[linux-audio-dev] CSound usability

[James McDermott]

> I taught myself how to use Csound, I have no special background in
> mathematics or computer programming.

But you're on the LAD list! Just subscribing to a list is a harder
technical task than some musicians I know are capable of ;)


> I think by the time you're done learning how to write your
> sequencer/synthesizer you'll have spent considerably more time learning
> how to do that than you would have spent learning how to use Csound.  ;-)

Yeah but not the point - the programmer does the work so the users
don't have to.


> The sco file
> supplies the instrument (s) with parameter values and event times
> (start/duration). Contemporary Csounders usually use the CSD unified
> file format to define both instrument and score within a single file.

In my experience (correct me if I'm wrong), many instruments don't
work unless you set up (eg) the right wavetables in the .sco file. I
don't know how much the .csd format helps this.

But it's certainly true that if you put all the right bits of CSound
add-ons together, you can get a nice and usable system. Modularity is
nice, but the lists of add-ons at www.csounds.com is pretty
frightening.

My 2 cents