Laggy Atom + first limits in understanding the framework

Hi!
Thanks for all the energy in this forum group club, it’s amazing. I hope everyone gets buckled up neatly and ready to snorkle.

I’m sometimes noticing some latency in atom (mostly on the mac, i rebooted several times yet it remains. is this a common issue, what could be the cause? although it impacts the interaction, it happens during the coding, the keyboard input are delayed. evaluating also sometimes takes time to happen. Probably memory related?

Aside of that, playing around with snowball is for now my favorite! i still don’t understand fully the following concepts, which i assume are like the primal functions, i saw these topics mentioned in other threads and excited about seeing them regrouped in a thread :

-selecting samples from folder & how to add cutsom
-some examples have funny sounds with short names but i couldn’t locate them (“db”, “sn”, “gtr”) => can one create their own short names for custom samples ?
-how to make conditional rules ( for instance, “khks”-like drum pattern, playing the second kick only once every four cycles, etc…
-> i still have to put my soul into this, it will take me some hours of digging to really understand but i thought maybe it would be interesting to explain where i got stuck at this very early stage.

Peace, love and snowballs fever forever.

Hi again!
Same topic almost, studying the “bite chew slice spice” video :
-it seems that #sound “cpu” didn’t reach a sample set, so i tried “drum” and stuff happens
-example 1 : n “0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2 0 3 1 5 2 2” #sound “drum”
-example 2 : n “0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2” #sound “drum”
-> how can i have a longer pattern without changing the pace?
sorry if it’s really obvious to everyone, it’s really exciting and the prospects are so enthralling!

@gnozo I can’t think of a simple way to make a longer pattern with what we’ve been taught so far. Jumping ahead, here are four possibilities:

d1 $ n "{0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2 7 4 3 2 1}%5" # sound "drum"

d1 $ cat [n "0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2", n "7 4 3 2 1"] # sound "drum"

d1 $ append (n "0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2") (n "7 4 3 2 1") # sound "drum"

d1 $ slow 2 $ n "0 3 [5 2 2 2 2] 1 2 7 4 3 2 1" # sound "drum"
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Wow! Thanks a whole bunch @tedthetrumpet! Very intriguing, those four expressions get the same result... Slow, in particular, caught my eye, that's more than enough for me to dig for HOURS! :smiley: Also the % sign in the first example seems like a great tool to create proportional tempo shifts very quickly..
Thanks again!!
here's a little mod of your suggestion :))
d1 $ slow 4 $ n "0 3 [5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2] [1 1] 0 1 2 0 2 1 0 2 [2 2] 1 0 0 [7 7 7 7] 3 2 [ 1 1]" # sound "drum"

Answering some of the other questions..

Laggy atom - you could the the vscode editor instead. I think it's a bit snappier, and the tidalcycles plugin for vscode has some nice features. There's also emacs and vim plugins, I like to use emacs myself but it takes a while to get used to.

There is also a bit of lag built into tidal, I think it's 0.1 seconds as a default. You can adjust this in the BootTidal.hs file. Usually 0.1 - 0.2 seconds is fine for live coding.

I think db, sn and gtr do actually exist in Dirt-Samples, have another look :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thanks a lot for your answer! Okay, i’ll try to see if it’s different with Emacs (haven’t tried using it in a couple of years, i remember the funny names like yank and what not…).

The lag in question is can have consequences on tidal if i do something in the browser it lags for instance ; but mostly it’s just that the kbd input is delayed, without affecting the sound. I’ll try several things on the ubuntu and the mac and if it persists i’ll let you know.

About samples, of course db sn and gtr exist! I tried like to access 808 kicks and other stuff… couldn’t hack it! Same for sound “arc” and “cpu” for instance. it seems to run but no feedback so i guess i just didnt point to the sample correctly, or perhaps it might need to be relocated / renamed?

Hm, some possibilities

  • the extra-samples aren’t loading properties
  • you need more samples buffers configured in your startup.sc file
  • the Dirt-Samples didn’t fully download (check if there’s an arc folder in your Dirt-Samples, with a wav file in it)

Feel free to share the full post window output of your superdirt startup and I can have a look for clues there.

