I'm really interested in discussing hardware equipment used to manipulate pd. I'll probably buy a new powerbook (will the G5 ever come out !) and some equipment soon.

I don't really want to start an off-topic discussion about midi hardware, etc. But I'm just curious to see how you guys are using pd.

So... What computer, sound card (Mac/PC), midi interface, mixer, pedals, keyboards, etc. Just tell me what's your favorite setup !

you can do a lot with just using your computer's keyboard to trigger pd events

as far as hardware for triggering events goes...you can pretty much use what ever you want. any MIDI compatible device would be fine. my suggestion is to use whatever you have or whatever you're comfortable with. Pd is flexible enough to allow you to map pretty much any input to any event or output.

one tip i can offer is that if you are serious about interfacing, consider using OSC (open sound control) for communication between your various components. it is more flexible than midi and is becoming more and more portable and adaptable. even if you are using midi connections, it can still be benificial to implement an OSC messaging system: lets say you have a midi keyboard controlling part of your patch. if you convert incoming midi messages to OSC messages, you can also control your patch from any other hardware or software application that supports OSC and is connected to your patch (either physically or virtually by a tcp/udp connection).

sorry if this is more confusing than helpful; let me know if you have questions. sometimes the pd OSC externs can be hard to track down but if you search this forum i know i have posted a link in the past.

Thanks Zac,

In fact, I just wanted to make a quick survey of what people love to use for live performances or studio experimentations with pd. I'm just curious. And thanks for the info on OSC. I'll try to find out more about this.

Of course, your answers could help me choose the equipment i will buy, but this is already pretty clear in my mind : powerbook + midi controler. The only thing that I'm not sure of is the sound card i will use with my laptop.

Anyways, i think it would be educative / fun if people wanted to list their equipment here.

Share it with us !

thanks !

my hardware is an HP zv5000x notebook--2.8GHz celeron, 512MB ram. at the moment i am just using the onboard soundcard (SoundMax or something like that). i either monitor stuff through a cheap but decent 2.1powered computer speaker system or through my gemini pdm 14 mixer and on to a kenwood reciever through sony floor speakers. i have a yamaha djx keyboard but i haven't used it much lately and am considering selling it to free up some space and have some spending money.

on the wishlist:
-m-audio firewire audiophile, m-audio firewire 410, or m-audio firewire solo (whatever i can afford. the m-audio ozone might be nice too)
i also like the motu 828mkII and traveller but they are too expensive.

-a decent midi controller keyboard and maybe a synth module to replace my djx.

-lcd projector

-a martin mac250+ moving light would be fun (i used to have one i could play with at school).

-enough speakers to do 8 channel surround. (i also used to have access to a few genelec 5.1 systems)

-a job so i could afford this gear

-another computer, plus more memory for this one

i guess a better stop before i get too carried away...

have a good one!

My hardware is a AMD athlon 1.8 GHz 256 MB. Soundcard: SB Live! with MIDI out to a Roland RS 50 synthesizer (can be used as a stand alone synth but I love to link it to my own patches on the computer as a MIDI device) Sennheiser HD 600 headphone (which is awesome!!) Would like to have some decent equipment to record guitar and voice and such though....

_one tip i can offer is that if you are serious about interfacing, consider using OSC (open sound control) for communication between your various components. it is more flexible than midi and is becoming more and more portable and adaptable. even if you are using midi connections, it can still be benificial to implement an OSC messaging system: lets say you have a midi keyboard controlling part of your patch. if you convert incoming midi messages to OSC messages, you can also control your patch from any other hardware or software application that supports OSC and is connected to your patch (either physically or virtually by a tcp/udp connection). _

sounds great, I haven´t tried that yet. I am often working with my RS 50 D-Beam a lot (infrared sensor which het its input from let´s say you hand or any object.....kind of a theremin device...) so I am really interested in the kind of patches I can create using this device.

just a simple question from a novice:
i've heard about trigging pd events from the computer' s keyboard...
...how?

i've heard about trigging pd events from the computer' s keyboard...
...how?

key, keyup and keyname. See their help for more explanation.


I'm on an AMD64 with fedora core 3 ccrma kernel. The soundcard is Edirol UA-25. I would have liked to have M-Audios Firewire 410 but I don't have a six-pin firewire connection.

