Processing is a really cool language that provides real-time graphics, animation and other time-based media in an API that’s very accessible. Among other constituencies, it is targeted at artists who use code as their expressive medium, and it has been outrageously successful as a creative coding platform. It runs on just about any computer and can be downloaded for free, as detailed below.
Instructions to download and install Processing with the Minim audio library. These instructions are for a Mac, but the process, so to speak, is similar on a Windows or Linux box.
- First you’ll need to install Processing.
- In your favorite browser, navigate to processing.org.
- Click on “Download Processing”.
- Click on Mac OS X (or another OS your computer runs).
- Save the zip file someplace (like your downloads folder).
- Double Click on the zip file to unpack it, creating Processing.app.
- Drag the Processing.app file to your Applications folder to install it.
- Now we need to set up the Minim audio library
- Launch Processing (double click on the app you just installed)
- From the Processing menu bar:
- Select Sketch->Import Library->Add Library
- This should bring up the “Contribution Manager” window
- Make sure the Libraries tab is selected
- Scroll down to “Minim|An audio library that provides…”
- Select “Install”, which should install the library in Processing
- After Minim is installed, Quit Processing from the Processing menu
Now you’re ready to download some Processing programs to play with, including MineBlower or any/all of Al’s synthesis demo programs. If you’d like to learn a little about programming with Processing, try Al’s edX course, which is in the Academic Stuff section.
Al Biles 