Software Tools

USSS is one of the first major University studios to actively move to and support open source software. Using Ubuntu Linux we make our own sound shaping tools and give them to students on arrival (using software called pure data). At level I (undergraduate) students use our toolkit to make sonic art and learn the basics of sound transformation. During level II and III we open up these 'patches' and examine precisely how they work.

USSS continues to collaborate with the Department of Information Studies and Computer Science in the production of new software tools.

Past collaborative work includes that with Dr. Kevin Dahan (Paris VIII) who created the software tool 'Sketcher' for composers. The Sketcher presents the user with an untyped workspace enabling the dynamic linking of sounds, scores, graphics and texts. You can download a copy of the sketcher by following the link to the MISTRES group (Music Information Systems and Technology REsearch at Sheffield).

Researchers at USSS have created a number of interesting and important software tools for composition and performance. Dr. Dave Moore and James Mooney continue to develop the M2 system.