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- Strudel: live coding patterns on the Web
-
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-
-
-
-
-
Strudel: live coding patterns on the Web
-
-
true
-
true
-
-
2022-12-14
-
+
+
+
+
+
+ Strudel: live coding patterns on the Web
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Strudel: live coding patterns on the Web
+
+
true
+
true
+
+
2022-12-14
+
-
Abstract
-
-
This paper introduces Strudel, which brings the TidalCycles approach
-to live coding algorithmic patterns to native JavaScript and the web. We
-begin by giving a little background of the first year of development,
-before sharing some detail about its implementation and examples of use.
-We go on to outline the wide range of synthesis and other outputs
-available in Strudel, including WebAudio, MIDI, OSC (for SuperDirt),
-WebSerial and CSound, and introduce Strudel’s REPL live editor,
-including its built-in visualisations. We then compare Strudel with
-Tidal, the trade-offs involved between JavaScript and Haskell, and the
-unique capabilities offered by Strudel for aligning patterns.
-
+
Abstract
+
+
+ This paper introduces Strudel, which brings the TidalCycles approach to live coding algorithmic patterns to
+ native JavaScript and the web. We begin by giving a little background of the first year of development, before
+ sharing some detail about its implementation and examples of use. We go on to outline the wide range of
+ synthesis and other outputs available in Strudel, including WebAudio, MIDI, OSC (for SuperDirt), WebSerial and
+ CSound, and introduce Strudel’s REPL live editor, including its built-in visualisations. We then compare Strudel
+ with Tidal, the trade-offs involved between JavaScript and Haskell, and the unique capabilities offered by
+ Strudel for aligning patterns.
+
+
-
1 Introduction
-
In the following paper, we introduce Strudel, an alternative
-implementation of the TidalCycles (or ‘Tidal’ for short) live coding
-system, using the JavaScript programming language. Strudel is an attempt
-to make live coding more accessible, by creating a system that runs
-entirely in the browser, while opening Tidal’s approach to algorithmic
-patterns (Mclean 2020) up to
-modern audio/visual web technologies. The Strudel REPL is a live code
-editor dedicated to manipulating patterns while they play, with builtin
-visual feedback. While Strudel is written in JavaScript, the API is
-optimized for simplicity and readability by applying code
-transformations on the syntax tree level, allowing language operations
-that would otherwise be impossible. The application supports multiple
-ways to output sound, including Tone.js, Web Audio Nodes, OSC (Open
-Sound Control) messages, Web Serial, Web MIDI and Csound. The project is
-split into multiple packages, allowing granular reuse in other
-applications. Apart from TidalCycles, Strudel draws inspiration from
-many prior existing projects like TidalVortex (McLean et al. 2022),
-Gibber (Roberts and Kuchera-morin
-2012), Estuary (Ogborn et al.
-2017), Hydra (Jack [2022] 2022), Ocarina (Solomon
-[2021] 2022) and Feedforward (McLean 2020). This paper
-expands the Strudel Demo paper for the Web Audio Conference 2022 (Roos and McLean
-2022).
-
The first tentative commit to the Strudel project was on 22nd January
-2022 by Alex McLean, with the core representation implemented over the
-following few days. Although this was his first attempt at a
-JavaScript-based application, by 27th January, Alex had managed to
-upload the initial version to the ‘npm’ javascript package database,
-sharing with the wider community for comment. By 4th February, Felix
-Roos had discovered Strudel and contributed a ‘REPL’ user interface to
-it, and then contributed a scheduler the next day, so that Strudel could
-already make sound. At this point, Alex and Felix shared ownership to
-the repository, and the project has since proved to be a productive
-confluence of Felix’s own work into music representation and
-visualisation, with Alex’s experience with making Tidal. Felix has since
-become the primary contributor to Strudel, with Alex continuing to jump
-between developing both Strudel and Tidal. Aspects of Strudel’s
-development have therefore fed back into TidalCycles, and both systems
-have maintained a shared conceptual underpinning. We plan to continue
-working towards feature parity between these systems, although within
-the syntactical trade-offs and library ecosystems of JavaScript and
-Haskell, some divergence is inevitable and healthy.
-
Over the first year of its life, Strudel is now a fully-fledged live
-coding environment, porting Tidal’s core represention of patterns,
-pattern transformations, and mininotation for polymetric sequences,
-combined with a wealth of features for synthesising and visualising
-those patterns.
-
2 From Tidal to Strudel and
-back
-
As mentioned above, the original Tidal is implemented as a domain
-specific language (DSL) embedded in the Haskell pure functional
-programming language, and takes advantage of Haskell’s terse syntax and
-advanced, ‘strong’ type system. JavaScript on the other hand, is a
-multi-paradigm programming language, with a dynamic type system. Because
-Tidal leans heavily on many of Haskell’s more unique features, it was
-not always clear that it could meaningfully be ported to a
-multi-paradigm scripting language. However, this possibility was already
-demonstrated with an earlier port to Python [TidalVortex; McLean et al.
-(2022)], and we have now successfully implemented Tidal’s pure
-functional representation of patterns in Strudel, including partial
-application, currying, and the functor, applicative and monadic
-structures that underlie Tidal’s expressive pattern transformations. The
-result is a terse and highly composable system, where everything is
-either a pattern, or a function for combining and manipulating patterns,
-offering a rich creative ground for exploration.
-
This development process has been far from a one-way port, however.
-The process of porting Tidal’s concepts has also opened up new
-possibilities, some just from revisiting every design decision, and some
-from the particular affordances and constraints offered by JavaScript.
-This has lead to new features (and indeed bugfixes) that have found
-their way back to Tidal where appropriate, and ongoing work that we will
-return to in the conclusion of this paper.
-
3 Representing Patterns
-
Patterns are the essence of Tidal. Its patterns are abstract entities
-that represent flows of time as functions, adapting a technique called
-pure functional reactive programming. 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 how the events are located in
-time. From now on, this process of generating events from a time span
-will be called querying. Example:
-
const pattern =sequence(c3, [e3, g3])
+
1 Introduction
+
+ In the following paper, we introduce Strudel, an alternative implementation of the TidalCycles (or
+ ‘Tidal’ for short) live coding system, using the JavaScript programming language. Strudel is an attempt to make
+ live coding more accessible, by creating a system that runs entirely in the browser, while opening Tidal’s
+ approach to algorithmic patterns
+ (Mclean 2020) up to modern audio/visual
+ web technologies. The Strudel REPL is a live code editor dedicated to manipulating patterns while they play, with
+ builtin visual feedback. While Strudel is written in JavaScript, the API is optimized for simplicity and
+ readability by applying code transformations on the syntax tree level, allowing language operations that would
+ otherwise be impossible. The application supports multiple ways to output sound, including Tone.js, Web Audio
+ Nodes, OSC (Open Sound Control) messages, Web Serial, Web MIDI and Csound. The project is split into multiple
+ packages, allowing granular reuse in other applications. Apart from TidalCycles, Strudel draws inspiration from
+ many prior existing projects like TidalVortex
+ (McLean et al. 2022), Gibber
+ (Roberts and Kuchera-morin 2012), Estuary
+ (Ogborn et al. 2017), Hydra
+ (Jack [2022] 2022), Ocarina
+ (Solomon [2021] 2022) and Feedforward
+ (McLean 2020). This paper expands the Strudel
+ Demo paper for the Web Audio Conference 2022
+ (Roos and McLean 2022).
