Is it possible to compose beautiful Csound code? Let’s find out. I hereby declare The Csound Format Challenge.

Though it may sound like a contest, I really consider this more as a friendly medium to explore and share various ways to write Csound code. In order to participate, all you have to do is to take the following unformatted CSD file, change it to your liking, and share it with the world:

formatChallenge.csd

Here’s my attempt:

JakesFormatAttempt.csd

There’s no right way or wrong way. No winner will be declared. Feel free to submit as many entries as you would like. Cheating is allowed, so if you see something you like from someone else’s work, incorporate it into you own examples.

And have fun!

I’ve been itching to build a workshop/hacker space for some time. I finally have the tools, the materials and space in my garage. First order of business, build a workbench. I could easily purchase a workbench, but part of the fun of having a workshop is being able to build things with my own two hands. (it’s also cheaper)

I studied various plans on the web, including a design by Bre Pettis. I’m using his design as as starting point for mine.

I’m making a few changes, to better match my needs and the space. For example, since I’m working in a garage as opposed to a NYC apartment, I have the luxury of extending the depth by 6″, or more. Tinkering with the design is proving to be just as much fun as any thing. It’s also giving me the opportunity to learn SketchUp, which is proving to be a valuable asset to my toolkit.

Here’s what the design looks like in its current form:

Once it’s done, I’m firing up my soldering iron busting out the Forrest Mims books on electronics.