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Sonic Pi VS Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

Compare Sonic Pi VS Microsoft MakeCode Arcade and see what are their differences

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Contents:
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  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Sonic Pi logo Sonic Pi

Sonic Pi is a new kind of instrument for a new generation of musicians. It is simple to learn, powerful enough for live performances and free to download.

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade logo Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

Drag n drop code to make and play games online and on various hardware
  • Sonic Pi Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05
Not present

Sonic Pi features and specs

  • Educational Tool
    Sonic Pi is designed to be an educational tool, making it a great resource for teaching programming and music together. It simplifies the learning curve for new programmers by providing immediate auditory feedback.
  • Live Coding
    It supports live coding, allowing users to create and modify music on the fly. This is particularly beneficial for live performances and experimental music creation.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Sonic Pi comes with comprehensive documentation and built-in tutorials that guide users through various features and capabilities of the software.
  • Community Support
    A strong, active community provides support, shared scripts, and collaborative opportunities. This can be invaluable for both beginners and advanced users.
  • Open Source
    Sonic Pi is open-source software, allowing users to contribute to its development and customize it according to their needs.

Possible disadvantages of Sonic Pi

  • Performance Limitations
    Because it is designed for educational purposes and live coding, Sonic Pi may not meet the performance requirements of professional music producers who need more robust and feature-rich DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations).
  • Limited Features
    Compared to traditional DAWs, Sonic Pi has a limited set of features and effects. Users requiring advanced sound design and production tools may find it insufficient.
  • Learning Curve
    While it is designed to be user-friendly, there is still a learning curve associated with mastering the syntax and capabilities of Sonic Pi, especially for those new to both programming and music composition.
  • Dependency on Code
    Music creation in Sonic Pi is entirely code-based, which might not appeal to musicians who prefer a visual and more tactile approach to composing and producing music.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running live code environments can be resource-intensive, and older or less powerful computers might struggle with performance when using Sonic Pi for more complex compositions.

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of Sonic Pi

Overall verdict

  • Sonic Pi is a highly effective tool for combining music creation with coding education. It offers a fun, innovative, and educational experience that is both accessible and rewarding.

Why this product is good

  • Sonic Pi is well-regarded for its unique blend of creativity and education. It allows users to learn coding through music, making it an engaging and interactive platform for both beginners and experienced programmers. Its syntax is simple yet powerful, encouraging creative experimentation. Additionally, Sonic Pi has a supportive community and extensive documentation, aiding users in their learning journey.

Recommended for

  • Beginners looking to learn programming through music.
  • Educators seeking a hands-on, interactive tool to teach coding concepts.
  • Musicians interested in exploring generative music and algorithmic composition.
  • Hobbyists and tech enthusiasts who want to experiment with live coding music performances.

Sonic Pi videos

+ Add

Making Music with Code (Using Sonic Pi)

More videos:

  • Review - Sam Aaron - Live Coding - Sonic Pi Practice Streaming
  • Review - CPEU3 - Sonic Pi: Teaching computer science with music. SAM AARON

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade videos

+ Add

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Beginners Review: Microsoft MakeCode Arcade || Lilithium

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sonic Pi and Microsoft MakeCode Arcade)

Sonic Pi

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

Music Generation
100 100%
Music Generation
0% 0
Game Development
0 0%
Game Development
100% 100
Music Tools
100 100%
Music Tools
0% 0
Kids Education
0 0%
Kids Education
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Sonic Pi and Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sonic Pi seems to be a lot more popular than Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. While we know about 67 links to Sonic Pi, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Sonic Pi mentions (67)

  • Reviving a Dead Audio Format: The Return of ZZM
    Amazing context! Yeah the article’s snippets reminded me of Sonic Pi https://sonic-pi.net/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: Tools or frameworks to build music theory games
    It's not really a framework, but I've been having a lot of fun live coding music in Sonic Pi: https://sonic-pi.net/ It has built-in functions for chords and scales and is pretty easy to make catchy loops. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Algorithmic Music Generation with Python
    You might also find Sonic Pi interesting: https://sonic-pi.net/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
    Not specifically game related, but adjacent. Sonic Pi (https://sonic-pi.net/) is designed for making music specifically with kids in mind, and they might accidentally learn a whole bunch of programming concepts as a side-effect. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Seeking Ideas for Preschool/School Projects
    With my 7 years old I started to thinker with https://www.scratchjr.org/. She like to create short movies with it. The next level will be https://sonic-pi.net/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade mentions (4)

  • Isometric Projection in Game Development
    Alternatively, get her an emulator of an old 8 or 16 bit system, I started coding at the age of 10 in these systems, with books that were oriented for kids. https://www.atariarchives.org/ http://redparsley.blogspot.com/2016/08/input-magazine-retrospective.html https://archive.org/details/input-hi-01 Or if you prefer something more up to date, https://arcade.makecode.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Yo wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
    Https://arcade.makecode.com/ Is great fun to use and made for kids. The forum (forum.makecode.com) is well moderated and safe too. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Copying Angry Birds with nothing but AI
    I'm not sure how this reduces the barrier to game developement. There are already lots of free assets and game engines designed for making arcade games that are a lot easier then say Unity or Unreal. Like https://arcade.makecode.com/ or https://microstudio.dev/ or https://scratch.mit.edu/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?
    For the game angle https://arcade.makecode.com may be more of a fit. You can even build a cabinet. Disclaimer: worked on both. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sonic Pi and Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, you can also consider the following products

SuperCollider - A real time audio synthesis engine, and an object-oriented programming language specialised for...

Scratch - Scratch is the programming language & online community where young people create stories, games, & animations.

Pure Data - Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical...

Snap - Snap (formerly BYOB) is a visual, drag-and-drop programming language.

ChucK - A strongly-timed music programming language

microStudio - microStudio is an all-in-one online game engine that enables you to create games, develop programming skills, have fun playing what you have created, share with others, and prototype.

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