Sonic Pi

by Jane Waite and Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London

Would you like to make your own computer-based sounds? A good place to start is Sonic Pi (sonic-pi.net/). It's a free live coding syth for music creation that is both powerful enough for professional musicians, but intended to get beginners in to live coding: combining programming with composing to make live music. It was designed for use with a Raspberry Pi computer, which is a cheap way to get started, though works with other computers too. Its also a great, fun way to start to learn to program.

Listen to the example sound clips made with Sonic Pi on their website, then start adapting them to create your own sounds, your own music. What is the most 'natural sound' you can find or create using Sonic Pi?