RE: [microsound] csound vs software synthesizer

[mark <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>now a friend told me an opinion "csound is overrated" but could not
>remember why. this i do not take as a valid opinion. anyway, i would
[snip]
>i would say csound makes you rely really on yourself and your imagery.
>you can use other people's patches, you don't have to. you can write it
>all from scratch.

Csound is a mixed blessing - it is without doubt one of the most flexbile
and powerful ways of generating sound - providing a large number of
mechanisms often not found anywhere else. It could perhaps be considered
second only to the language 'C'. And therin lies the rub - you do have to
write it all from scratch.

I think it all comes down to the way you think about music - I personally
despite being a sofware engineer and having been programing since 1981 -
including a stint doing realtime telemetry for a Forumla 1 racing team -
just
don't get along with it. I have to plan too much ahead. I much prefer
poking and twidling things and discovering the music as much as writing it.

You can do some stunning things in CSound - have a listen to the some of the
example orchestra/scores around. I do use it sometimes 'cos there are
things that are just easier to do that way - its also a good way of learning
synthesis - the CSound book is a must buy even if you don't end up
working in CSound at all.

Anyway - its free so give it a go. You can only learn things - and since
when
has that been a bad thing..

mark