WELCOME! My name is Elliott, and I started Spaghetti Lab to help share all this great info I had been picking up over the years working as a sound artist and studying the future of technology at a school called OCAD University in Toronto. I realized that while many of the tools in this guide are commonly used by adults, there is no reason why younger audiences can’t be using them today. And the tools aren’t limited to technology, as we have a section of creative techniques too. So i’ve compiled a whole bunch of tools for you to check out. I hope you find them useful, and keep in mind this list only scratches the surface as to what’s out there. SOFTWARE Software is a great place to build your toolkit. There are plenty of applications available, many of them free, that let you design your own concepts. Software is also a great place to begin when learning how to code, which will ultimately help you when working with hardware too. 1. MAX Max (formerly known as Max.MSP) was created by programmer Miller Puckette while working at a place in France called IRCAM. It was originally geared towards sound artists and composers, but has numerous other uses in your toolkit. For starters, it’s a great way to explore programming without having to write code. You connect objects to each other, and test out the results. The set of tools known as Jitter adds video and 3D capabilities into the program. Max is made by the software company Cycling ’74, and it costs money. However, there are very flexible educational discounts. Miller Puckette is also the creator of a similar program that is free called Pure Data. To use an Arduino in Max (which we discuss later on in the Hardware section), you can read and write data to the Serial object, but for a more reliable connection look into the Maxuino project which involves flashing your Arduino with Firmata. 2. Pure Data Also known as Pd, this program works in a similar fashion to Max in that you build programs and systems by connect objects to each other. Its video library is called Gem, and while not as smooth as Jitter in Max, it is certainly sufficient for many projects. To use an Arduino in conjunction with Pure Data you can look into using the pDuino library. The big advantage of using Pure Data over Max is that it’s free and open source, with versions available for Linux and Raspberry Pi. 3. Scratch Scratch is a free program by MIT, one of the most prolific universities in the world for teaching and researching technology. It is aimed at teaching younger students how to code by arranging blocks and running your program. Scratch is useful beyond just learning how to code, though. Explore the community to see just how far people are able to take a fairly limited set of tools to the next level. You can remix other projects, or simply use them as inspiration for your own games or applications. While the program and its mascot might look a little childish, don’t write it off. Keep it in your toolkit! Scratch can run in the browser or on your operating system - including Linux on the Raspberry Pi. 4. Sonic Pi Is a free program that lets you make music by writing code. As the name suggests, it runs on the Raspberry Pi, but is also available for the Mac and PC. Sonic Pi is a good introduction to the world of ‘live coding’, which is a type of performance that is done using programming in front of an audience. 5. Little Big Planet Little Big Planet, now on version 3 for the Playstation is an amazing game which lets users create their own levels and share them on the network. To design levels, your character repels around like a construction worker, and you place objects and chips which perform various tasks. The environment is colourful and engaging, and the combination of tools makes it almost limitless considering you are able to do all this with a Playstation controller. 6. Processing Coding is a very popular these days, but not all coding environments are very engaging. Processing aims to help teach you the fundamentals of programming, and it does so with an extensive library of demos and tutorials. Some of the best tutorials for Processing are by Daniel Shifman and his channel The Coding Train. 7. SketchUp Make Sketchup Make is a great introduction to the world of 3D modeling. Also known as CAD design, this tool allows you to design your ideas in a space that resembles the real world. CAD is also part of the skills also the skills necessary to build prototypes with a 3D printer. 8. Supercollider A more advanced program than Sonic Pi, Supercollider also lets you make music in realtime using code. It is also possible to launch graphical widgets in the program too. The results can be far more bizarre than working with a regular audio program, so it’s worth experimenting with some of the examples to see what we mean. Supercollider runs on the Mac, PC and Linux. 9. IFTTT IFTTT stands for “If This Then That”, which is a bit of programming lingo. The service lets you mashup different web services, but also Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as the Particle Photon. The way it works is you start with one application and decide what the triggers are. For example, if a tweet shows up in your feed with the word “apple”, you can have it send you an email or turn on a light in your home. There are all kinds of “recipes” from the community which you can try out for yourself. IFTTT is very useful for programming different ideas, without having to type out code. 10. MadMapper Projection mapping is the act of projecting an image onto a surface that might not look like a traditional movie screen. Let’s say you want to project images onto a cube to make it come “alive”, some sort of software will have to be used to manipulate the video in a 3D space ahead of time. While there are many tools available to do this, MadMapper is the industry standard and a household name by many projection mapping artists. 11. Resolume VJing is the act of performing with video clips in front of an audience. It is usually done in conjunction with a sound or DJ performance. Resolume is one such tool that is very popular for achieving this task. You prepare your video clips ahead of time, and then inside the software you can control how fast or slow they play, or layer them with other clips. Taking Resolume one step further, it is possible to output the results into MadMapper to create a video performance or installation that is projection mapped. 12. Ableton Live Ableton Live has been a staple in the electronic music community for over a decade. However just being a music tool isn’t enough to make the cut for the Young Innovator’s Toolkit. Ableton goes a step further for the tinkerer because it is well equipped to take messages from a variety of sources using the Max for Live add-on. Using the Connection Kit, it has capabilities for talking to Lego Mindstorms, Arduino and more platforms. 13. TouchOSC While we are able to create our own controllers using a platform such as the Arduino, and we can use all sorts of midi controllers as well, a program like TouchOSC allows you to accomplish this task with just your mobile device. The connection is between the phone and computer is made over a wi-fi network. PROMOTION AND MARKETING In the “old days” there was a stigma around promoting your work and marketing it new audiences. However this work is essential for getting feedback on your ideas and improving them. This next set of tools will help you achieve these critical tasks. 14. Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe’s programs are probably the most popular in the creative community. In the past they were very expensive, however they now operate on a subscription model with educational discounts. For this guide we will highlight the program InDesign which is useful for making booklets and zines to promote your projects, and Photoshop for creating and remixing images. Those two programs are just the tip of the iceberg though, as there is Premiere and After Effects for film production, and Audition for audio editing and podcast creation. 15. Mailchimp While many youngsters believe email is irrelevant these days, statistics show otherwise. Mailchimp is useful for maintaining a connection with your fans, and also lets you get data on what they’re interested by seeing what they click on. Start your first newsletter and play around. Using its drag-and-drop the process is very easy. Grow your list by adding signup forms on your website 16. Wordpress There are plenty of tools for creating a website and blog quickly, and many of them are free such as Squarespace, Weebly and Wix. However there are many limitations to these platforms. Wordpress is the most popular tool for creating a website that you own, by installing it on a webhost. You can then extend its functionality by adding on plugins and installing new themes. Many of the best themes cost money, but they are worth it. A great use for your Wordpress website would be a portfolio that showcases your projects.