[PD] PD 4 EM (fwd)

[J. Scott Hildebrand]

      i didn't think of sending my reply to jim's email to the pdlist
also, so i'm doing it now.

                             scott


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:48:51 -0800 (PST)
From: J. Scott Hildebrand <jscotth at mailbox.ucdavis.edu>
To: Jim Aikin <midiguru23 at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [PD] PD 4 EM


     Hey Jim! I'll write some responses after each question.

On Thu, 20 Feb 2003, Jim Aikin wrote:

> I've been assigned to write a feature on Pd for an upcoming issue of
> Electronic Musician. This will be mainly introductory -- letting people
> know that Pd exists, what it can do, what it's like to work with it, etc.
>
> The feature will be much stronger if I have some input from folks in the
> Pd user community. If you have 30 seconds, I'd love to get some feedback
> or commentary on the following points:
>
> 1) What do you use Pd for? Have you used it in any performances or
> recordings you'd like others to know about?
>

     I'm doing spatial audio research at UC Davis in California. I'm an
undergraduate student studying music and computer science. Pd is an
environment that invites art and technology to come together, but it's a
STEEP learning curve and might not be accessable to the non-tech-savvy.
It's a very useful programming environment for me because it's
open-source, low-latency, real-time, and graphical as much as it can be.
I do a lot of programming "under the hood" but all of the control
knobs/sliders are all built in... so is all of the audio in/out. The project
I'm specifically working on utilizes HRTFs (Head Related Transfer Functions),
convolution, and headtracking to spatialize and move around a sound in 3-D
space.


> 2) Are there musical tasks that you feel Pd is *not* especially well
> suited for? What are they? Are there limitations you're hoping will be
> addressed in future updates?
>

     I think that as a synthesis program, it could be a bit more
attractive. Maybe modeling it a bit after Native Instruments' Reaktor
would be a good thing, and maybe make it a little easier for purely
artist-type people to get involved.


> 3) What are your favorite online resources for learning Pd and/or
> extending it?
>

http://iem.kug.ac.at/mailinglists/pd-list/
http://www-crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/Pd_documentation/index.htm
http://iem.kug.ac.at/pd/externals-HOWTO/
http://iem.kug.ac.at/pd/

                             -Scott Hildebrand
                              UC Davis, CIPIC Interface Lab

> Thanks in advance for any and all responses. I can't promise to quote
> you directly in the article, but your feedback will be incredibly useful.
>
> --Jim Aikin
>
>
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>




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