Indeed, no arc folder in the Dirt-Samples… I ran into the same problem twice today, i’m reinstalling SC

i went in quarks, ticked 3Dj and recompiled and got this error message :

Compiling directory '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/3Dj'
    ERROR: Superclass 'RedQWindow' of class 'SSWindow' is not defined in any file. 
    /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/3Dj/classes/Sound Scene/SSWindow.sc
    ERROR: There is a discrepancy.
    numClassDeps 1252   gNumClasses 2502

Now, as i can’t recompile and will have to reinstall i think. A plugins issue?
The remainder of the post window looks near normal :

loading 20 sample banks:
break (33) bsbass (9) bsguitar (19) bshihat (3) bskick (9) bsnoise (22) bsperc (7) bssnare (8) bsvocals (13) clap (8) claus (16) cpu (23) cpu2 (29) dsynth (3) foley (287) hi (8) kick (21) lo (8) rash (73) snare (90) 
... file reading complete. Required 225 MB of memory.

SuperDirt: listening to Tidal on port 57120
Installing 3Dj
Installing MathLib
Adding path: /Users/gn

following @Alec's suggestion i tried installing the plugins! here is what i got :

server 'localhost' disconnected shared memory interface
'/quit' message sent to server 'localhost'.
compiling class library...
	Found 850 primitives.
	Compiling directory '/private/var/folders/sx/2vp6rxp15gj1713094brx0bm0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/617A807F-3244-4479-9B6C-7B7A27061A72/d/SuperCollider.app/Contents/Resources/SCClassLibrary'
	Compiling directory '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/Extensions'
	Compiling directory '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/Vowel'
	Compiling directory '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/Dirt-Samples'
	Compiling directory '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt'
	numentries = 1273558 / 19712160 = 0.065
	5832 method selectors, 3380 classes
	method table size 20884392 bytes, big table size 157697280
	Number of Symbols 14983
	Byte Code Size 442447
	compiled 565 files in 1.13 seconds
compile done
localhost : setting clientID to 0.
internal : setting clientID to 0.
Class tree inited in 0.02 seconds


*** Welcome to SuperCollider 3.11.0. *** For help press Cmd-D.
Booting server 'localhost' on address 127.0.0.1:57110.
exception in GraphDef_Load: UGen 'FM7' not installed.
while reading file: '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/synthdefs/superfm.scsyndef'Number of Devices: 4
   0 : "Built-in Input"
   1 : "Built-in Output"
   2 : "Steinberg UR22"
   3 : "Premiere Pro 6.0"

"Built-in Input" Input Device
   Streams: 1
      0  channels 2

"Steinberg UR22" Output Device
   Streams: 1
      0  channels 2

SC_AudioDriver: sample rate = 48000.000000, driver's block size = 512
SuperCollider 3 server ready.
Requested notification messages from server 'localhost'
localhost: server process's maxLogins (1) matches with my options.
localhost: keeping clientID (0) as confirmed by server process.
Shared memory server interface initialized
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/core-modules.scd
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'SwitchDelay' not installed.
---- core synth defs loaded ----
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/core-synths-global.scd
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/core-synths.scd
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/default-synths.scd
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'MdaPiano' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'MembraneHexagon' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'SawDPW' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'SawDPW' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'AY' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'BMoog' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: exceeded number of interconnect buffers.
WARNING: SynthDef superfm too big for sending. Retrying via synthdef file
exception in GraphDef_Load: UGen 'FM7' not installed.
while reading file: '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/synthdefs/superfm.scsyndef'exception in GraphDef_Load: UGen 'FM7' not installed.
while reading file: '/Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/synthdefs/superfm.scsyndef'exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'WaveLoss' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'Squiz' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'CrossoverDistortion' not installed.
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'PV_Freeze' not installed.
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/try-load-extra-synths.scd
exception in GraphDef_Recv: UGen 'PV_SpectralEnhance' not installed.
loading synthdefs in /Users/gnozognozo/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/SuperDirt/classes/../synths/tutorial-synths.scd