+
+
+ The first tentative commit to the Strudel project was on 22nd January 2022 by Alex McLean, with the core
+ representation implemented over the following few days. Although this was his first attempt at a JavaScript-based
+ application, by 27th January, Alex had managed to upload the initial version to the ‘npm’ javascript package
+ database, sharing with the wider community for comment. By 4th February, Felix Roos had discovered Strudel and
+ contributed a ‘REPL’ user interface to it, and then contributed a scheduler the next day, so that Strudel could
+ already make sound. At this point, Alex and Felix shared ownership to the repository, and the project has since
+ proved to be a productive confluence of Felix’s own work into music representation and visualisation, with Alex’s
+ experience with making Tidal. Felix has since become the primary contributor to Strudel, with Alex continuing to
+ jump between developing both Strudel and Tidal. Aspects of Strudel’s development have therefore fed back into
+ TidalCycles, and both systems have maintained a shared conceptual underpinning. We plan to continue working
+ towards feature parity between these systems, although within the syntactical trade-offs and library ecosystems of
+ JavaScript and Haskell, some divergence is inevitable and healthy.
+
+
+ Over the first year of its life, Strudel is now a fully-fledged live coding environment, porting Tidal’s core
+ represention of patterns, pattern transformations, and mininotation for polymetric sequences, combined with a
+ wealth of features for synthesising and visualising those patterns.
+
+
+ 2 From Tidal to Strudel and back
+
+
+ As mentioned above, the original Tidal is implemented as a domain specific language (DSL) embedded in the Haskell
+ pure functional programming language, and takes advantage of Haskell’s terse syntax and advanced, ‘strong’ type
+ system. JavaScript on the other hand, is a multi-paradigm programming language, with a dynamic type system.
+ Because Tidal leans heavily on many of Haskell’s more unique features, it was not always clear that it could
+ meaningfully be ported to a multi-paradigm scripting language. However, this possibility was already demonstrated
+ with an earlier port to Python [TidalVortex;
+ McLean et al. (2022)], and we have now
+ successfully implemented Tidal’s pure functional representation of patterns in Strudel, including partial
+ application, currying, and the functor, applicative and monadic structures that underlie Tidal’s expressive
+ pattern transformations. The result is a terse and highly composable system, where everything is either a pattern,
+ or a function for combining and manipulating patterns, offering a rich creative ground for exploration.
+
+
+ This development process has been far from a one-way port, however. The process of porting Tidal’s concepts has
+ also opened up new possibilities, some just from revisiting every design decision, and some from the particular
+ affordances and constraints offered by JavaScript. This has lead to new features (and indeed bugfixes) that have
+ found their way back to Tidal where appropriate, and ongoing work that we will return to in the conclusion of this
+ paper.
+
+
+ 3 Representing Patterns
+
+
+ Patterns are the essence of Tidal. Its patterns are abstract entities that represent flows of time as functions,
+ adapting a technique called pure functional reactive programming. 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 how the
+ events are located in time. From now on, this process of generating events from a time span will be called
+ querying. Example:
+
In this example, we create a pattern using the sequence
-function and query it for the time span from
-0 to 1. Those numbers represent units of time
-called cycles. The length of one cycle depends on the
-tempo, which defaults to one cycle per second. The resulting events
-are:
+ In this example, we create a pattern using the sequence function and query it for
+ the time span from 0 to 1. Those numbers represent units of time called
+ cycles. The length of one cycle depends on the tempo, which defaults to one cycle per second. The
+ resulting events are:
+
Each event has a value, a begin time and an end time, where time is
-represented as a fraction. In the above 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 cycle. In the example, e3 and g3 are divided equally over
-the second half of the whole cycle.
-
The above examples do not represent how Strudel is used in practice.
-In the live coding editor, the user only has to type in the pattern
-itself, the querying will be handled by the scheduler. The scheduler
-will repeatedly query the pattern for events, which are then scheduled
-as sound synthesis or other event triggers. Also, the above event data
-structure has been simplified for readability.
-
-
-Screenshot of the Strudel ‘REPL’ live
-coding editor, including piano-roll visualisation.
-
-
4 Making Patterns
-
In practice, the end-user live coder will not deal with constructing
-patterns directly, but will rather build patterns using Strudel’s
-extensive combinator library to create, combine and transform
-patterns.
-
The live coder will rarely use the sequence function as
-seen above, as sequencing is implicit in many functions. For example in
-the following, the note function constructs a pattern of
-notes, sequencing its arguments in the same manner as the previous
-example.
-
note(c3, [e3, g3])
-
Perhaps more often, they will use the mini-notation for even terser
-notation of rhythmic sequences: [^This last example is also valid Tidal
-code, albeit the parenthesis is not required in its Haskell syntax in
-this case. Tidal does not support passing sequences as lists directly to
-the note function, however.].
-
note("c3 [e3 g3]")
-
Such sequences are often treated only a starting point for
-manipulation, where they then undergo pattern transformations such as
-repetition, symmetry, interference/combination or randomisation,
-potentially at multiple timescales. Because Strudel patterns are
-represented as pure functions of time rather than as data structures,
-very long and complex generative results can be represented and
-manipulated without having to store the resulting sequences in
-memory.
-
5 Pattern Example
-
The following example showcases how patterns can be utilized to
-create musical complexity from simple parts, using repetition and
-interference:
+ Each event has a value, a begin time and an end time, where time is represented as a fraction. In the above 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 cycle. In the
+ example, e3 and g3 are divided equally over the second half of the whole cycle.
+
+
+ The above examples do not represent how Strudel is used in practice. In the live coding editor, the user only has
+ to type in the pattern itself, the querying will be handled by the scheduler. The scheduler will repeatedly query
+ the pattern for events, which are then scheduled as sound synthesis or other event triggers. Also, the above event
+ data structure has been simplified for readability.
