A Slice of Raspberry Pi

            I have a new toy. Upon hearing me talk about learning to code, my father-in-law recalled a system he’d had experience with – a computer designed for teaching code. And so, he decided to get me one. That’s how I came to own a Raspberry Pi.

            This is a computer roughly the size of a credit card, and it comes with all kinds of neat features. As I’ve had it for less than a week, I haven’t had much chance to explore them all yet. However, one program has particularly captured my attention: Sonic Pi.

            Sonic Pi is a system designed to teach coding through music. It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s a ton of fun. You create music by writing code and, before long, you’ve developed two new skills. You don’t even notice you’re being taught code – the technical jargon is left out, and it’s incredibly easy to follow. Of course, since I went into it with some programming knowledge, it’s been even easier to work through the tutorial.

            Now, on the surface, it might seem like a lot of effort to code music – after all, there are programs that you can just plug notes into to do that. And you’d be right, if you just wanted something to convert sheet music into sound. However, Sonic Pi is intended to create music from scratch, and quickly, allowing you to quickly create music that you may not even know what it’ll sound like until you hit play. And if it doesn’t sound good? You can quickly alter it to sound different. You don’t even need a background in music.

            I think the coolest thing about Sonic Pi is that its creator, Sam Aaron, actually performs live with it. He goes on a stage, types some code to create some music, and builds on it, all in front of a live audience. He’s turned programming into a musical instrument. I think that’s amazing.

            Anyway, I still have a long way to go before I’m comfortable using Sonic Pi to perform on stage, so I’d best get back to it. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it – and my Raspberry Pi – in the future, once I have more time to explore and play.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.