Pure Data Basics: a Project-Oriented Workshop with Derek Holzer

Wednesday 11 March - Sunday 15 March 2009 11.00-19.00 daily with one hour lunch break Final presentation Sunday 15 March, 19.00

Location: eNKa / ElsenStr. 52 (2.Hof) Berlin, Germany Telephone: +49 (0)176 20626386

Course Participation fee: 100 euros Registration is required for this workshop and can only be done via email to: eNKa@gmx.de Please register early to ensure a place. Places are limited to 12. Participants should indicate ahead of time what their background and areas of interest are (sound, video, sensors, etc) as well as give a short description of any project they might want to develop during the workshop.

Pure Data is a powerful, free and open-source software environment for producing and manipulating sound, image, data and connections to sensors, motors and other "physical computing" functions, all in real time. Because the programming is done visually, many artists find it a more intuitive tool than traditional text-oriented programming languages. This 5 day workshop will cover the basic "grammar" and "vocabulary" of the Pure Data language through a mix of lecture and demonstration in the mornings and project-based mentoring in the afternoons. This workshop is open to those with no previous computer programming experience, however basic computer literacy is assumed as well as a working familiarity with either digital audio or video. A manual-in-progress for Pure Data by Derek Holzer can be found here:

http://flossmanuals.net/puredata

5 DAY CURRICULUM

DAY ONE: 1) Meeting PD: the interface and how to play with it 2) Basic PD: participants learn to make a simple synthesizer, and learn basic PD grammar in the process 3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY TWO: 1) PD audio: more on oscillators, noise, delays, feedback, filters and signal analysis for all your sonic needs 2) Events in PD: participants explore the timing of events with sequencers, delays, messages 3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY THREE: 1) Working with soundfiles: loading audio for use in samplers, granulators and other file-based sound manipulation systems 2) Basic GEM: how to create simple 3D objects, play videos and get camera input 3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY FOUR: 1) Physical PD: an introduction to physical computing using Pure Data alongside a microcontroller-based board such as the Arduino or xxxxxAVR/HID--or even a hacked USB gamepad--to work with sensors, motors, lights, etc. 2) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY FIVE: 1) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects 2) The Wrap Up: public presentation of student works + closing party.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING

Essential:

1) Laptop running Linux, OS X or Windows 2) Pure Data Extended installed from: http://puredata.info/downloads (please make sure it is Extended package!) 3) Soundcard 4) Headphones

Recommended/Suggested:

1) MIDI controller/keyboard 2) Microphone/piezoelectric contact microphone 3) USB Joystick/Gamepad 4) Sensors or other input devices (please bring your own sensors if you are interested in working with them, as only a few light sensors will be provided at the workshop) 5) Small motors or motor-driven objects 6) USB webcam/Firewire camera 7) Arduino boards (Available from Segor in Berlin: www.segor.de) and/or the xxxxxAVR/HID board (http://www.1010.co.uk/avrhid.html, please inquire via the xxxxx webpage about preordering!) 8) Your own projects and ideas to realize!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

BIOGRAPHY Derek Holzer [USA 1972] is a sound artist with a background in radio, webstreaming and environmental recording. His work focuses on capturing and transforming small, unnoticed sounds from various natural and urban locations, networked collaboration strategies, experiments in improvisational sound and the use of free software such as Pure-Data. He has released tracks under the Nexsound, Sirr, and/OAR, Frozen Elephants Music, Mandorla and Gruenrekorder labels, and has co-initiated several internet projects for field recording and collaborative soundscapes including Soundtransit.nl. His recent projects include the opto-electronic audiovisual performance TONEWHEELS, solo performances for analog synthesizer and a manual for Pure Data. He was also co-curator of the Tuned City event for sound and architecture, which took place in Berlin during July 2008.

http://umatic.nl/info_derek.html http://www.myspace.com/macumbista