+
+
+
+
+ Screenshot of the Strudel ‘REPL’ live coding editor, including piano-roll visualisation.
+
+
+
4 Making Patterns
+
+ In practice, the end-user live coder will not deal with constructing patterns directly, but will rather build
+ patterns using Strudel’s extensive combinator library to create, combine and transform patterns.
+
+
+ The live coder will rarely use the sequence function as seen above, as sequencing is implicit in many
+ functions. For example in the following, the note function constructs a pattern of notes, sequencing
+ its arguments in the same manner as the previous example.
+
+
+
note(c3, [e3, g3])
+
+
+ Perhaps more often, they will use the mini-notation for even terser notation of rhythmic sequences: [^This last
+ example is also valid Tidal code, albeit the parenthesis is not required in its Haskell syntax in this case. Tidal
+ does not support passing sequences as lists directly to the note function, however.].
+
+
+
note("c3 [e3 g3]")
+
+
+ Such sequences are often treated only a starting point for manipulation, where they then undergo pattern
+ transformations such as repetition, symmetry, interference/combination or randomisation, potentially at multiple
+ timescales. Because Strudel patterns are represented as pure functions of time rather than as data structures,
+ very long and complex generative results can be represented and manipulated without having to store the resulting
+ sequences in memory.
+
+
5 Pattern Example
+
+ The following example showcases how patterns can be utilized to create musical complexity from simple parts, using
+ repetition and interference:
+
The pattern starts with a rhythm of numbers in mini notation, which
-are later interpreted inside the scale of D minor. The first line could
-also be expressed without mini notation:
-
cat(0,2, [4,6].euclid(3,4,1),3)
-
These numbers then undergo various pattern transformations. Here is a
-short description of all the functions used:
-
-
cat: play elements sequentially, where each lasts one
-cycle
-
brackets: elements inside brackets are divided equally
-over the time of their parent
-
.euclid(p, s, o): place p pulses evenly over s steps,
-with offset o (Toussaint
-2005)
-
.off(n, f): layers a pattern on top of itself, with the
-new layer offset by n cycles, and with function f applied
-
.legato(n): multiply the duration of all events in a
-pattern by a factor of n
-
.echo(t, n, v): copy each event t times, with n cycles
-in between each copy, decreasing velocity by v
-
.note(): interpretes values as notes
-
.s(name): play back each event with the given
-sound
-
.delay(wet): add delay
-
.delaytime(t): set delay time
-
-
Much of the above will be familiar to Tidal users.
-
-
6 Ways to make Sound (and other
-events)
-
To generate sound, Strudel supports bindings for different
-outputs:
-
-
Tone.js (deprecated)
-
Web Audio API
-
WebDirt, a js recreation of Tidal’s Dirt sample engine
-(deprecated)
-
OSC via osc-js, compatible with superdirt
-
Csound via the Csound WebAssembly build
-
MIDI via WebMIDI
-
Serial via WebSerial
-
-
At first, we used Tone.js as sound output, but it proved to be
-limited for the use case of Strudel, where each individual event could
-potentially have a completely different audio graph. While the Web Audio
-API takes a fire-and-forget approach, creating a lot of Tone.js
-instruments and effects causes performance issues quickly. For that
-reason, we chose to search for alternatives.
-
Strudel’s new default output uses the Web Audio API to create a new
-audio graph for each event. It currently supports basic oscillators,
-sample playback, various effects and an experimental support for
-soundfonts.
-
WebDirt (Ogborn [2016] 2022) was
-created as part of the Estuary Live Coding System (Ogborn et al.
-2017), and proved to be a solid choice for handling samples in
-Strudel as well. We are however focused on working more directly with
-the Web Audio API to be able to integrate new features more tightly.
-
Using the OSC protocol via Strudel’s provided Node.js-based OSC proxy
-server, it is possible to send network messages to trigger events. This
-is mainly used to render sound using SuperDirt (SuperDirt [2015] 2022),
-which is the well-developed Supercollider-based synthesis framework that
-Tidal live coders generally use as standard.
-
Recently, the experimental integration of Csound proved to bring a
-new dimension of sound design capabilities to Strudel. Thanks to the
-WebAssembly distribution of this classic system (Yi, Lazzarini, and Costello
-2018), Csound ‘orchestra’ synthesisers can be embedded in and
-then patterned with Strudel code.
-
MIDI output can also be used to send MIDI messages to either external
-instruments or to other programs on the same device. Unlike OSC, Strudel
-is able to send MIDI directly without requiring additional proxy
-software, but only from web browsers that support it (at the time of
-writing, this means Chromium-based browsers).
-
Finally, Strudel supports Serial output, for example to trigger
-events via microcontrollers. This has already been explored for robot
-choreography by Kate Sicchio and Alex McLean, via a performance
-presented at the International Conference on Live Interfaces 2022.
-
7 The Strudel REPL
-
While Strudel can be used as a library in any JavaScript codebase,
-its main, reference user interface is the Strudel REPL[^REPL stands for
-read, evaluate, print/play, loop. It is friendly jargon for an
-interactive programming interface from computing heritage, usually for a
-commandline interface but also applied to live coding editors.], which
-is a browser-based live coding environment. This live code editor is
-dedicated to manipulating Strudel patterns while they play. The REPL
-features built-in visual feedback, which highlights which elements in
-the patterned (mini-notation) sequences are influencing the event that
-is currently being played. This feedback is designed to support both
-learning and live use of Strudel.
-
Besides a UI for playback control and meta information, the main part
-of the REPL interface is the code editor powered by CodeMirror. In it,
-the user can edit and evaluate pattern code live, using one of the
-available synthesis outputs to create music and/or sound art. The
-control flow of the REPL follows 3 basic steps:
-
-
The user writes and updates code. Each update transpiles and
-evaluates it to create a Pattern instance
-
While the REPL is running, the Scheduler queries the
-active Pattern by a regular interval, generating
-Events (also known as Haps in Strudel) for the
-next time span.
-
For each scheduling tick, all generated Events are
-triggered by calling their onTrigger method, which is set
-by the output.
-
-
-
-REPL control flow
-
-
7.1 User Code
-
To create a Pattern from the user code, two steps are
-needed:
-
-
Transpile the JS input code to make it functional
-
Evaluate the transpiled code
-
-
7.1.1 Transpilation &
-Evaluation
-
In the JavaScript world, using transpilation is a common practise to
-be able to use language features that are not supported by the base
-language. Tools like babel will transpile code that
-contains unsupported language features into a version of the code
-without those features.
