias: 1
    );
    (~ffreq.kr(1) * eg).clip(20, 20000)
};

// patch the filter envelope to the filter's frequency input
~lpf.set(\ffreq, ~feg);

~feg.set(\freqMul, 40);
~lpf.set(\rq, 0.1);

// change the pattern to accent only some notes
~player = \psSet -> Pbind(
    \skipArgs, [\amp],
    \midinote, Pseq([Pn(36, { rrand(3, 8) }), 39], inf),
    \dur, Pwrand([0.25, 0.5], [0.9, 0.1], inf),
    \t_trig, Pwrand([0, 1], [0.7, 0.3], inf)
);

// we're done, remove everything
p.clear;
p.pop;

SuperCollider extensions

SuperCollider packages extensions as quarks. I’ve written several. Note that you can install the lot by executing, in SuperCollider, the statement Quarks.install("dewdrop_lib");

Large quarks

Minor quarks

CC-BY-SA 4.0 by H. James Harkins (2015): Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike

Acknowledgment to the php-markdown library © 2004-2015 Michel Fortin.

The Dream Orphans font is used according to its noncommercial license.

The Vera Humana 95 font is distributed apparently without a license.