This is pre-release software. I am working toward a stable 1.0 and would very much appreciate bug reports, feedback and pull requests!

Note: pippi is currently only compatible with Python 2.x

Pippi was built to run on Linux, OSX and Windows. Linux is fully supported. OSX support is pretty good and getting better. Windows is almost completely untested -- seeking beta testers!

To enable MIDI support, install the portmidi package on your system. (Available via homebrew on OSX)

In order to build the C extensions that pippi uses for most DSP, you will need to install the Python development headers. On some systems (like arch linux) this will already be installed.

On debian (including ubuntu & raspbian) systems:

apt-get install python-dev

On OSX you may need to install xcode to build the C extensions: http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/install/osx/

Make sure you have pip installed on your system, since pippi uses the version of setuptools distributed with pip for installation.

To use the interactive features you will need to install pyalsaaudio (for ALSA support on linux) or pyaudio for experimental cross-platform audio support on OSX and Windows.

You may need to install the libasound2-dev package on debian systems with apt-get before you will be able to install pyalsaaudio.

If you're trying the experimental pyaudio support, you may need to install portaudio on your system first.

When you have the dependencies you selected installed, from the root of the pippi repository run:

python setup.py install

• Install git
• Install python 2.7
• install cgywin and these packages:
  • autoconf
  • make
  • libtool
  • libportmidi-devel
  • python-pyportmidi
  • libportaudio-devel
  • gcc-g++
• run python -m ensurepip to install pip and setuptools
• clone pippi & checkout master branch
• From pippi directory run python setup.py install

Here's a simple 'Hello World!' style example you can try at the python console:

>>> from pippi import dsp
>>> out = dsp.tone(dsp.stf(5), freq=220, amp=0.2)
>>> out = dsp.env(out, 'hann')
>>> dsp.write(out, 'hello')
'hello.wav'

Here's a slightly more interesting example:

>>> from pippi import dsp
>>> out = [ dsp.tone(dsp.stf(5), 55 * i, 'sine2pi', 0.2) for i in range(1, 5) ]
>>> out = [ dsp.env(o, dsp.randchoose(['hann', 'tri', 'sine'])) for o in out ]
>>> out = dsp.mix(out)
>>> dsp.write(out, 'helloagain')
'helloagain.wav'

Pippi can use scripts as "generators" for interactive playback and performance.

Here's a simple example generator based on the previous example:

from pippi import dsp, tune

def play(ctl):
    key = ctl.get('param').get('key', 'c')
    freqs = tune.fromdegrees([1,3,5,8], octave=3, root=key)
    freq = dsp.randchoose(freqs)
    length = dsp.stf(2, 5) # between 2 & 5 seconds
    waveshape = dsp.randchoose(['sine', 'tri', 'square'])
    amp = dsp.rand(0.1, 0.2)

    out = dsp.tone(length, freq, waveshape, amp)
    out = dsp.env(out, 'phasor')
    out = dsp.taper(out, 20)

    return out

Save it as example.py and from the same directory type pippi to enter the interactive console.

To play three voices of your example.py generator type:

^_- play example 3

To stop all voices:

^_- stop

To have pippi reload the script to allow you to alter the code and hear the changes as it plays, type:

^_- reload on

To change the current key (which is just an arbitrary parameter set in the pippi console session) from C major to Eb major:

^_- key eb

More commands and help available by typing help at the console

More documentation at Read The Docs.