Sonic Pi Intro Workshop

01_README.md

This collection of files exists to serve you as starting point in exploring different sounds and how they're programmed in Sonic Pi.
Copy & Paste them into your Sonic Pi editor and start tweaking the values to change the sound.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The Sonic Pi integrated editor has a lot of keyboard shortcuts. A handy list of all shortcuts is integrated in the tutorial browser or online on github.

Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release

This image explains nicely, the four important parameters to controlling played sounds in Sonic Pi.

Appendix

• sonic-pi.mehackit.org - A complete online workshop for creative programming with Sonic Pi
• Learning Music by Ableton - online workshop for learning the basics of making music
• Rack - Open-source virtual modular synthesizer

Videos

• Rocking Out In Ruby - A Playful Introduction to Sonic PI by Xavier Riley from the BathRuby 2016 conference
• Learn to Make Music. With Ruby - A video from RubyConf 2015 by Darin Wilson in which he gives an excellent and easy to follow introduction on how the basics of music theory can be applied in Sonic Pi
• Don't Drop The Bass - A video from Brighton Ruby conference in which Xavier Riley shows the power of combining live instruments with Sonic Pi
• Sam Aaron live coding an ambient electro set w/ Sonic Pi - a great showcase of what Sonic Pi is capable of

ambient_melody.rb

# taken from [Sam Aaron live coding an ambient electro set w/ Sonic Pi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1m0aX9Lpts)
live_loop :foo do
  notes = (scale :e1, :minor_pentatonic, num_octaves: 3).shuffle

  with_fx :lpf, cutoff: 80 do
    with_fx :reverb, room: 1, amp: 2 do
      with_fx :tanh, krunch: 30, amp: 2 do
        n = synth :dsaw, cutoff: 130, release: 8, note: notes.tick, cutoff_slide: 1.5
        control n, cutoff: 70
        32.times do
          sleep 0.125
          control n, note: notes.choose
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

amen_break1.rb

# taken from https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/etc/doc/tutorial/A.03-coded-beats.md
live_loop :amen_break do
  p = [0.125, 0.25, 0.5].choose
  with_fx :slicer, phase: p, wave: 0, mix: rrand(0.7, 1) do
    r = [1, 1, 1, -1].choose
    sample :loop_amen, beat_stretch: 2, rate: r, amp: 2
  end
  sleep 2
end

live_loop :landing do
  bass_line = (knit :e1, 3, [:c1, :c2].choose, 1)
  with_fx :slicer, phase: [0.25, 0.5].choose, invert_wave: 1, wave: 0 do
    s = synth :square, note: bass_line.tick, sustain: 4, cutoff: 60
    control s, cutoff_slide: 4, cutoff: 120
  end
  sleep 4
end

amen_break2.rb

# taken from https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/etc/doc/tutorial/A.03-coded-beats.md

# a nicely broken beat ... play around with `phase` and `wave` (valid values are 0, 1, 2, 3)
live_loop :amen_break do
  use_bpm 50
  with_fx :slicer, phase: 0.25, wave: 0, mix: 1 do
    sample :loop_amen, beat_stretch: 2, cutoff: 100
  end
  sleep 2
end

auto_melody1.rb

# taken from https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/etc/doc/tutorial/A.04-synth-riffs.md


# a randomly genereated melody
# ... tweak the values for `riff`, `use_synth` or `cutoff` and see how that changes the melody
live_loop :riff do
  use_synth :prophet
  riff = (ring :e3, :e3, :r, :g3, :r, :r, :r, :a3)
  play riff.tick, release: 0.5, cutoff: 80
  sleep 0.25
end

auto_melody2.rb

# taken from https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/etc/doc/tutorial/A.04-synth-riffs.md

# a randomly genereated melody
# ... tweak the values for `scale`, `use_random_seed`, `use_synth` or `cutoff` and see how that changes the melody
live_loop :random_riff do
  use_synth :dsaw
  use_random_seed 3
  notes = (scale :e3, :minor_pentatonic).shuffle
  play notes.tick, release: 0.25, cutoff: 80
  sleep 0.25
end

chords-and-beats.rb

live_loop :bass do
  use_synth :subpulse
  play_pattern_timed [:f2] *4, [0.5]
  play_pattern_timed [:c3] *2, [0.5]
  play_pattern_timed [:f2] *2, [0.5]
  
  ##| can also be written as
  ##| play_pattern_timed (knit :f2, 4, :c3, 2, :f2, 2), [0.5]
  sleep 1
end

live_loop :bass2, sync: :bass do
  use_synth :fm
  n = chord :c2, :minor
  n.size.times do
    play n[tick], release: 5
    sleep 5
  end 
end

live_loop :beat, sync: :bass do
  sample :bd_haus, amp: 1 if (spread 6, 10).tick
  sleep 0.5
end

drum1.rb

# taken from https://github.com/samaaron/sonic-pi/blob/master/etc/doc/tutorial/A.04-synth-riffs.md

# Create a rhythm with some randomness 
# ... start playing around with the value for use_random_seed and see which rhythm you like best
live_loop :drums do
  use_random_seed 500
  16.times do
    sample :bd_haus, rate: 2, cutoff: 110 if rand < 0.35
    sleep 0.125
  end
end

live_loop :bd do
  sample :bd_haus, cutoff: 100, amp: 3
  sleep 0.5
end

synth_names.rb

# Loop through all available synths, playing a note with each synth
# Nice for getting a feel for the sound/timbre of each synth

synth_names.each do |name|
  use_synth name
  play 60
  sleep 1
end