-
In the same tradition, Strudel can add a transpilation step to
-simplify the user code in the context of live coding. For example, the
-Strudel REPL lets the user create mini notation patterns using just
-double quoted strings, while single quoted strings remain what they
-are:
Here, the string is wrapped in mini, which will create a
-pattern from a mini notation string. Additionally, the
-withMiniLocation method passes the original source code
-location of the string to the pattern, which enables highlighting active
-events.
-
Other convenient features like pseudo variables, operator overloading
-and top level await are possible with transpilation.
-
After the transpilation, the code is ready to be evaluated into a
-Pattern.
-
Behind the scenes, the user code string is parsed with
-acorn, turning it into an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). The
-AST allows changing the structure of the code before generating the
-transpiled version using escodegen.
-
7.1.2 Mini Notation
-
While the transpilation allows JavaScript to express Patterns in a
-less verbose way, it is still preferable to use the Mini Notation as a
-more compact way to express rhythm. Strudel aims to provide the same
-Mini Notation features and syntax as used in Tidal.
-
The Mini Notation parser is implemented using peggy,
-which allows generating performant parsers for Domain Specific Languages
-(DSLs) using a concise grammar notation. The generated parser turns the
-Mini Notation string into an AST which is used to call the respective
-Strudel functions with the given structure. For example,
-"c3 [e3 g3]*2" will result in the following calls:
-
seq(
+.delay(.8).delaytime(.125)
+
+
+ The pattern starts with a rhythm of numbers in mini notation, which are later interpreted inside the scale of D
+ minor. The first line could also be expressed without mini notation:
+
+
+
cat(0,2, [4,6].euclid(3,4,1),3)
+
+
+ These numbers then undergo various pattern transformations. Here is a short description of all the functions used:
+
+
+
cat: play elements sequentially, where each lasts one cycle
+
brackets: elements inside brackets are divided equally over the time of their parent
+
+ .euclid(p, s, o): place p pulses evenly over s steps, with offset o
+ (Toussaint 2005)
+
+
+ .off(n, f): layers a pattern on top of itself, with the new layer offset by n cycles, and with
+ function f applied
+
+
.legato(n): multiply the duration of all events in a pattern by a factor of n
+
+ .echo(t, n, v): copy each event t times, with n cycles in between each copy, decreasing velocity by
+ v
+
+
.note(): interpretes values as notes
+
.s(name): play back each event with the given sound
+
.delay(wet): add delay
+
.delaytime(t): set delay time
+
+
Much of the above will be familiar to Tidal users.
+
+
+ 6 Ways to make Sound (and other events)
+
+
To generate sound, Strudel supports bindings for different outputs:
+
+
Tone.js (deprecated)
+
Web Audio API
+
WebDirt, a js recreation of Tidal’s Dirt sample engine (deprecated)
+
OSC via osc-js, compatible with superdirt
+
Csound via the Csound WebAssembly build
+
MIDI via WebMIDI
+
Serial via WebSerial
+
+
+ At first, we used Tone.js as sound output, but it proved to be limited for the use case of Strudel, where each
+ individual event could potentially have a completely different audio graph. While the Web Audio API takes a
+ fire-and-forget approach, creating a lot of Tone.js instruments and effects causes performance issues
+ quickly. For that reason, we chose to search for alternatives.
+
+
+ Strudel’s new default output uses the Web Audio API to create a new audio graph for each event. It currently
+ supports basic oscillators, sample playback, various effects and an experimental support for soundfonts.
+
+
+ WebDirt (Ogborn [2016] 2022) was created as part
+ of the Estuary Live Coding System
+ (Ogborn et al. 2017), and
+ proved to be a solid choice for handling samples in Strudel as well. We are however focused on working more
+ directly with the Web Audio API to be able to integrate new features more tightly.
+
+
+ Using the OSC protocol via Strudel’s provided Node.js-based OSC proxy server, it is possible to send network
+ messages to trigger events. This is mainly used to render sound using SuperDirt
+ (SuperDirt [2015] 2022), which is the
+ well-developed Supercollider-based synthesis framework that Tidal live coders generally use as standard.
+
+
+ Recently, the experimental integration of Csound proved to bring a new dimension of sound design capabilities to
+ Strudel. Thanks to the WebAssembly distribution of this classic system
+ (Yi, Lazzarini, and Costello 2018), Csound
+ ‘orchestra’ synthesisers can be embedded in and then patterned with Strudel code.
+
+
+ MIDI output can also be used to send MIDI messages to either external instruments or to other programs on the same
+ device. Unlike OSC, Strudel is able to send MIDI directly without requiring additional proxy software, but only
+ from web browsers that support it (at the time of writing, this means Chromium-based browsers).
+
+
+ Finally, Strudel supports Serial output, for example to trigger events via microcontrollers. This has already been
+ explored for robot choreography by Kate Sicchio and Alex McLean, via a performance presented at the International
+ Conference on Live Interfaces 2022.
+
+
7 The Strudel REPL
+
+ While Strudel can be used as a library in any JavaScript codebase, its main, reference user interface is the
+ Strudel REPL[^REPL stands for read, evaluate, print/play, loop. It is friendly jargon for an interactive
+ programming interface from computing heritage, usually for a commandline interface but also applied to live coding
+ editors.], which is a browser-based live coding environment. This live code editor is dedicated to manipulating
+ Strudel patterns while they play. The REPL features built-in visual feedback, which highlights which elements in
+ the patterned (mini-notation) sequences are influencing the event that is currently being played. This feedback is
+ designed to support both learning and live use of Strudel.
+
+
+ Besides a UI for playback control and meta information, the main part of the REPL interface is the code editor
+ powered by CodeMirror. In it, the user can edit and evaluate pattern code live, using one of the available
+ synthesis outputs to create music and/or sound art. The control flow of the REPL follows 3 basic steps:
+
+
+
+ The user writes and updates code. Each update transpiles and evaluates it to create a
+ Pattern instance
+
+
+ While the REPL is running, the Scheduler queries the active Pattern by a regular
+ interval, generating Events (also known as Haps in Strudel) for the next time span.
+
+
+ For each scheduling tick, all generated Events are triggered by calling their
+ onTrigger method, which is set by the output.
+
+
+
+
+ REPL control flow
+
+
7.1 User Code
+
To create a Pattern from the user code, two steps are needed:
+
+
Transpile the JS input code to make it functional
+
Evaluate the transpiled code
+
+
+ 7.1.1 Transpilation & Evaluation
+
+
+ In the JavaScript world, using transpilation is a common practise to be able to use language features that are not
+ supported by the base language. Tools like babel will transpile code that contains unsupported
+ language features into a version of the code without those features.
