To begin


Navigate to the  folder (the directory) in which SuperCollider resides and double-click on it (the red and white balloon icon). An untitled document with text such as


init_OSC

compiling class library..

NumPrimitives = 548

compiling dir: '/Applications/SuperCollider3/SCClassLibrary'

pass 1 done

Method Table Size 3091264 bytes

Number of Method Selectors 2880

Number of Classes 1744

Number of Symbols 6926

Byte Code Size 129989

compiled 299 files in 1.61 seconds 

compile done

prGetHostByName hostname 127.0.0.1 addr 2130706433

RESULT = 256

Class tree inited in 0.09 seconds


appears in the top left of the screen. The document functions as a "Post Window," so-called because SuperCollider uses it to "post" notifications. 


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Two more windows


On the bottom of the screen are two more windows. One is called "localhost server" and the other is "internal server." Click on the "boot" button on the localhost server. The words "localhost" in the black box of the button turn red and the word "Boot" on the button changes to "Quit." More text, such as


booting 57110

SC_AudioDriver: numSamples=512, sampleRate=44100.000000

start   UseSeparateIO?: 0

PublishPortToRendezvous 0 57110

SuperCollider 3 server ready..

notification is on


will print to the post window. The localhost server is now ready to be used. Activate the internal server, if you wish, in the same way. 


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Workspace windows


Open existing SC documents with File->Open... or cmd-o. Use File->New or cmd-n to create new documents.


SuperCollider documents generally have .sc appended to their file names; however, SuperCollider can  read and write documents in Rich Text Format (.rtf) and several other formats, as well.


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go to 2_Evaluating_code