SuperCollider is an audio synthesis environment with a client-server architecture. This presents some problems in dealing with timing. This talk will cover the various ways that time is handled in SuperCollider on both the language (client) side and on the synthesis engine (server) side. Issues discussed will include Open Sound Control time stamps and NTP synchronization, coordination between real time and non real time threads, synchronizing multiple SC servers, drift between network time and sample time, accounting for latency when sending commands to the server, and trade offs involving timing between sample by sample vs block processing.

James McCartney is the author of the audio synthesis and algorithmic composition programming environment named "SuperCollider".
He studied computer science and electronic music at the University of Texas at Austin, composed music for local theater, modern dance and music performances, and performed with the group "Liquid Mice" which explored the boundaries of what one could get away with performing in Austin bars in the 1980's and 90's. He was a member of the Austin Robot Group which explored robotics, cybernetics and the arts. He worked for the NASA Astrometry Science team on the Hubble Space Telescope project. He now lives in San Jose, California and continues exploring sound.