I recently bought a Radium 49 keyboard (4 octaves, 16 controllers) which is fine for my needs for now. I'm hoping to aquire a midi footswitch, as I will use that setup next year at university for my BA.

Take care.

I have an Athlon XP 1700+ with 1GB RAM and an original Creative Labs Audigy soundcard with an emu10k chipset. I run Fedora Core 3 with a PlanetCCRMA kernel. I use a Fostex Mixtab MIDI controller.

I have a Novation BassStation Rack monophonic analogue synth module, but a friend is borrowing it at the moment. I used to have a Korg X5 keyboard (back when I use my Amiga to make music, long before I heard of Pd), but it died. After that and before I got my non-obsolete computer I made a couple of tracks with synths borrowed from friends (Yamaha DD50, Roland EM10 maybe).

The sound reaches my ears through Spirit Absolute 2 monitors powered by a Samson Servo-170 amplifier.

I want to get a 5.1 surround sound setup soon, and an AMD64 laptop with 5.1 output, it'll be awesome. And a small MIDI keyboard would be fun, but I can't find one with a 3-octave keyboard and no expensive extra fancy controllers that I don't need, having the Mixtab.

check THIS out!



[url=http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php ]http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php

link was originally found by hong kong pd user slimboyfatboyslim

or maybe just come and visit me in japan instead....this thing is WAY too expensive...check the email i just got:

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your email. Lemur will be available next month. It will cost
about 2000 euros / 2500 USD. For european customers who would like to
reserve one, a pre-order form will be online in a few days. If you are
an american/canadian citizen, please get in touch with cycling 74
(lemur's american distributor).

We haven't developed a third-party developer kit yet. Therefore, there
is no way to code your own objects nowadays. However, our website is
out of age and the product info section is kinda poor. The existing
control object library is much more configurable and powerfull that it
seems to be. We're working on a full documentation that should be ready
for download very soon.

I am currently taking a seminar on PD with gem and I find that I am now able to simple manipulation of pictures and video. This is through Interaccess in Toronto, so eventually we will be addressing the issues of using PD with external switchs using simple Pic based Microcontrollers. They actually will be showing us basic constuction of a microcontroller device called A.I.D (Art Interface Device) which I hope will be a cheaper more educational alternative to buying something from Parallex. I am currently using PD on both my G5 and my P4 3.0GHrz, and I am triing to see which platform is the most responsive to PD. The URL for the A.I.D microcontroler site is below, hope someone finds it useful.

http://www.interaccess.org/ia.php?pg=aid


G. Kern

Did someone have tried PD on mini board PC like VIA EPIA 800 All In One Motherboard (see [http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#p1622)?][0] ... it just found quite cheap to get a 800Mhz for 59pounds = 105USD ... I think that of those board have a 4 output soundcard and even SPDIF ...

I was (maybay) planning to get some of these board for sound installation ... so I was looking for advice ...

bye!!

[0]: http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#p1622)?

I'm using PD on a very similar VIA EPIA board - an ME-6000. Only a 600mhz chip in this one but it runs PD really nicely. Not easy to get it all running though with Linux though - graphics drivers are particularly fiddly to get working. I guess it would run XP fine, but haven't tried. Sound is easy to get running though - uses a standard VIA 8235 chipset. Not cutting edge, by any means, but sound is clear and clean. Haven't tried SPDIF on it yet.

Best thing about it though - in a suitable case with an external fanless laptop-style psu, no cd-rom and a laptop hard drive you get completely silent fanless operation. Bliss! I'm using the board as a base for a home entertainment device I'm developing for a uni project. It may or may not incorporate PD.

Andrew.

On this page you can find a nice list of systems to connect sensors to a PC:
http://www.sensorwiki.org/index.php/Sensor_interfaces

If you want to connect switches, rotary knobs, infrared sensors or want to control outputs please have a look at our system:

http://www.bluemelon.org/index.php/Products/BlueSense

We have just released the Pure Data drivers.

Regards,
Dinne Bosman

anyone out there who has done a pd version of the roland spd-s patching system?
i'd be very happy to hear about it!
cheers, robbert