---
title: '2 Years of Strudel'
description: ''
date: '2024-01-22'
tags: ['meta']
author: froos
---

import { YouTube } from '@astro-community/astro-embed-youtube';
import LiteYouTubeEmbed from 'react-lite-youtube-embed';
import 'react-lite-youtube-embed/dist/LiteYouTubeEmbed.css';

Strudel is now 2 years old! This was the first commit to the strudel repo:

```log
commit 38b5a0d5cdf28685b2b5e18d460772b70246207b
Author: Alex McLean <alex@slab.org>
Date:   Sat Jan 22 20:24:36 2022 +0000

Initial commit
```

I have already written these 2 posts about the first year of strudel:

- [Introducing Strudel](https://loophole-letters.vercel.app/strudel)
- [1 Year of Strudel](https://loophole-letters.vercel.app/strudel1year)

To continue that tradition, let me recap what happened around Strudel in 2023, at least what I have noticed:

## ICLC 2023

I presented strudel at the [International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC)](https://iclc.toplap.org/2023/), which took place in April in Utrecht.
Here is the (pretty technical) video of my presentation:

import { Youtube } from '@src/components/Youtube';

<Youtube id="ZzDSW08IAdU" params="start=2805" client:only="react" />

For the conference, I wrote a paper with Alex McLean, called [Strudel: Live Coding Patterns on the Web](https://zenodo.org/records/7842142).
For me personally, this was my first major contact with the live coding scene and it was a very memorable experience!

## Workshops and Courses

A lot of workshops have been using strudel in the last year, from many parts of the world:
[Iceland](http://www.raflost.is/live-coding-for-beginners/), [UK](https://gutlevel.co.uk/whatson/patternclub8),
[Japan](https://yoppa.org/kanazawa23), [France](https://www.stereolux.org/agenda/workshop-de-decouverte-de-la-musique-algorithmique-avec-strudel-avec-camille-amet) and the [US](https://www.nycresistor.com/2023/09/25/making-music-with-code-9-30-2023/) (probably more I've missed).
I've also given workshops in [Switzerland](https://basel.codes/2023/index.html) and [Germany](https://www.cityofmediaarts.de/de/events/strudel-live-coding-workshop/), where we even had real strudel, thanks to [TOPLAP Karlsruhe](https://toplap-ka.de/)!

![strudel workshop space](/img/workshop-space.png)

Additionally, there is now a [Creative Coding](https://www.chalmers.se/en/collaborate-with-us/activities-for-schools/creative-coding/) course at Chalmers in Sweden, consisting of "a 10-week series of workshops [...] for younger girls to have fun and experiment with code and music".
I was very delighted to see this video of the girls having fun with Strudel:

<Youtube id="4zgHeNpG4wU" client:only="react" />

The course was also encompassed by a study on female empowerement through Creative Coding, read more in [Jasmina Maric's paper "Singing Code"](https://www.academia.edu/106106710/Singing_Code).

Another bigger installment was the [(Algo|Afro) Futures programme](https://algo-afro-futures.lurk.org/) led by Antonio Roberts, which is "a mentoring programme for early career Black artists who want to explore creative coding and live coding".
For the final concert the recorded this amazing live stream:

<Youtube id="zUoZvkZ3J7Q" params="start=842" client:only="react" />

I am so happy to see that the project I've co-created has had such an impact already, making live coding workshops more easy and accessible.
In my opinion, the reasons why people seem to choose strudel for teaching are:

- it does not require an installation, so it even runs on your phone / tablet or a chromebook
- in-code and behind-code visualizations help learners to understand what the system is doing
- the interactive documentation
- the simple javascript syntax, which is very similar to [hydra](https://hydra.ojack.xyz)
- tidal's intuitive mini notation + its deep pattern engine is also interesting for the most advanced users
- strudel might also be a "gateway drug" for tidal, which is probably the most used live coding language

## Performances

![strudel performance](/img/strudel-live-coding-mars-college.jpg)

People are starting to use Strudel for performances, many of which can be watched in the new [Showcase](http://localhost:4321/intro/showcase/)!
The above photo comes from the [Mars College Department of Future Music](https://mars.college/gallery/live_coding/)

## New Features

Let's talk about some of the major features that landed since last year.

