Chapter 7
Meet Sonic Pi
Sonic Pi is a free music synthesizer and sequencer. You don’t play it from a keyboard or other instrument — you play it by writing code.
If you’re not into music, it’s a cool way to make some weird sounds. And if you are into music, the only limit is your imagination!
Unlike Python, which is used for all kinds of projects, the Sonic Pi computer language is used only by Sonic Pi. You can’t write Sonic Pi code to draw pictures, make games, or run a website! Some of the things Sonic Pi can do appear in other computer languages, too. But the code that makes them happen doesn’t look the same.
Get Started with Sonic Pi
If the desktop isn’t already running, launch it with the startx command.
Click the menu button at the top left and choose Programming ⇒ Sonic Pi, as shown in Figure 7-1.
Sonic Pi takes a while to load. When the splash screen with the logo and the information about Sonic Pi disappears, click the second button at the top right of the window bar to maximize the window and make it fill the screen.
You can also close the About window with the credits. You don’t need it while Sonic Pi is running.
Set Up Sound on the Pi
Sound on the Pi ...
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