+
+
+ In the same tradition, Strudel can add a transpilation step to simplify the user code in the context of live
+ coding. For example, the Strudel REPL lets the user create mini notation patterns using just double quoted
+ strings, while single quoted strings remain what they are:
+
+ Here, the string is wrapped in mini, which will create a pattern from a mini notation string.
+ Additionally, the withMiniLocation method passes the original source code location of the string to
+ the pattern, which enables highlighting active events.
+
+
+ Other convenient features like pseudo variables, operator overloading and top level await are possible with
+ transpilation.
+
+
After the transpilation, the code is ready to be evaluated into a Pattern.
+
+ Behind the scenes, the user code string is parsed with acorn, turning it into an Abstract Syntax Tree
+ (AST). The AST allows changing the structure of the code before generating the transpiled version using
+ escodegen.
+
+
7.1.2 Mini Notation
+
+ While the transpilation allows JavaScript to express Patterns in a less verbose way, it is still preferable to use
+ the Mini Notation as a more compact way to express rhythm. Strudel aims to provide the same Mini Notation features
+ and syntax as used in Tidal.
+
+
+ The Mini Notation parser is implemented using peggy, which allows generating performant parsers for
+ Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) using a concise grammar notation. The generated parser turns the Mini Notation
+ string into an AST which is used to call the respective Strudel functions with the given structure. For example,
+ "c3 [e3 g3]*2" will result in the following calls:
+
As seen in the examples above, both the JS and the Mini Notation
-parser add source code locations using withMiniLocation and
-withLocation methods. While the JS parser adds locations
-relative to the user code as a whole, the Mini Notation adds locations
-relative to the position of the mini notation string. The absolute
-location of elements within Mini Notation can be calculated by simply
-adding both locations together. This absolute location can be used to
-highlight active events in real time.
-
7.2 Scheduling Events
-
After an instance of Pattern is obtained from the user
-code, it is used by the scheduler to get queried for events. Once
-started, the scheduler runs at a fixed interval to query active pattern
-for events withing the current interval’s time span. A simplified
-implementation looks like this:
-
let pattern =seq('c3', ['e3','g3']);// pattern from user
+)
+
+
+ 7.1.3 Highlighting Locations
+
+
+ As seen in the examples above, both the JS and the Mini Notation parser add source code locations using
+ withMiniLocation and withLocation methods. While the JS parser adds locations relative
+ to the user code as a whole, the Mini Notation adds locations relative to the position of the mini notation
+ string. The absolute location of elements within Mini Notation can be calculated by simply adding both locations
+ together. This absolute location can be used to highlight active events in real time.
+
+
7.2 Scheduling Events
+
+ After an instance of Pattern is obtained from the user code, it is used by the scheduler to get
+ queried for events. Once started, the scheduler runs at a fixed interval to query active pattern for events
+ withing the current interval’s time span. A simplified implementation looks like this:
+
+
+
let pattern =seq('c3', ['e3','g3']);// pattern from userlet interval =0.5;// query interval in secondslet time =0;// beginning of current time spanlet minLatency =.1;// min time before a hap should trigger
@@ -463,70 +603,80 @@ class="sourceCode js">const deadline = hap.whole.begin- time + minLatency;onTrigger(hap, deadline, duration); });
-}, interval *1000);// query each "interval" seconds
-
Note that the above code is simplified for illustrative purposes. The
-actual implementation has to work around imprecise callbacks of
-setInterval. More about the implementation details can be
-read in this
-blog post.
-
The fact that Pattern.queryArc is a pure function that
-maps a time span to a set of events allows us to choose any interval we
-like without changing the resulting output. It also means that when the
-pattern is changed from outside, the next scheduling callback will work
-with the new pattern, keeping its clock running.
-
The latency between the time the pattern is evaluated and the change
-is heard is between minLatency and
-interval + minLatency, in our example between 100ms and
-600ms. In Strudel, the current query interval is 50ms with a minLatency
-of 100ms, meaning the latency is between 50ms and 150ms.
-
7.3 Output
-
The last step is to trigger each event in the chosen output. This is
-where the given time and value of each event is used to generate audio
-or any other form of time based output. The default output of the
-Strudel REPL is the WebAudio output. To understand what an output does,
-we first have to understand what control parameters are.
-
7.3.1 Control Parameters
-
To be able to manipulate multiple aspects of sound in parallel, so
-called control parameters are used to shape the value of each event.
-Example:
-
note("c3 e3").cutoff(1000).s('sawtooth')
+}, interval *1000);// query each "interval" seconds
+
+
+ Note that the above code is simplified for illustrative purposes. The actual implementation has to work around
+ imprecise callbacks of setInterval. More about the implementation details can be read in
+ this blog post.
+
+
+ The fact that Pattern.queryArc is a pure function that maps a time span to a set of events allows us
+ to choose any interval we like without changing the resulting output. It also means that when the pattern is
+ changed from outside, the next scheduling callback will work with the new pattern, keeping its clock running.
+
+
+ The latency between the time the pattern is evaluated and the change is heard is between
+ minLatency and interval + minLatency, in our example between 100ms and 600ms. In
+ Strudel, the current query interval is 50ms with a minLatency of 100ms, meaning the latency is between 50ms and
+ 150ms.
+
+
7.3 Output
+
+ The last step is to trigger each event in the chosen output. This is where the given time and value of each event
+ is used to generate audio or any other form of time based output. The default output of the Strudel REPL is the
+ WebAudio output. To understand what an output does, we first have to understand what control parameters are.
+
+
+ 7.3.1 Control Parameters
+
+
+ To be able to manipulate multiple aspects of sound in parallel, so called control parameters are used to shape the
+ value of each event. Example:
+
Here, the control parameter functions note,
-cutoff and s are used, where each controls a
-different property in the value object. Each control parameter function
-accepts a primitive value, a list of values to be sequenced into a
-Pattern, or a Pattern. In the example,
-note gets a Pattern from a Mini Notation
-expression (double quoted), while cutoff and s
-are given a Number and a (single quoted)
-String respectively.
-
Strudel comes with a large default set of control parameter functions
-that are based on the ones used by Tidal and SuperDirt, focusing on
-music and audio terminology. It is however possible to create custom
-control paramters for any purpose:
-
const { x, y } =createParams('x','y')
-x(sine.range(0,200)).y(cosine.range(0,200))
-
This example creates the custom control parameters x and
-y which are then used to form a pattern that descibes the
-coordinates of a circle.
