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Chapter 1. Introduction To PD

The document introduces Pd, an open source programming language for electronic music and digital signal processing. Pd uses visual objects that are connected to create programs. It allows for real-time interaction and is well-suited for live performance. The document provides an overview of Pd and its history and capabilities.

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מִיכָיָהמוֹרֶ֫שֶׁת
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83 views7 pages

Chapter 1. Introduction To PD

The document introduces Pd, an open source programming language for electronic music and digital signal processing. Pd uses visual objects that are connected to create programs. It allows for real-time interaction and is well-suited for live performance. The document provides an overview of Pd and its history and capabilities.

Uploaded by

מִיכָיָהמוֹרֶ֫שֶׁת
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Chapter 1.

Introduction to Pd

Chapter 1. Introduction
to Pd
Ta b le o f Co nt e nt s

1.1 General remarks


1.2 Installing and setting up Pd

1.1 General remarks


Pd (Pure Dat a) is a programming language
f or elec t ronic music . Creat ing music on a
c omput er is t ec hnic ally ref erred t o as DSP
(digit al signal proc essing). "Digit al" means
t hat inf ormat ion is represent ed by digit s
c omput ers, as y ou may know , w ork only
w it h numbers. "Signal" is t he t ec hnic al t erm
f or a spec ial mode of c omput er operat ion
t hat deals w it h sound. "Proc essing" ref ers
t o f unc t ions exec ut ed by t he c omput er.
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Pd w as init iat ed by Americ an sof t w are


engineer Miller Puc ket t e, w ho prev ious c odev eloped t he w ell know n and similarly
st ruc t ured sof t w are Max/Msp. Pd is not
c ommerc ial sof t w are; i.e., it w as not
dev eloped by a c orporat ion and is not f or
sale. Inst ead, it is "open sourc e": it s
sourc e c ode c an be v iew ed by any one. T his
sourc e c ode is also not t he (pat ent ed)
propert y of a c orporat ion, but is rat her
f reely av ailable t o all. T his also means t hat ,
prov ided suf f ic ient know ledge, any one c an
c hange t he program. T oday , many ot her
programmers, music ians, ac oust ic
engineers, and c omposers hav e joined Miller
Puc ket t e t o c ont inue Pd's dev elopment . As
a result of t his, t here is no f inal, def init iv e
v ersion of Pd; t he program is under
c onst ant dev elopment . In addit ion t o t he
huge adv ant age of f ree av ailabilit y on t he
Int ernet , it is also "democ rat ic ally "
expanded and opt imized on a prof essional
lev el. One draw bac k t o t his is t hat a
det ailed operat ing manual f or users w ho
lac k programming experienc e has not
exist ed unt il now . In c ont rast t o a
c orporat ion, w hic h has a monet ary int erest
in ensuring t hat f irst - t ime users c an easily
operat e new sof t w are, t he open sourc e
mov ement lac ks suc h a driv ing f orc e t o
make it self ac c essible. T his book is an
at t empt t o f ill t hat gap.
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In prec ise t erms, Pd is a "real- t ime


graphic al programming env ironment f or
audio proc essing". T radit ionally ,
programmers w ork w it h t ext - based
programming languages. T hey c reat e w hat
is c alled "c ode", w hic h is proc essed by a
c omput er t o produc e a result . T o c arry out
it s programming f unc t ions, Pd uses v isual
objec t s t hat t he user plac es and alt ers on
t he sc reen. T hese v isual objec t s small
boxes t hat c an be c onnec t ed t o eac h ot her
are a t hrow bac k t o analogue st udios t hat
w ere used t o produc e elec t ronic music
bef ore t he adv ent of c omput ers: v arious
dev ic es t oday sy mbolized by our lit t le
boxes are c onnec t ed t o eac h ot her using
lines t hat like c ables sy mbolize
phy sic al c onnec t ions bet w een t he boxes.
(Due t o t his t y pe of c onnec t ion, Pd is
ref erred t o as a dat ast ream- orient ed
programming language.)

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An analog studio devices are connected


with cables.
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Pd boxes are connected to each other.


One major adv ant age of Pd is t he aspec t of
"real- t ime". T his means t hat , in c ont rast t o
most programming env ironment s w here a
t ext is f irst ent ered t hat must be
separat ely proc essed by t he c omput er
bef ore obt aining a result , c hanges in Pd
c an be made during perf ormanc e. Like on a
c lassic al inst rument , t he user hears t he
result inst ant aneously and c an c hange it
immediat ely . T his makes Pd espec ially w ell
suit ed f or use in liv e perf ormanc e.
Pd has bec ome muc h more t han a
programming language f or elec t ronic music .
Sinc e users ac ross t he globe c an
part ic ipat e in t he projec t , t here are userprogrammed modules f or w hat are c alled
"ext ernals": v ideo, Int ernet c onnec t ion,
joy st ic k int egrat ion, et c . Whole libraries of
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t hese modules ev en exist ("ext ernal


libraries"). Some of t hese ext ernals hav e
been int egrat ed int o t he regular v ersion of
Pd.

I ntr o d uc tio n to
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Ho m e

1.2 I ns ta lling
a nd s e tting up P d

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