### Audio Engine Improved

The audio engine has gotten a lot of attention! Once integrated into Strudel itself, the engine has been pulled out and named [superdough](https://www.npmjs.com/package/superdough),
the name being based on [SuperDirt](https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt), which is the audio engine of Tidal.
superdough is now also used by [topos](https://topos.live/), a creation of [Raphaël Forment](https://github.com/Bubobubobubobubo/), who helped me implement a bunch of new features.
Lately, [Jade Rowland](https://github.com/daslyfe) has also developed many synthesis features into superdough! Here is a non-exhaustive list of new features:

- [filter envelopes](https://strudel.cc/learn/effects/#filter-envelope) + [24db filter option](https://strudel.cc/learn/effects/#ftype)
- [pitch envelopes](https://strudel.cc/learn/effects/#pitch-envelope)
- [fm synthesis](https://strudel.cc/learn/synths/#fm-synthesis)
- [wavetable synthesis](https://strudel.cc/recipes/recipes/#wavetable-synthesis)
- [phaser](https://strudel.cc/learn/effects/#phaser)
- [vibrato](https://strudel.cc/learn/synths/#vibrato)
- [noise](https://strudel.cc/learn/synths/#noise)
- [an integration of the zzfx synth](https://strudel.cc/learn/synths/#zzfx)
- [compressor](https://strudel.cc/learn/effects/#compressor)
- multichannel audio / audio device selection

import { MiniRepl } from '@src/docs/MiniRepl';

Here's an example that shows off filter envelopes:

<MiniRepl
  client:visible
  tune={`// "acidic tooth" @by eddyflux
stack(
  note("[<g1 f1>/8](<3 5>,8)")
  .clip(perlin.range(.15,1.5))
  .release(.1)
  .s("sawtooth")
  .lpf(sine.range(400,800).slow(16))
  .lpq(cosine.range(6,14).slow(3))
  .lpenv(sine.mul(4).slow(4))
  .lpd(.2).lpa(.02)
  .ftype('24db')
  .rarely(add(note(12)))
  .room(.2).shape(.3).postgain(.5)
  .superimpose(x=>x.add(note(12)).delay(.5).bpf(1000))
  .gain("[.2 1@3]*2") // fake sidechain
  ,
  stack(
    s("bd*2").mask("<0@4 1@16>"),
    s("hh*8").gain(saw.mul(saw.fast(2))).clip(sine)
    .mask("<0@8 1@16>")
  ).bank('RolandTR909')
)
`}
/>

### Editor Quality of Life Improvements

You can now change the theme and font of the editor:

![strudel themes](/img/strudel-themes.png)

You can now enable autocompletion in the settings:

![autocomplete](/img/autocomplete.png)

If you enable tooltips, you will get the same info by hovering the mouse over functions while holding the ctrl key!

### New Visualizations

There is now a new `.spiral()` visualization that renders events in a spiral, elevating the cyclical nature of time (+ swirl also means Strudel in german).

![strudel alien ui](/img/strudel-alien-live-coding.png)

Ah yes and you see one of the less readable fonts in this screenshot too :)

The `.scope()` function renders you an oscilloscope:

![scope](/img/strudel-scope.png)

The pianoroll also got some more options, including the ability to set labels:

![scope](/img/strudel-monkeys.png)

### Sliders

The `slider` is the first of a family of functions that render UI widgets inline:

<MiniRepl
  client:visible
  tune={`note("c eb g bb")
  .s("sawtooth").lpenv(2).lpq(8)
  .lpf(slider(500, 100, 2000, 1))`}
/>

Sliders are especially useful for gradual changes like fading things in and out by hand,
which is not very practical with just code. The fact that the slider is inside the code and also changes the code itself,
makes it feel connected with the rest of the system + doesn't distract or obstruct from the code.
Other widgets will come for sure.

### More Voicings

One of my personal goals that got me involved with live coding in the first place is to be able to generate good sounding chord voicings on the fly.
Strudel now supports most chord symbols:

<MiniRepl
  client:visible
  tune={`chord("<C^9 C7b9 Fm9 Db^7>/4")
  .dict('ireal').voicing()
  .s("sawtooth")
  .lpf(400).lpa(.5).lpenv(4)
  .phaser(4).room(.5)`}
/>

So far, this is only [documented briefly](https://strudel.cc/learn/tonal/#voicing), a more in-depth guide will follow!

### More

- pwa / offline support
- experimental desktop app
- most tidal functions ported + some new ones
- better midi support: midi cc out, midi cc in, midi clock out
- hydra
- better docs: search, showcase, blog
- vscode plugin: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=roipoussiere.tidal-strudel
- flok

- solstice stream
- dough dream

- fiddle: https://cannerycoders.com/docs/fiddle/interface/strudel.html
- topfenstrudel: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/topfenstrudel/
- jaffle: https://roipoussiere.frama.io/jaffle/ / https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/introducing-jaffle-a-node-editor-for-tidal-strudel/4774

- alex / alpaca: https://algorithmicpattern.org/2023/05/15/strudel-live-coding-patterns-on-the-web/
- https://kidscodecs.com/strudel-music-language/ (beanz kids magazine)
- strudel is now on mastodon
