The CDP System is designed for the in-depth exploration of sound transformation. CDP is not a real-time system, but mostly transforms soundfiles ('samples') or other CDP system types derived from soundfiles and writes other (sound)files. There is also a limited, but growing, group of functions for sound synthesis, and several sound-processing functions can be adapted for synthesis. The emphasis is on the design of sounds, either for fully electro-acoustic music compositions or as sound clips or tracks in songs or other media. Many people use CDP alongside other software in a hybrid studio environment.
CDP's forthcoming eighth software release (2023) introduces over 60 new processes. These cover a wide variety of spectral, multi-channel, segmentation, waveset and synth functions, among others. Some are updates or alternatives to previous processes, while some are at the more 'experimental' end of sound processing. A few are yet to be fully documented and will be added in due course. SPECFNU, in particular, is worth a special mention as a whole new process group of 23 functions, transforming sounds spectrally while aiming to retain the original formants.
All of the new (documented) processes will be assigned to the various Function Groups within this documentation, as soon as possible.
In the meantime, you can view them as a separate listing, in two html files: cr8new.htm and cspecfnu.htm.
Various .pdf Starter Documents are available at the top level of the documentation folder:
A classified guide (Oct. 2021) to CDP processes and functions (up to Release 7) in five categories:
The Tutorials page links to a number of Tutorials, Workshops and Guides for the CDP system. Archer Endrich has written several tutorials introducing key CDP processes; his CDP-Lite collection highlights many of these. There are many worked examples to be found in the 12-step tutorial, the Demo Examples and the Tutorial Workshops. His latest addition is A Learning Manual for CDP, which covers most of the CDP sound transformation processes from the point of view of composition objectives and can be downloaded from the CDP Website.
The Texture Workshop presents a carefully prepared set of introductory examples for the TEXTURE functions.
The CHARTS page links to several charts and glossaries that give further background and reference material. PDF versions of these are also available.
The CDP functions are grouped into Function Groups, most of which are the names of programs, each containing a number of functions. Newer single-function programs have also been allocated to a group, for reference purposes.
The Reference Documentation has a page for each Function Group with a separate reference section for each function.
The Function Groups have two main divisions: TIME-DOMAIN and SPECTRAL (or FREQUENCY DOMAIN).
Natively, CDP programs are run via a Command Line Interface (CLI). The main CDP Reference sections therefore document and describe command-line usage.
The reference section for each function or process comprises a command-line Usage statement and a list of Modes (where applicable) and Parameters, followed by a description of the process and (usually) suggestions for Musical Applications.
Usage decribes what you type on the command-line (if using the Command Line), or what is assembled by one of the User Interfaces (GUIs - see below).
Modes represent different aspects of the process. Not all functions have them, and sometimes they are radically different from each other; some are more like separate functions.
Parameters are the controls you have over the process and are the key to understanding what the function does. They typically have a single numerical value or the name of a breakpoint text file containing time-varying values. Some require a specialist text data file or text code: see the File Formats page for an explanation of these.
For further details, see the Technical Glossary article on the Command Line.
Most users will probably run CDP software via a graphic user interface (GUI). The two main GUIs for the whole CDP system are:
Sound Loom (PC and MAC)Both of these have:
and
Soundshaper (PC).
Two further CDP GUIs have been developed as extensions to the REAPER and RENOISE DAWs, each supporting only part of the CDP suite.
All known graphic programs are listed on the GRAPHIC page, with links to further information and reference manuals.
On the Downloads Page you can download a zip file of the CDP documentation as HTML. The page also lists changes to the documentation, by HTML page and date. This will help you keep your HTML documents up-to-date.
The core reference docs and charts are also available in printable PDF format. You can download PDFs individually or as a single zip file on the Downloads Page.
The CDP documentation is also available online and is currently hosted by Ensemble Software: CDP DOCS Home Page. The online docs are always the latest available; PDFs and other updates may be delayed.