-
7.3.2 Outputs
-
Now that we know how the value of an event is manipulated using
-control parameters, we can look at how outputs can use that value to
-generate anything. The scheduler above was calling the
-onTrigger function which is used to implement the output. A
-very simple version of the web audio output could look like this:
+ Here, the control parameter functions note, cutoff and s are used, where
+ each controls a different property in the value object. Each control parameter function accepts a primitive value,
+ a list of values to be sequenced into a Pattern, or a Pattern. In the example,
+ note gets a Pattern from a Mini Notation expression (double quoted), while
+ cutoff and s are given a Number and a (single quoted)
+ String respectively.
+
+
+ Strudel comes with a large default set of control parameter functions that are based on the ones used by Tidal and
+ SuperDirt, focusing on music and audio terminology. It is however possible to create custom control paramters for
+ any purpose:
+
+
+
const { x, y } =createParams('x','y')
+x(sine.range(0,200)).y(cosine.range(0,200))
+
+
+ This example creates the custom control parameters x and y which are then used to form a
+ pattern that descibes the coordinates of a circle.
+
+
7.3.2 Outputs
+
+ Now that we know how the value of an event is manipulated using control parameters, we can look at how outputs can
+ use that value to generate anything. The scheduler above was calling the onTrigger function which is
+ used to implement the output. A very simple version of the web audio output could look like this:
+
The above example will create an OscillatorNode for each
-event, where the frequency is controlled by the note param.
-In essence, this is how the WebAudio API output of Strudel works, only
-with many more parameters to control synths, samples and effects.
-
8 Pattern alignment and
-combination
-
One core aspect of Strudel, inherited from Tidal, is the flexible way
-that patterns can be combined, irrespective of their structure. Its
-declarative approach means a live coder does not have to think about the
-details of how this is done, only what is to be
-done.
-
As a simple example, consider two number patterns
-"0 [1 2] 3", and "10 20". The first has three
-contiguous steps of equal lengths, with the second step broken down into
-two substeps, giving four events in total. There are a very large number
-of ways in which the structure of these two patterns could be combined,
-but the default method in both Strudel and Tidal is to line up the
-cycles of the two patterns, and then take events from the first pattern
-and match them with those in the second pattern. Therefore, the
-following two lines are equivalent:
-
"0 [1 2] 3".add("10 20")
-"10 [11 22] 23"
-
Where the events only partially overlap, they are treated as
-fragments of the event in the first pattern. This is a little difficult
-to conceptualise, but lets start by comparing the two patterns in the
-following example:
-
"0 1 2".add("10 20")
-"10 [11 21] 20"
-
They are similar to the previous example in that the number
-1 is split in two, with its two halves added to
-10 and 20 respectively. However, the
-11 ‘remembers’ that it is a fragment of that original
-1 event, and so is treated as having a duration of a third
-of a cycle, despite only being active for a sixth of a cycle. Likewise,
-the 21 is also a fragment of that original 1
-event, but a fragment of its second half. Because the start of its event
-is missing, it wouldn’t actually trigger a sound (unless it underwent
-further pattern transformations/combinations).
-
In practice, the effect of this default, implicit method for
-combining two patterns is that the second pattern is added in
-to the first one, and indeed this can be made explicit:
-
"0 1 2".add.in("10 20")
-
This makes way for other ways to align the pattern, and several are
-already defined, in particular:
-
-
in - as explained above, aligns cycles, and applies
-values from the pattern on the right in to the pattern on the
-left.
-
out - as with in, but values are applied
-out of the pattern on the left (i.e. in to the one on
-the right).
-
mix - structures from both patterns are combined, so
-that the new events are not fragments but are created at intersections
-of events from both sides.
-
squeeze - cycles from the pattern on the right are
-squeezed into events on the left. So that
-e.g. "0 1 2".add.squeeze("10 20") is equivalent to
-"[10 20] [11 21] [12 22]".
-
squeezeout - as with squeeze, but cycles
-from the left are squeezed into events on the right. So,
-"0 1 2".add.squeezeout("10 20") is equivalent to
-[10 11 12] [20 21 22].
-
trig is similar to squeezeout in that
-cycles from the right are aligned with events on the left. However those
-cycles are not ‘squeezed’, rather they are truncated to fit the event.
-So "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7".add.trig("10 [20 30]") would be
-equivalent to 10 11 12 13 20 21 30 31. In effect, events on
-the right ‘trigger’ cycles on the left.
-
trigzero is similar to trig, but the
-pattern is ‘triggered’ from its very first cycle, rather than from the
-current cycle. trig and trigzero therefore
-only give different results where the leftmost pattern differs from one
-cycle to the next.
-
-
We will save going deeper into the background, design and
-practicalities of these alignment functions for future publications.
-However in the next section, we take them as a case study for looking at
-the different design affordances offered by Haskell to Tidal, and
-JavaScript to Strudel.
-
9 Comparing Strudel and Haskell in
-use
-
Unlike Haskell, JavaScript lacks the ability to define custom infix
-operators, or change the meaning of existing ones. So the above Strudel
-example of "0 1 2".add.out("10 20") is equivalent to the
-Tidal expression "0 1 2" +| "10 20", where the vertical bar
-in the operator +| stands for out (where
-a |+ b would be equivalent of
-a.add.in(b)).
-
From this we can already see that Tidal tends towards brevity through
-mixing infix operators with functions, and Strudel tends towards
-spelling out operations which are joined together with the
-. operator. This then is the design trade-off of Tidal’s
-tersity, versus Strudel’s simplicity.
-
To demonstrate this, consider the following Tidal pattern:
-
iter 4 $ every 3 (||+ n "10 20") $ (n "0 1 3") # s "triangle" # crush 4
-
This can be directly translated to the Strudel equivalent:
The Strudel example uses the . method call operator for
-all operations and combinations, whereas the Tidal example has
-# for the default method for combining patterns and uses
-infix operators for other methods. The lack of parenthesis in the Tidal
-example is partly due to the way that arguments are applied to Haskell’s
-functions, and partly due to the use of the $ operator as
-an alternative way to establish precedence and control the order of
-evaluation.
-
Considering the above, we argue that the Haskell syntax is a little
-cleaner, but that the Strudel syntax is easier to learn. Our informal
-observation is that while Haskell’s dollar $ operator is
-very useful in making code easier to work with, it is one of the most
-difficult aspects of Tidal use for beginners to learn. On the other
-hand, the deeper levels of parenthesis in Strudel code can be difficult
-to keep track of, especially while coding under pressure of live musical
-performance. However this difficulty can be largely be mitigated by
-reordering expressions, and further mitigated by supporting editor
-features.
