Random Containers in Pure Data

If you're someone who has tried to use sound samples in Pure Data to program sequences, you would have seen how fast it can become complicated as the number of samples increases.

The Problem

The key to having detailed and varied sounds is having more layers to work with and more samples per layer so that it doesn't sound repetitive. As I was trying to make a footstep patch I ran into this problem. Which is what forced me to make this abstraction for Pure Data.

Inspiration from Wwise

Coming from the world of Wwise, I knew how useful a random container was. So I wanted my abstraction to be as simple as it could be to use in Pure Data.

The Solution

I created a custom abstraction that allows you to easily manage multiple samples and randomly select from them during playback. This dramatically simplifies the process of creating varied, non-repetitive sounds.

File Naming Convention

The names of all samples for a random container have to be formatted consistently. I used a Python script to automate this step which would take the name of the folder and rename all the files in the folder with that name and an increment.

This abstraction makes working with multiple samples in Pure Data much more manageable and brings some of the workflow conveniences of middleware audio tools to the Pure Data environment.