The Magnet 31: Two free applications for creativity

SOFTWARE

Two great free applications: Blender and Sonic Pi

A few weeks ago I downloaded a couple of free applications, Blender and Sonic Pi, and I am blown away by how powerful and easy-to-get-started-with they are.

Sonic Pi

This year I’ve been getting interested in electronic music. One of my favorite software discoveries is this application that lets you create synthesizer music by writing instructions like a computer program. If that seems intimidating, don’t worry, the app has a built-in tutorial that will have you making interesting sounds right away. Sonic Pi includes a bunch of prebuilt synthesizers, drums, and other sound effects. All you have to do is specify which sample you want to play and what effects (like reverb or distortion) you want to apply to it. Listen to this sound I made.

Here’s the code for this sound:

use_synth :tb303

loop do

  play 60, release: rrand(0.05, 0.1), cutoff: rrand(60, 120)

  sleep 0.125

end

Of course, you can make much more complex songs, and Sonic Pi includes examples. Here’s one written by Sam Aaron, creator of Sonic Pi, called “Sonic Dreams.”

Download Sonic Pi here. It’s available for Mac, Windows, and Raspberry Pi. You can support the development of the project on Patreon.

Blender

About 10 or 15 years ago I tried to use Z-Brush to create 3D models. This was before YouTube was full of great tutorials. I got frustrated by how hard it was to learn, and stayed away from 3D modeling until a few weeks ago, when I decided to give Blender a try for making 3D NFTs. I first checked YouTube and SkillShare and saw thousands of instructional videos, which was encouraging. I downloaded it from Blender.org (available on Windows, Mac, and Linux) and followed a tutorial on SkillShare. An hour later, I made my first 3D model, a vase:

It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and I loved being able to apply different kinds of materials, like glass or metal, to surfaces. I’ve been watching a lot of videos since then, and the more I learn about Blender the more I realize that I’m just scratching the surface of this powerful program. I’m now working on a series of capsule toy creatures. See them animated here.

I’m really glad free applications like Sonic Pi and Blender are available, especially combined with the free tutorials people generously give away on YouTube. What an amazing example of a global gift economy!

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Thanks for reading! The Magnet is written by Mark Frauenfelder and edited by Carla Sinclair.