CSOUND
CSOUND IN PD
INSTALLING
You can embed Csound in PD via the external object csound6~1 which has been written by Victor Lazzarini. This external is either part of the Csound distribution or can be built from the sources at https://github.com/csound/csound_pd . In the examples folder of this repository you can also find all the .csd and .pd files of this chapter.
On Ubuntu Linux, you can install the csound6~ via the Synaptic Package Manager. Just look for "csound6~" or "pd-csound", check "install", and your system will install the library at the appropriate location. If you build Csound from sources, go to https://github.com/csound/csound_pd and follow the build instructions. Once it is compiled, the object will appear as csound6~.pd_linux and should be copied (together with csound6~-help.pd) to /usr/lib/pd/extra, so that PD can find it. If not, add it to PD's search path (File->Path...).
On Mac OSX, you find the csound6~ external, help file and examples in https://github.com/csound/csound_pd/releases
(Prior to 6.11, it was in /Library/Frameworks/CsoundLib64.framework/Versions/6.0/Resources/PD.)
Put these files in a folder which is in PD's search path. For PD-extended, it is by default ~/Library/Pd. But you can put it anywhere. Just make sure that the location is specified in PD's Preferences > Path... menu.
On Windows, you find the csound6~ external, help file and examples in https://github.com/csound/csound_pd/releases
For older versions of Csound, the csound6~ object was included in the installer. The description is left here for the case that someone needs to install one of these older versions:
<<while installing Csound, open up the "Front ends" component in the Installer box and make sure the item "csound6~" is checked:
After having finished the installation, you will find csound6~.dll in the csound/bin folder. Copy this file into the pd/extra folder, or in any other location in PD's search path. Due to the dependencies in Csound 6, you may find that it works better to add the Csound/bin directory to the search paths in Pd's Preferences window.
Note for Csound 6.07 for Windows: As it is build for 64bit architecture, but PD does not fully support the 64 bit CPU architecture with loadable objects at this time, the Windows installer currently comes without the csound6~ external. Use 6.06 or earlier versions until a solution is found.>>
Once you have installed the "csound6~" extension on any platform, and included the file in PD's search path if necessary, you should be able to call the csound6~ object in PD. Just open a PD window, put a new object, and type in "csound6~":
CONTROL DATA
You can send control data from PD to your Csound instrument via the keyword "control" in a message box. In your Csound code, you must receive the data via invalue or chnget. This is a simple example:
EXAMPLE 09A01_pdcs_control_in.csd
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsOptions>
</CsOptions>
<CsInstruments>
;Example by Joachim Heintz
sr = 44100
nchnls = 2
0dbfs = 1
ksmps = 8
giSine ftgen 0, 0, 2^10, 10, 1
instr 1
kFreq invalue "freq"
kAmp invalue "amp"
aSin oscili kAmp, kFreq, giSine
outs aSin, aSin
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
i 1 0 10000
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
Save this file under the name "control.csd". Save a PD window in the same folder and create the following patch:
Note that for invalue channels, you first must register these channels by a "set" message. The usage of chnget is easier; a simple example can be found in this example in the csound6~ repository.
As you see, the first two outlets of the csound6~ object are the signal outlets for the audio channels 1 and 2. The third outlet is an outlet for control data (not used here, see below). The rightmost outlet sends a bang when the score has been finished.
LIVE INPUT
Audio streams from PD can be received in Csound via the inch opcode. The number of audio inlets created in the csound6~ object will depend on the number of input channels used in the Csound orchestra. The following .csd uses two audio inputs:
EXAMPLE 09A02_pdcs_live_in.csd
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsOptions>
</CsOptions>
<CsInstruments>
;Example by Joachim Heintz
sr = 44100
0dbfs = 1
ksmps = 8
nchnls = 2
instr 1
aL inch 1
aR inch 2
kcfL randomi 100, 1000, 1; center frequency
kcfR randomi 100, 1000, 1; for band pass filter
aFiltL butterbp aL, kcfL, kcfL/10
aoutL balance aFiltL, aL
aFiltR butterbp aR, kcfR, kcfR/10
aoutR balance aFiltR, aR
outch 1, aoutL
outch 2, aoutR
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
i 1 0 10000
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
The corresponding PD patch is extremely simple:
MIDI
The csound6~ object receives MIDI data via the keyword "midi". Csound is able to trigger instrument instances in receiving a "note on" message, and turning them off in receiving a "note off" message (or a note-on message with velocity=0). So this is a very simple way to build a synthesizer with arbitrary polyphonic output:
This is the corresponding midi.csd. It must contain the options -+rtmidi=null -M0 in the <CsOptions> tag. It is an FM synth in which the modulation index is defined according to the note velocity. The harder a key is truck, the higher the index of modulation will be; and therefore a greater number of stronger partials will be created. The ratio is calculated randomly between two limits, which can be adjusted.
