5 Using the CsoundQt Interface

As explained in Chapter 4, Csound can be run from your computer’s command line (Terminal in Mac OS or the Command Prompt in Windows). But most users today, with the possible exception of some folks who use the Linux operating system, prefer to run Csound from within a front-end program. Generally speaking, front ends don’t do anything to extend the actual functionality of Csound as a synthesis and composition language. They do, however, make Csound much easier to use, and some append or mingle their own specialized code with your code in order to integrate new features of the user interface. The friendly features differ widely from one front end to another.

Note Prior to the 0.7 release, CsoundQt was called QuteCsound. The name change was being made as Csound Power! was going to press. There’s no need for confusion: The two programs are the same entity. However, certain aspects of the download and install instructions may still refer to the program under its previous name.

CsoundQt is a very capable front end for Csound; it was written (and is being maintained and updated) by Andrés Cabrera. It was chosen as the primary point of reference in Csound Power! for two reasons. First, it’s a fairly “vanilla” front end. You don’t have to learn how to utilize a lot of esoteric features found only in the front end in order to make music with the Csound/CsoundQt duo, though as you get deeper into CsoundQt, you’ll find that it has some very useful features. To get started, you can just write and run straight Csound code within CsoundQt—and that fact will make the learning process easier. Second, CsoundQt is currently bundled with the Csound distributions for Mac OS and Windows, so if you’ve installed Csound, you probably already have it, and it should run without any major glitches.

In this chapter we’ll explore the CsoundQt user interface in detail. The main elements we’ll be concerned with are the Editor window, the Inspector, Live Events, the Configuration box, and Widgets. At this writing, CsoundQt 0.7 is still in testing. Its features will be referred to where appropriate, but a few details of the version installed in your computer may differ.