live coding with strudel

been messing around with strudel.cc lately. it’s a browser-based live coding environment where you make music by writing javascript-like patterns.

the basics

the simplest thing you can do is play a sound:

s("bd")

this plays a bass drum. once. not very exciting. but then you can add more:

s("bd sd bd sd")

now you have a basic beat. four sounds in a cycle. strudel figures out the timing.

why this is cool

there’s something different about making music this way. you’re not clicking around in a daw or playing an instrument. you’re describing patterns and letting the computer interpret them.

it feels more like sculpting than performing. you tweak a number, the pattern shifts. add a function, everything transforms.

getting started

just go to strudel.cc and start typing. the docs are good. there’s also a discord if you get stuck.

more patterns coming once i figure out what i’m doing.