loading 217 sample banks:
808 (6) 808bd (25) 808cy (25) 808hc (5) 808ht (5) 808lc (5) 808lt (5) 808mc (5) 808mt (5) 808oh (5) 808sd (25) 909 (1) ab (12) ade (10) ades2 (9) ades3 (7) ades4 (6) alex (2) alphabet (26) amencutup (32) armora (7) arp (2) arpy (11) auto (11) baa (7) baa2 (7) bass (4) bass0 (3) bass1 (30) bass2 (5) bass3 (11) bassdm (24) bassfoo (3) battles (2) bd (24) bend (4) bev (2) bin (2) birds (10) birds3 (19) bleep (13) blip (2) blue (2) bottle (13) breaks125 (2) breaks152 (1) breaks157 (1) breaks165 (1) breath (1) bubble (8) can (14) casio (3) cb (1) cc (6) chin (4) circus (3) clak (2) click (4) clubkick (5) co (4) coins (1) control (2) cosmicg (15) cp (2) cr (6) crow (4) d (4) db (13) diphone (38) diphone2 (12) dist (16) dork2 (4) dorkbot (2) dr (42) dr2 (6) dr55 (4) dr_few (8) drum (6) drumtraks (13) e (8) east (9) electro1 (13) em2 (6) erk (1) f (1) feel (7) feelfx (8) fest (1) fire (1) flick (17) fm (17) foo (27) future (17) gab (10) gabba (4) gabbaloud (4) gabbalouder (4) glasstap (3) glitch (8) glitch2 (8) gretsch (24) gtr (3) h (7) hand (17) hardcore (12) hardkick (6) haw (6) hc (6) hh (13) hh27 (13) hit (6) hmm (1) ho (6) hoover (6) house (8) ht (16) if (5) ifdrums (3) incoming (8) industrial (32) insect (3) invaders (18) jazz (8) jungbass (20) jungle (13) juno (12) jvbass (13) kicklinn (1) koy (2) kurt (7) latibro (8) led (1) less (4) lighter (33) linnhats (6) lt (16) made (7) made2 (1) mash (2) mash2 (4) metal (10) miniyeah (4) monsterb (6) moog (7) mouth (15) mp3 (4) msg (9) mt (16) mute (28) newnotes (15) noise (1) noise2 (8) notes (15) numbers (9) oc (4) odx (15) off (1) outdoor (6) pad (3) padlong (1) pebbles (1) perc (6) peri (15) pluck (17) popkick (10) print (11) proc (2) procshort (8) psr (30) rave (8) rave2 (4) ravemono (2) realclaps (4) reverbkick (1) rm (2) rs (1) sax (22) sd (2) seawolf (3) sequential (8) sf (18) sheffield (1) short (5) sid (12) sine (6) sitar (8) sn (52) space (18) speakspell (12) speech (7) speechless (10) speedupdown (9) stab (23) stomp (10) subroc3d (11) sugar (2) sundance (6) tabla (26) tabla2 (46) tablex (3) tacscan (22) tech (13) techno (7) tink (5) tok (4) toys (13) trump (11) ul (10) ulgab (5) uxay (3) v (6) voodoo (5) wind (10) wobble (1) world (3) xmas (1) yeah (31) 
... file reading complete. Required 444 MB of memory.


loading 20 sample banks:
break (33) bsbass (9) bsguitar (19) bshihat (3) bskick (9) bsnoise (22) bsperc (7) bssnare (8) bsvocals (13) clap (8) claus (16) cpu (23) cpu2 (29) dsynth (3) foley (287) hi (8) kick (21) lo (8) rash (73) snare (90) 
... file reading complete. Required 225 MB of memory.

*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
SuperDirt: listening to Tidal on port 57120
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found
*** ERROR: SynthDef dirt_delay2 not found
FAILURE IN SERVER /s_new SynthDef not found

SC and tidal still work so it doesn't feel crucial. But it seems that RedQqindow and SSWIndow are not the question anymore, rather now :

WARNING: SynthDef superfm too big for sending. Retrying via synthdef file

:slight_smile:

@yaxu sorry to bother you with this, if the goal is to have a totally clean install, i still haven't managed to hack it. here on the linux machine i get this message at SC log :

WARNING: Dirt could not load some synths from default-synths.scd, because sc3plugins are necessary and missing.

Do you think it can be overlooked?

Yes that means that it's not finding sc3plugins somehow.. How did you install it?

(Where the Dirt-Samples download fails you can just download it manually here https://github.com/musikinformatik/dirt-samples )

cabal install tidal
on mac and linux ; i reinstalled with the script on the mac at a point.

can it fail from downloading all elements? my dirt samples folder has 2290 items, totalling 389,4 MB. I'm writing this down because i downloaded the github package..6 times in a row tonight without success.... download fails each time. Perhaps what i need to look for is specific synth definitions? i'm assuming superdirt has samples and synths, how can i put them to test easily? the samples are mostly ok...

i ran into trouble yesterday when trying to download plugins from github as advised by alec and tried recompiling class library. Sc stopped working, so i had to reinstall it multiple times on the mac, while on the linux i could recompile without the added plugin but strangely couldn't add the plugins either.

would you have any ideas...? could i have gotten a wrong set of plugins..?