A&D P.2 - Software

The software I will be mostly using this term is Cecilia5.

Cecilia is an audio signal processing environment aimed at sound designers. Cecilia mangles sound in ways unheard of. Cecilia lets you create your own GUI using a simple syntax. Cecilia comes with many original built-in modules and presets for sound effects and synthesis.

It's a software developed by Jean Piche, from the Montreal University. Cecilia is a free software, extremely powerful to treat sounds or to synthesize scores.

CSound is a programming language sound-creation oriented, referring to commands compiled in assembly language, sign of efficiency.

CSound seems to be a Universities favorites. Its syntax sometimes reminds of C. It's quite hard to go through but also quite economical (few code lines for many many operations) and regularly, new algorithms feed the vocabulary of the program.

At first sight, CSound required big systems (Unix), but generous computer scientists exported it to several systems : PC, BeOS, Amiga and, of course, Macintosh.

CSound compiles two files :

-The orchestra : definition of instruments, file ".ORC"

-The score : list of parameters which will play instruments, file ".SCO".

After compiling, you get an audio file, mono, stereo, or quadriphonic (yep, indeed). CSound can calculate entire parts.

Cecilia is a graphic interface which uses CSound to be piloted. The advantage Cecilia provides is to be able to follow the evolution of parameters sent to CSound through time, and to calculate the result with no need to enter a programming line at all.

Moreover, Cecilia eases considerably the development of CSound scripts and the making of new audio process or new virtual instruments, since you can easily create a graphic interface for each one of the parameters and you can also experience the result very simply.

Ajax Sound Studio (2014) Cecilia. Available at: http://ajaxsoundstudio.com/software/cecilia/ (Accessed: 06 May 2016).

Cecilia Macmusic. (1997) Cecilia. Available at: http://www.macmusic.org/articles/view.php/lang/en/id/3/Cecilia (Accessed:  06 May 2016)