[PD] newbie growing pains...

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On Feb 25, 2007, at 3:01 AM, carmen wrote:

> On Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 01:51:33AM -0500, Hans-Christoph Steiner wrote:
>>
>> On Feb 20, 2007, at 9:14 PM, Derek Holzer wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Jared,
>>>
>>> for what it's worth, I've been working with PD for years and I still
>>> can't read most other people's patches ;-)
>>>
>>> Everybody has their own style, their own "handwriting", and some are
>>> more readable than others. Diving right into somebody's finished  
>>> patch
>>> is pretty difficult for an experienced user, and almost impossible
>>> for a
>>> beginner, I'd say! If you were trying to learn German, would you  
>>> start
>>> by reading Goethe?
>>
>> Partially, I think this is due to lack of common practice in coding
>> style and things like that.  Most languages, programming or other,
>> have a lot of standard practices when it comes to writing them done
>> in different contexts.  For whatever reason, the Pd/Max world has not
>> developed many conventions, and I think that makes reading other
>> people's patches harder.
>
> it couldnt possibly be beacuse the whole point or essence of a  
> patch is often sphaghetti, or that theres no way to zoom out to see  
> all the subpatches and abstractions on a single window..

Instead of zooming you can have subpatches of subpatches and  
abstractions that use abstractions.  Then you can have a complecated  
system that fits on your screen.  Some of my programs in Pd using 8  
or more levels of abstraction.

.hc

>
>>
>> .hc
>>
>>> I learned PD by reproducing things which I understood already in
>>> stages,
>>> such as going from a quad-panner, a mixer, a sampler and a
>>> delay-network, to complex feedback-FM, a granular synthesizer and an
>>> algorithmic sequencer...etc etc. First I played around with the
>>> built-in
>>> examples, then I made simple things and basic utilities. After  
>>> that I
>>> went back to the examples I skipped and figured out what I did  
>>> wrong,
>>> and then I moved on to "porting" things from other apps I had used
>>> before and knew the structure of (AudioMulch units, Reaktor
>>> instruments,
>>> various VSTs, etc). These kinds of exercises are the ones I think  
>>> work
>>> best. Start from a point you know, and figure out how to do it with
>>> the
>>> most basic objects in PD. If core PD doesn't do it, then it's  
>>> time to
>>> reach for an external.
>>>
>>> best,
>>> d.
>>>
>>> jared wrote:
>>>
>>>> obvious similarities, but the more time I spend with PD the more  
>>>> they
>>>> feel like different beasts.   I will definitely go back and start
>>>> from
>>>> square one with PD.
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl
>>> ---Oblique Strategy # 77:
>>> "Give way to your worst impulse"
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>> ---
>>
>> "[W]e have invented the technology to eliminate scarcity, but we are
>> deliberately throwing it away to benefit those who profit from
>> scarcity."        -John Gilmore
>>
>>
>>
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>
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