pdtutorial.txt

Pure Data - what is it?
	Graphical Flow programming language designed for sound production
	Sibling to Max/MSP and Reaktor
	control and audio signals 'flow' through the patches
	Techincally turing complete (-ish...)

Why should I care?
	Super easy to use
	Super powerful
	Modular
	Highly cross-platform, with a wee bit of work.
	you might even learn a thing or two about audio engineering.


Cool. 
	let's make some noise.


Gettin some PD
	download pd-extended ( http://puredata.info/downloads/pd-extended )
	install it and open it.
	You should see a window with a bunch of logging output and buttons.
	
Hello PD
	go to file->new
	wow. what an empty window.
	Let's put an object there.  Put->Object (there'a shortcut too)
	a dashed box should follow your cursor. put it somewhere nice.
	let's make this box: type in 'osc~ 440'
	it should become a solid box now, with grey tabs at the top and bottom
	What did we just do?

Objects in Pure Data
	So the main things in Pure Data that flow are Objects.
	Lack of a good UI means you simply type in the names of them
	osc~ cos~ dac~ phasor~ + - * line mtof send receive trigger pack unpack
	They are the elements that'll compose your patch.  They operate on data.
	right-click an empty spot and select 'help' for more stuff.

Back to PD
	so we created this fancy osc~ object. but we hear no sine waves.
	of course. it's being generated into nothingness.
	create a new object, call it 'dac~'
	two grey tabs should appear at the top of it
	drag the bottom grey tab of osc~ and connect it to one of them
	still. nothing.  that's because we're not computing audio yet.

PLUG IN YOUR HEADPHONES NOW.
	ok. ready? turn your volume down pretty low.
	now go to the logging box and click the 'compute audio' or 'dsp on' box
	you should hear a sweet sine wave at 440 hertz. in one ear.
	drag another line from the same tab on osc~ to the other tab of dac~.
	now uncheck compute audio before your ears bleed.

Changing Tunes
	go to put and select hslider
	connect the bottom tab of it (hard to see) to the first input of osc~
	exit edit mode (edit -> edit mode) and wiggle around the slider a bit
	cool. now turn on compute audio again. it should be epic low.

Control Lines and Audio Lines
	audio lines (thick lines) works at sample level - 44100 a second or so.
	control lines (thin lines) work at the PD-Tick level - every 20 ms or so.
	grey tabs indicate audio signals, white tabs indicate control lines.
	objects that end in '~' tend to be the signal-level version of the object
	Don't mix and match. even though we already did.
	sometimes called 'signal level' vs 'control level'

Midi to frequency
	why is the slider so low? What values does it spit out?
	enter back into edit mode (just assume enter and exit from now on)
	make a print object 'print' and plug the slider into it. spin the slider.
	check back in the log console. you should see a bunch of numbers from 1-127
	those make low frequencies. what has 127 values? Midi!
	make a new object 'mtof' - short for Midi to Frequency
	remove the connection from the slider to osc~, and plug the slider into mtof
	make a new object 'sig~' this holds control values as audio values.
	plug mtof into sig~ and sig~ into osc~
	turn on the DSP/compute audio, and play with that slider! Wheeee!

Turn it up! (well... actually down)
	Make a volume slider.  make a hslider, '/ 127' object, and '*~ 1' object.
	connect hslider to '/ 127', and that to the control side of '*~ 1'.
	intercept the audio to the dac~.  delete those lines, put them through '*~'
	make sure everything is hooked up. enjoy.

Multiple inputs and outputs
	Objects tend to have many inputs and outputs, 'inlets' and 'outlets'
	The convention is for the inlets to correspond with the parameters.
	'/ 127' has two inlets.  so (inlet one / inlet two).  
	we gave 127 as a parameter so it'll be the default until that inlet gets 
		another signal.