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| 2022-03-22 |
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Strudel | all-links |
Introduction
This paper introduces Strudel, an alternative implementation of the TidalCycles live coding system, using the JavaScript programming language.
Background
General motivations / related work. Reference vortex paper and summarise its background.
The reimplementation of TidalCycles in Python (cite TidalVortex) showed that it is possible to translate pure functional reactive programming ideas to a multi paradigm language. It proved to be a stepping stone to move to other multi-paradigm languages, like JavaScript. A significant part of of the Python codebase could be ported to JavaScript by syntactical adjustments.
Introducing TidalStrudel
(do we want to call it TidalStrudel once, and Strudel for short from then on as with vortex? Or just stick with Strudel? Should we start calling TidalCycles just Cycles?? froos: I think TidalStrudel sounds a bit weird, but we can stick to the TidalX naming scheme if that's important. For me, StrudelCycles sounds better, because it has 3/4 phonems in common with TidalCycles)
- Motivating musical example
Tidal patterns
(should we explain shortly what tidal patterns do in general here?)
The essence of TidalCycles are Patterns. Patterns are abstract entities that represent flows of time. Taking a time span as its input, a Pattern can output a set of events that happen within that time span. It depends on the structure of the Pattern where the events are placed. From now on, this process of generating events from a time span will be called querying. Example:
<MiniRepl tune={const pattern = sequence(c3, [e3, g3]); const events = pattern.query(0, 1); console.log(events.map(e => e.show()))} />
In this example, we create a pattern using the sequence function and
query it for the timespan from 0 to 1. Those numbers represent
units of time called cycles. The length of one cycle defaults to one
second, but could be any number of seconds. The console output looks
like this:
<MiniRepl tune={(0 -> 1/2 c3) (1/2 -> 3/4 e3) (3/2 -> 1 g3)} />
In this output, each line represents one event. The two fractions
represent the begin and end time of the event, followed by its value. In
this case, the events are placed in sequential order, where c3 takes the
first half, and e3 and g3 together take the second half. This temporal
placement is the result of the sequence function, which divides its
arguments equally over one cycle. If an argument is an array, the same
rule applies to that part of the sequence. In our example e3 and g3 are
divided equally over the second half of the whole sequence.
Mini Notation
In this example, the Pattern is created using the mini function, which
parses Tidal's Mini Notation. The Mini Notation is a Domain Specific
Language (DSL) that allows expressing rhythms in a short mannger.
- Some comparisons of -Strudel with -Vortex and -Cycles code?
(the following examples are from vortex paper, with added js versions)
1
<MiniRepl tune={sound "bd ~ [sd cp]"} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd", silence, ["sd", "cp"])} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd ~ [sd cp]")} />
without mini notation:
<MiniRepl tune={sound $ cat [pure "bd", silence, cat(pure "sd", pure "cp")]} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound('bd', silence, cat('sd', 'cp'))} />
2
<MiniRepl tune={sound "bd ~ <sd cp>"} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd", silence, slowcat("sd", "cp"))} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd ~ <sd cp>") // sound('bd', silence, slowcat('sd', 'cp'))} />
3
<MiniRepl tune={sound "bd {cp sd, lt mt ht}"} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd", pm(["cp", "sd"], ["lt", "mt", "ht"]))} />
<MiniRepl tune={?} />
4
<MiniRepl tune={sound "bd {cp sd, [lt mt,bd bd bd] ht}"} />
<MiniRepl tune={ sound("bd", pm(["cp", "sd"], [pr(["lt", "mt"], ["bd", "bd", "bd"] ), "ht" ]))} />
<MiniRepl tune={??} />
5
<MiniRepl tune={sound "bd sd cp" # speed "1 2"} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd", "sd", "cp") >> speed (1, 2)} />
<MiniRepl tune={sound("bd sd cp").speed("1 2")} />
(operator overloading like in vortex?)
6
<MiniRepl tune={rev $ sound "bd sd"} />
<MiniRepl tune={rev(sound("bd", "sd")) sound("bd", "sd").rev()} />
<MiniRepl tune={rev(sound("bd sd")) sound("bd sd").rev()} />
7
<MiniRepl tune={jux rev $ every 3 (fast 2) $ sound "bd sd"} />
<MiniRepl tune={jux(rev, every(3, fast(2), sound("bd", "sd"))) sound("bd","sd").every(3, fast(2)).jux(rev)} />
<MiniRepl tune={jux(rev, every(3, fast(2), sound("bd sd"))) sound("bd sd").every(3, fast(2)).jux(rev)} />
(partial application)
8
<MiniRepl tune={n ("1 2 3" + "4 5") # sound "drum"} />
<MiniRepl tune={n (sequence(1,2,3) + sequence(4,5)) >> sound "drum"} />
<MiniRepl tune={n("1 2 3".add("4 5")).sound("drum") n("5 [6 7] 8").sound("drum")} />
(operator overloading?)
9
<MiniRepl tune={speed("1 2 3" + sine)} />
<MiniRepl tune={speed(sequence(1,2,3) + sine)} />
<MiniRepl tune={speed("1 2 3".add(sine)) "c3*4".add(sine.mul(12).slow(8)).pianoroll()} />
10
- Mininotation
Strudel/web specifics
Some discussion about whether strudel is really a port of TidalCycles, or whether javascript affordances mean it's going its own way..
- Recursive Scheduling: "calling itself in the future"
- Optimizing Syntax for minimal keystrokes / readability: "AST
Hacking" via shift-ast pseudo variables
- Handling mininotation - double quoted and template strings to mini calls
- Operator overloading
- Fixing inconsistencies (e.g. with stut/echo) adding source locations
- Dynamic HUD: Highlighting + drawing
- Translation of Tidal concepts to Javascript - different constraints, affordances, aesthetics
- Dynamic Harmonic Programming?
- emulating musician thought patterns
- microtonal features? webserial
User Code Transpilation
(compare user input vs shifted output)
double quotes -> mini calls
<MiniRepl tune={"c3 e3" // or c3 e3``} />
<MiniRepl tune={mini("c3 e3")} />
operator overloading
<MiniRepl tune={cat(c3, e3) * 4} />
<MiniRepl tune={reify(cat("c3","e3")).fast(4)} />
(reify is redundant here, the shapeshifter could have an additional check...)
(TBD: ability to multiply mini notation strings)
pseudo variables
<MiniRepl tune={cat(c3, r, e3)} />
<MiniRepl tune={cat("c3",silence,"e3")} />
locations
<MiniRepl tune={cat(c3, e3)} />
<MiniRepl tune={cat( reify("c3").withLocation([1,4,4],[1,6,6]), reify("e3").withLocation([1,8,8],[1,10,10]) )} />
<MiniRepl tune={mini("c3 e3")} />
with locations:
<MiniRepl tune={// "c3 e3" mini("c3 e3").withMiniLocation([1,0,0],[1,7,7])} />
(talk about mini adding locations of mini notation parser)
top level await
<MiniRepl tune={const p = (await piano()).toDestination() cat(c3).tone(p)} />
<MiniRepl tune={(async()=>{ const p = (await piano()).toDestination(); return cat("c3").tone(p); })()} />
Musical examples
...
Ongoing work/future aims
- WASM Sound Backend
- OSC -> Supercollider
- mininotation as the 'regex' of metre
That @https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14794713.2016.1227602?journalCode_x61_rpdm20 are excellent, I reference their work at least twice per sentence [@https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14794713.2016.1227602?journalCode_x61_rpdm20, p. 3]. Another reference [@https://zenodo.org/record/5788732].
<MiniRepl tune={"1 2 3"} />
References
- gibber
- krill
- glicol