-
With Strudel, we have little choice but to embrace the affordances
-and constraints offered by JavaScript, and while designing a
-domain-specific language entirely based on method calls is a challenge,
-through creative adoption of functional programming techniques like
-partial application, we are so far very happy with the results. Tidal’s
-functional reactive approach to pattern-making has in general translated
-well to JavaScript, and opportunities and constraints have overall
-traded off to create a very approachable and useable live coding
-environment.
-
9.1 The trade-off of flexible
-typing
-
We have identified one problem with porting Tidal to JavaScript where
-we have missed Haskell’s strict typing and type inference. In both Tidal
-and Strudel, time is rational, where any point in time is represented as
-the ratio of two integers. This allows representation of musical ratios
-such that are impossible to represent accurately using the more common
-floating point numbers. However while libraries are available that
-support rational numbers in JavaScript, the lack of strict typing means
-that it is easy to implement pattern methods where computationally
-expensive conversion from floating point to rational numbers are
-performed late, and therefore often enough to overload the CPUs, due to
-the large number of iterative calculations required to estimate a ratio
-for a given floating point number. To mitigate this problem, we might
-consider moving to TypeScript in the future.
-
10 Future Outlook
-
The project is still young, with many features on the horizon. As
-general guiding principles, Strudel aims to be
-
-
accessible
-
consistent with Tidal’s approach to pattern
-
modular and extensible
-
-
While Haskell’s type system makes it a great language for the ongoing
-development of Tidal’s inner representation of pattern, JavaScript’s
-vibrant ecosystem, flexibility and accessibility makes it a great host
-for more ad-hoc experiments, including interface design. For the future,
-it is planned to integrate additional alternative sound engines such as
-Glicol (Lan
-[2020] 2022) and Faust (Faust - Programming
-Language for Audio Applications and Plugins [2016] 2022).
-Strudel is already approaching feature parity with Tidal, but there are
-more Tidal functions to be ported, and work to be done to improve
-compatibility with Tidal’s mininotation. Tidal version 2.0 is under
-development, which brings a new representation for sequences to its
-patterns, which will then be brought to Strudel. Besides sound, other
-ways to render events are being explored, such as graphical, and
-choreographic output. We are also looking into alternative ways of
-editing patterns, including multi-user editing for network music,
-parsing a novel syntax to escape the constraints of javascript, and
-developing hardware/e-textile interfaces. In summary, there is a lot of
-fun ahead.
Thanks to the Strudel and wider Tidal, live coding, WebAudio and
-free/open source software communities for inspiration and support. Alex
-McLean’s work on this project is supported by a UKRI Future Leaders
-Fellowship [grant number MR/V025260/1].
-Mclean, Alex. 2020. “Algorithmic Pattern.” In
-Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for
-Musical Expression, 265--270. Birmingham, UK. https://zenodo.org/record/4813352.
-
-
-McLean, Alex. 2020. “Feedforward.” In Proceedings of
-New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Birmingham. https://zenodo.org/record/6353969.
-
-
-McLean, Alex, Raphaël Forment, Sylvain Le Beux, and Damián Silvani.
-2022. “TidalVortex Zero.” In Proceedings of the 7th
-International Conference on Live Coding. Limerick, Ireland: Zenodo.
-https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6456380.
-
-Ogborn, David, Jamie Beverley, Luis Navarro del Angel, Eldad Tsabary,
-and Alex McLean. 2017. “Estuary: Browser-Based Collaborative
-Projectional Live Coding of Musical Patterns.” In Proceedings
-of the International Conference on Live Coding, 11. Morelia.
-
-
-Roberts, Charles, and Joann Kuchera-morin. 2012. “Gibber: Live
-Coding Audio in the Browser.” In In Proceedings of the 2012
-International Computer Music Conference.
-
-Toussaint, Godfried. 2005. “The Euclidean Algorithm Generates
-Traditional Musical Rhythms.” In In Proceedings of BRIDGES:
-Mathematical Connections in Art, Music and Science, 47–56. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.62.231.
-
+ The above example will create an OscillatorNode for each event, where the frequency is controlled by
+ the note param. In essence, this is how the WebAudio API output of Strudel works, only with many more
+ parameters to control synths, samples and effects.
+
+
+ 8 Pattern alignment and combination
+
+
+ One core aspect of Strudel, inherited from Tidal, is the flexible way that patterns can be combined, irrespective
+ of their structure. Its declarative approach means a live coder does not have to think about the details of
+ how this is done, only what is to be done.
+
+
+ As a simple example, consider two number patterns "0 [1 2] 3", and "10 20". The first
+ has three contiguous steps of equal lengths, with the second step broken down into two substeps, giving four
+ events in total. There are a very large number of ways in which the structure of these two patterns could be
+ combined, but the default method in both Strudel and Tidal is to line up the cycles of the two patterns, and then
+ take events from the first pattern and match them with those in the second pattern. Therefore, the following two
+ lines are equivalent:
+
+
+
"0 [1 2] 3".add("10 20")
+"10 [11 22] 23"
+
+
+ Where the events only partially overlap, they are treated as fragments of the event in the first pattern. This is
+ a little difficult to conceptualise, but lets start by comparing the two patterns in the following example:
+
+
+
"0 1 2".add("10 20")
+"10 [11 21] 20"
+
+
+ They are similar to the previous example in that the number 1 is split in two, with its two halves
+ added to 10 and 20 respectively. However, the 11 ‘remembers’ that it is a
+ fragment of that original 1 event, and so is treated as having a duration of a third of a cycle,
+ despite only being active for a sixth of a cycle. Likewise, the 21 is also a fragment of that
+ original 1 event, but a fragment of its second half. Because the start of its event is missing, it
+ wouldn’t actually trigger a sound (unless it underwent further pattern transformations/combinations).
+
+
+ In practice, the effect of this default, implicit method for combining two patterns is that the second pattern is
+ added in to the first one, and indeed this can be made explicit:
+
+
+
"0 1 2".add.in("10 20")
+
+
This makes way for other ways to align the pattern, and several are already defined, in particular:
+
+
+ in - as explained above, aligns cycles, and applies values from the pattern on the right
+ in to the pattern on the left.
+
+
+ out - as with in, but values are applied out of the pattern on the left
+ (i.e. in to the one on the right).
+
+
+ mix - structures from both patterns are combined, so that the new events are not fragments but are
+ created at intersections of events from both sides.
+
+
+ squeeze - cycles from the pattern on the right are squeezed into events on the left. So that
+ e.g. "0 1 2".add.squeeze("10 20") is equivalent to "[10 20] [11 21] [12 22]".
+
+
+ squeezeout - as with squeeze, but cycles from the left are squeezed into events on the
+ right. So, "0 1 2".add.squeezeout("10 20") is equivalent to [10 11 12] [20 21 22].
