Hi there. I'm completely new to this forum, and to PD. I've never really done any programming before, so I need some help.

I downloaded some of Karlheinz Essl's patches, looking specifically for the Markov Rhythm patch (you guys probably know what this is, but if not, it's just a random rhythm generator). However, I can't get it to produce any sound. I've already done the "Test Audio and MIDI" thing, and I get sound when I do that, so I imagine it's something in the way I'm using it, specifically, where I'm running the files from.

Where should I keep these .pd files? Basically, this thing came in a big .tgz archive, the contents of which I just extracted to My Documents, which probably wasn't the greatest move. Which folder should I put them in? And do I just need to put the individual .pd files, or should I put the entire contents of the .tgz archive? (Basically what I'm wondering is, since at this point I have no knowledge of PD, if the .pd file generates its own sounds, or if it's calling on certain sound files that might not be in the right place.)

Any help would be great.

• Mason

Wecome Mason,

Does the patch you are trying to load produce any errors? You will see these in the console window or you can find them by searching for Find->Last Error

Pd files can live anywhere, but one should endeavour to maintain a disciplined directory structure.

Files that rely on abstractions living the same directory should be opened from that directory. Otherwise put all your abstractions in an "abstractions" folder and add it to your search path.

Nope, no errors as such. I did notice, though, that when I first open PD (even before opening the Markov patch) I get the following error:

error: GEM Man: Could not initialize quicktime: error -2093

I don't think that would affect the sound, seeing as I can still produce sound by doing the Audio/Midi test, but maybe it's affecting something indirectly. Any ideas?

Have you switched on "compute audio"?

I know Essl's patches, and I think the reason why it's not working for you is that all of his patches are control objects (or abstractions, if you will), which means they just output messages (like bangs or numbers) in certain ways and it's up to you to convert these into sound, so in other words, they're just there for generatively controlling synths you made yourself.
Hope this helps.