What is supernova in SuperCollider?

Updated

supernova is an alternative implementation of scsynth, SuperCollider's real-time audio engine. The main difference is that supernova has multi-threading support, while scsynth is the default server. Both ship as part of SuperCollider, so you don't install supernova separately — you choose which server to run.

How supernova relates to the rest of SuperCollider

SuperCollider has three major components:

  • scsynth – a real-time audio engine implemented as a server
  • sclang – an interpreted programming language that acts as a client to the server
  • scide – an editor for sclang with an integrated help system

Because of the client/server architecture, multiple clients can connect and control what happens on the server. supernova sits in the same slot as scsynth: it is a server that clients such as sclang (or client implementations in Python, JavaScript, Haskell, or Scala) can connect to and control.

scsynth vs. supernova

scsynth supernova
Role Default real-time audio engine (server) Alternative implementation of scsynth
Threading Single-threaded audio engine Multi-threading support
Availability Part of SuperCollider Also included as part of SuperCollider
When to consider it General use, the default choice Situations where you want multi-threaded audio processing

The practical distinction is the threading model. If your work benefits from spreading audio processing across threads, supernova is the option to look at; otherwise scsynth is the standard server you'd use by default.

What this means in practice

  • You don't need a separate download: supernova is described as part of SuperCollider, alongside scsynth, sclang, and scide.
  • Your client code doesn't change conceptually — supernova is still a server that clients connect to and control, just like scsynth.
  • The choice is about the server you run, not about the language you write in.

Getting SuperCollider

The current version listed on the site is 3.14.1:

  • macOS – 3.14.1 universal binary, macOS 11+
  • Linux – 3.14.1 source tarball
  • Windows – 3.14.1, x64

If your OS or version isn't listed, the Downloads page has all available versions. SuperCollider is free and open source software for Windows, MacOS and Linux, originally developed by James McCartney and released in 1996, then released as free software under the GNU General Public License in 2002. It is maintained by an active community.

Where to go next

  • Forum – scsynth.org is a good place to start for community help.
  • Communities – an incomplete list is available on the communities site.
  • Code examples – the documentation includes examples, and sccode.org has many more user examples. The site also points to the sc-140 album, which comes with code examples.
  • Code of Conduct – the project publishes one for its communities.