EXAMPLE 09A03_pdcs_midi.csd
<CsOptions>
-+rtmidi=null -M0
</CsOptions>
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsInstruments>
;Example by Joachim Heintz
sr = 44100
ksmps = 8
nchnls = 2
0dbfs = 1
giSine ftgen 0, 0, 2^10, 10, 1
instr 1
iFreq cpsmidi ;gets frequency of a pressed key
iAmp ampmidi 8;gets amplitude and scales 0-8
iRatio random .9, 1.1; ratio randomly between 0.9 and 1.1
aTone foscili .1, iFreq, 1, iRatio/5, iAmp+1, giSine; fm
aEnv linenr aTone, 0, .01, .01; avoiding clicks at the end of a note
outs aEnv, aEnv
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
f 0 36000; play for 10 hours
e
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
SCORE EVENTS
Score events can be sent from PD to Csound by a message with the keyword event. You can send any kind of score events, like instrument calls or function table statements. The following example triggers Csound's instrument 1 whenever you press the message box on the top. Different sounds can be selected by sending f events (building/replacing a function table) to Csound.
EXAMPLE 09A04_pdcs_events.csd
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsOptions>
</CsOptions>
<CsInstruments>
;Example by Joachim Heintz
sr = 44100
ksmps = 8
nchnls = 2
0dbfs = 1
seed 0; each time different seed
giSine ftgen 1, 0, 2^10, 10, 1; function table 1
instr 1
iDur random 0.5, 3
p3 = iDur
iFreq1 random 400, 1200
iFreq2 random 400, 1200
idB random -18, -6
kFreq linseg iFreq1, iDur, iFreq2
kEnv transeg ampdb(idB), p3, -10, 0
aTone oscili kEnv, kFreq, 1
outs aTone, aTone
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
f 0 36000; play for 10 hours
e
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
CONTROL OUTPUT
If you want Csound to pass any control data to PD, you can use the opcode outvalue . You will receive this data at the second outlet from the right of the csound6~ object. The data are sent as a list with two elements. The name of the control channel is the first element, and the value is the second element. You can get the values by a route object or by a send/receive chain. This is a simple example:
EXAMPLE 09A05_pdcs_control_out.csd
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsOptions>
</CsOptions>
<CsInstruments>
;Example by Joachim Heintz
sr = 44100
nchnls = 2
0dbfs = 1
ksmps = 8
instr 1
ktim times
kphas phasor 1
outvalue "time", ktim
outvalue "phas", kphas*127
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
i 1 0 30
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
SEND/RECEIVE BUFFERS FROM PD TO CSOUND AND BACK
A PD array can be sent directly to Csound, and a Csound function table to PD. The message tabset [tabset array-name ftable-number] copies a PD array into a Csound function table. The message tabget [tabget array-name ftable-number] copies a Csound function table into a PD array. The example below should explain everything. Just choose another soundfile instead of "stimme.wav".
EXAMPLE 06A06_pdcs_tabset_tabget.csd
<CsoundSynthesizer>
<CsOptions>
-odac
</CsOptions>
<CsInstruments>
sr = 44100
ksmps = 8
nchnls = 1
0dbfs = 1
giCopy ftgen 1, 0, -88200, 2, 0 ;"empty" table
giFox ftgen 2, 0, 0, 1, "fox.wav", 0, 0, 1
opcode BufPlay1, a, ipop
ifn, ispeed, iskip, ivol xin
icps = ispeed / (ftlen(ifn) / sr)
iphs = iskip / (ftlen(ifn) / sr)
asig poscil3 ivol, icps, ifn, iphs
xout asig
endop
instr 1
itable = p4
aout BufPlay1 itable
out aout
endin
</CsInstruments>
<CsScore>
f 0 99999
</CsScore>
</CsoundSynthesizer>
;example by joachim heintz
SETTINGS
Make sure that the Csound vector size given by the ksmps value, is not larger than the internal PD vector size. It should be a power of 2. I would recommend starting with ksmps=8. If there are performance problems, try to increase this value to 16, 32, or 64, i.e. ascending powers of 2.
The csound6~ object runs by default if you turn on audio in PD. You can stop it by sending a "run 0" message, and start it again with a "run 1" message.
You can recompile the .csd file of a csound6~ object by sending a "reset" message.
By default, you see all the messages of Csound in the PD window. If you do not want to see them, send a "message 0" message. "message 1" re-enables message printing.
If you want to open a new .csd file in the csound6~ object, send the message "open", followed by the path of the .csd file you want to load.
A "rewind" message rewinds the score without recompilation. The message "offset", followed by a number, offsets the score playback by that number of seconds.
- This is the new name for Csound 6. In Csound 5 the name was csoundapi~. The different names make it possible to have both versions installed. Wherever in this chapter "csoundapi~" is used, it should work the same way as "csound6~" for Csound 6. ^