Having discussed both how to acquire data and how to extract information out of audio signals, it is time to discuss how we can map them to other ranges so that we can use them to control visual elements, or in general, other parts of our programs. As far as mappings are concerned, we can distinguish between a series of tasks that are likely to be involved namely, generate, acquire, store, probe, preprocess, and finally encode and distribute. Depending on the nature of each project and of the kind of data involved, some of these steps might be non applicable or may be extrinsic to SuperCollider and in exceptional cases it could be that more steps are involved. We have already talked extensively about how to generate data by means of analyzing signals as well as about how to acquire them from various sources, and while doing so, we have also demonstrated ways in which we can store data.
Before we elaborate on the later stages, we need to briefly discuss a fundamental schism...