Tutoral 12: SynthDefs

FoxDot creates music by giving player objects a 'digital instrument' to play, which are called 'SynthDefs'. You can see the list of pre-installed 'Synths' by executing

print(SynthDefs)

Each one of these represents a SynthDef object. These objects are then given to Players to play - like giving an instrument to someone in your orchestra.

Writing your own Synth Definitions

This is a bit more advanced, but if you have already written SynthDefs in Supercollider then you might feel at home. If not, come back to this section later.

FoxDot can access any SynthDef stored on the SuperCollider server, but it needs to know it's there. If you have already written a SynthDef in SuperCollider and named it \mySynth then you just create a SynthDef instance using FoxDot like so:

mySynth = SynthDef("mySynth")

Using the same variable name in FoxDot as in SuperCollider for your SynthDef is a good idea to avoid confusion. If you want to write (or edit) your own SynthDef during run-time in FoxDot you can use a SuperCollider API by importing the SCLang module. All FoxDot SynthDef objects inherit the base-class behaviour, such as low- and high-pass filters and vibrato, but these can be overridden or updated easily. If you want to know more about digital sound processing and SynthDef creation, check out the SuperCollider documentation. Below is an example of creating one in FoxDot:

Import module for writing SCLang code from Python

from SCLang import *

Create a SynthDef named 'example' (using the same variable name as the SynthDef name is a good idea)

example = SynthDef("example")

Create the oscillator (osc) using a sine wave

example.osc = SinOsc.ar(ex.freq)

And give it a percussive sound envelope (env)

example.env = Env.perc()

Finally, store it!

example.add()

How to create a SynthDef

with SynthDef("pads") as pads:
    pads.osc = SinOsc.ar(pads.freq)
    pads.env = Env.perc()

Equivalent to

pads = SynthDef("pads")
pads.osc = SinOsc.ar(pads.freq)
pads.env = Env.perc()
pads.add()