+
+
+ trig is similar to squeezeout in that cycles from the right are aligned with events on
+ the left. However those cycles are not ‘squeezed’, rather they are truncated to fit the event. So
+ "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7".add.trig("10 [20 30]") would be equivalent to
+ 10 11 12 13 20 21 30 31. In effect, events on the right ‘trigger’ cycles on the left.
+
+
+ trigzero is similar to trig, but the pattern is ‘triggered’ from its very first cycle,
+ rather than from the current cycle. trig and trigzero therefore only give different
+ results where the leftmost pattern differs from one cycle to the next.
+
+
+
+ We will save going deeper into the background, design and practicalities of these alignment functions for future
+ publications. However in the next section, we take them as a case study for looking at the different design
+ affordances offered by Haskell to Tidal, and JavaScript to Strudel.
+
+
+ 9 Comparing Strudel and Haskell in use
+
+
+ Unlike Haskell, JavaScript lacks the ability to define custom infix operators, or change the meaning of existing
+ ones. So the above Strudel example of "0 1 2".add.out("10 20") is equivalent to the Tidal expression
+ "0 1 2" +| "10 20", where the vertical bar in the operator +| stands for
+ out (where a |+ b would be equivalent of a.add.in(b)).
+
+
+ From this we can already see that Tidal tends towards brevity through mixing infix operators with functions, and
+ Strudel tends towards spelling out operations which are joined together with the . operator. This
+ then is the design trade-off of Tidal’s tersity, versus Strudel’s simplicity.
+
+
To demonstrate this, consider the following Tidal pattern:
+
iter 4 $ every 3 (||+ n "10 20") $ (n "0 1 3") # s "triangle" # crush 4
+
This can be directly translated to the Strudel equivalent:
+ The Strudel example uses the . method call operator for all operations and combinations, whereas the
+ Tidal example has # for the default method for combining patterns and uses infix operators for other
+ methods. The lack of parenthesis in the Tidal example is partly due to the way that arguments are applied to
+ Haskell’s functions, and partly due to the use of the $ operator as an alternative way to establish
+ precedence and control the order of evaluation.
+
+
+ Considering the above, we argue that the Haskell syntax is a little cleaner, but that the Strudel syntax is easier
+ to learn. Our informal observation is that while Haskell’s dollar $ operator is very useful in making
+ code easier to work with, it is one of the most difficult aspects of Tidal use for beginners to learn. On the
+ other hand, the deeper levels of parenthesis in Strudel code can be difficult to keep track of, especially while
+ coding under pressure of live musical performance. However this difficulty can be largely be mitigated by
+ reordering expressions, and further mitigated by supporting editor features.
+
+
+ With Strudel, we have little choice but to embrace the affordances and constraints offered by JavaScript, and
+ while designing a domain-specific language entirely based on method calls is a challenge, through creative
+ adoption of functional programming techniques like partial application, we are so far very happy with the results.
+ Tidal’s functional reactive approach to pattern-making has in general translated well to JavaScript, and
+ opportunities and constraints have overall traded off to create a very approachable and useable live coding
+ environment.
+
+
+ 9.1 The trade-off of flexible typing
+
+
+ We have identified one problem with porting Tidal to JavaScript where we have missed Haskell’s strict typing and
+ type inference. In both Tidal and Strudel, time is rational, where any point in time is represented as the ratio
+ of two integers. This allows representation of musical ratios such that are impossible to represent accurately
+ using the more common floating point numbers. However while libraries are available that support rational numbers
+ in JavaScript, the lack of strict typing means that it is easy to implement pattern methods where computationally
+ expensive conversion from floating point to rational numbers are performed late, and therefore often enough to
+ overload the CPUs, due to the large number of iterative calculations required to estimate a ratio for a given
+ floating point number. To mitigate this problem, we might consider moving to TypeScript in the future.
+
+
10 Future Outlook
+
+ The project is still young, with many features on the horizon. As general guiding principles, Strudel aims to be
+
+
+
accessible
+
consistent with Tidal’s approach to pattern
+
modular and extensible
+
+
+ While Haskell’s type system makes it a great language for the ongoing development of Tidal’s inner representation
+ of pattern, JavaScript’s vibrant ecosystem, flexibility and accessibility makes it a great host for more ad-hoc
+ experiments, including interface design. For the future, it is planned to integrate additional alternative sound
+ engines such as Glicol (Lan [2020] 2022) and
+ Faust
+ (Faust - Programming Language for Audio Applications and Plugins [2016] 2022). Strudel is already approaching feature parity with Tidal, but there are more Tidal functions to be ported, and
+ work to be done to improve compatibility with Tidal’s mininotation. Tidal version 2.0 is under development, which
+ brings a new representation for sequences to its patterns, which will then be brought to Strudel. Besides sound,
+ other ways to render events are being explored, such as graphical, and choreographic output. We are also looking
+ into alternative ways of editing patterns, including multi-user editing for network music, parsing a novel syntax
+ to escape the constraints of javascript, and developing hardware/e-textile interfaces. In summary, there is a lot
+ of fun ahead.
+
+ Thanks to the Strudel and wider Tidal, live coding, WebAudio and free/open source software communities for
+ inspiration and support. Alex McLean’s work on this project is supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
+ [grant number MR/V025260/1].
+
+ Mclean, Alex. 2020. “Algorithmic Pattern.” In
+ Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, 265--270.
+ Birmingham, UK. https://zenodo.org/record/4813352.
+
+
+ McLean, Alex. 2020. “Feedforward.” In
+ Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Birmingham.
+ https://zenodo.org/record/6353969.
+
+
+ McLean, Alex, Raphaël Forment, Sylvain Le Beux, and Damián Silvani. 2022. “TidalVortex Zero.” In
+ Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Live Coding. Limerick, Ireland: Zenodo.
+ https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6456380.
+
+ Ogborn, David, Jamie Beverley, Luis Navarro del Angel, Eldad Tsabary, and Alex McLean. 2017.
+ “Estuary: Browser-Based Collaborative Projectional Live Coding of Musical Patterns.” In
+ Proceedings of the International Conference on Live Coding, 11. Morelia.
+
+
+ Roberts, Charles, and Joann Kuchera-morin. 2012. “Gibber: Live Coding Audio in the Browser.” In
+ In Proceedings of the 2012 International Computer Music Conference.
+
+ Toussaint, Godfried. 2005. “The Euclidean Algorithm Generates Traditional Musical Rhythms.” In
+ In Proceedings of BRIDGES: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music and Science, 47–56.
+ http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.62.231.
+
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