Keywords: Blue, Csound

Basic
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### Basic

#### Explanation

To repeat what is stated in the reference documentation, a PolyObject can be seen as a container of other SoundObjects. It contains its own series of SoundLayers, just like the main score, and, like the main score, one can add as many SoundLayers and SoundObjects as one likes to a PolyObject.

Think of the main score as a big box that holds sounds. Now, we can put whatever sounds we want in the box, but we can also put smaller boxes inside the main box; these smaller boxes are our PolyObjects. We can put sounds inside the smaller boxes, just like we can in the big box, and we can arrange them in the same manner too. When we put sound A in the upper-right corner of a smaller box, it will stay in that corner no matter where we move our box inside of the bigger box. However, it is the position and arrangement of the sounds themselves relative to the main score that is important and is, ultimately, the reason to use PolyObjects. With sound A in the upper-right corner of our small box, its relative position in the main box will be dependent on the smaller box's position in the big box. Keep in mind, too, that we can put boxes inside of boxes inside of boxes, as many layers as we like. And when you realize that you can change the sounds inside of any box by applying a NoteProcessor to it (like making the box metal instead of cardboard), you begin to see the power of using PolyObjects.

#### Usage

The way it works is, you create a PolyObject in a SoundLayer like you would any other SoundObject; by right-clicking on the SoundLayer and selecting "Add New PolyObject;" it should be at the very top. After doing this, the PolyObject is empty and will not generate any notes in its current state. You have to double-click on it in order to edit the contents of the PolyObject. Once you're editing the empty PolyObject, the score editor looks a lot like it does when you're editing an empty blue score. That's because the main score is just one big container for notes, like PolyObjects (in fact, in the code, the main score IS a PolyObject).

You can see which container you are currently editing by looking at the buttons just underneath the tabs for "score," "orchestra," etc. When you're editing the main score, there will only be one button there called "root;" you're editing the root container. When you're editing a PolyObject called "Group A," you'll see two buttons; "root" and "Group A." Pressing any of these buttons will change the view to edit that container.

Once a PolyObject has been created, you can add and arrange SoundObject on it just like you do in the main score. Each PolyObject is going to have its own Snap and Time Display settings too, so you may want to set those accordingly. Add SoundLayers just as you would in the main score too.

After you've added all of the notes you wish to the PolyObject, click on the "root" button and feel free to move the PolyObject around in the main score, just as you would any other SoundObject. Add NoteProcessors too, or alter the Time Behavior; these changes, in turn, will be applied to the contents of the PolyObject.

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