#64

there is this thread (which i started ;)) but it’s from 6 years ago, so not really up to date
http://archive.monome.org/community/discussion/9727/learning-an-audio-programming-language/p1
edit: in my case i discovered i’m not good enough at programming to make the things i want to make. i tried to learn supercollider, learning it is really fun. but in the end too complicated for me to make useful musical things

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#65

I feel Sonic Pi is an excellent environment to start learning musical programming.
http://sonic-pi.net/

The code is in Ruby and everything you need to get started is at the link above.

I also highly recommend the Grid Studies for learning how to work with the monome grid.
http://monome.org/docs/grid-studies/
I’d focus on Max, Processing, and Pure Data as a beginner.

If Sonic Pi really sticks with you, and you start thinking you might want to learn Ruby in a more in-depth way, _why’s Poignant Guide to Ruby is the most entertaining way (if not the most straightforward way) to take a deeper dive.
http://poignant.guide/
The poignant guide also has a soundtrack made by _why himself.

Heading back in a more musical direction, the Supercollider tutorials are great.
http://supercollider.github.io/tutorials/

So, I just recommended you try 5 different programming languages. That might seem overwhelming. Does a beginner really need to know 5 different programming languages? No, not at all. You can probably choose one programming language and that choice is likely going to be valid for 95% of what you’re going to want to do for the rest of your musical life. The reason you want to try lots of languages as a beginner is so that you can see which one fits your peculiar brain the best. It’s also helpful when starting out to look at how multiple languages do various things so that you can start to see what they have in common and what they do differently, which things are going to be the way they are no matter what language you choose, and which things are essentially arbitrary/taste/style and vary greatly from language to language. Only you can do the hard work of figuring out your preferences in these latter areas. And it matters a great deal to your ongoing productivity and success as a programmer.

How long does it take to learn programming? You’ll be making sounds with Sonic Pi within minutes. You’ll be learning and growing and achieving greater mastery over the crafts of programming and music for the rest of your life. I started programming at the age of 9. I’m 41. I still feel like a complete beginner.

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#66

thank you for the reading recommendation and the programming info! i’m pretty sure that was the last question i had that ‘needed’ answering, so thank you!

#67

there is a MOOC about Chuck going on right now. I like that language and i think it can make sense for a beginner, even if objet-oriented programming can be a bit strange to apprehend for the first time.

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#68

hey man, please don’t feel guilty about it!

if it helps: i’m definitely keeping the monome stuff :slight_smile: and i’m glad it’s led to this too! tons of great information everywhere!

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#69

Thanks for the input @jasonw22! I didn’t even consider grid studies as a learning tool. That makes a lot of sense…I like your advice of getting my feet wet with these different languages in order to find one to dive into. I think this is an area that seems vastly overwhelming so this response is encouraging, and a concise list of starting points feels very freeing. I will probably check back in with some updates as I work through these (though that may be months or years from now, haha).

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