This reading offers two opposing views of what live performances mean: whether it is creating a spectacle or whether it is true improvisation and showcasing the artistic process. I believe that the utilization of our live coding software can greatly impact how it is seen in a performance. We how we have been doing where we just evaluate when we our performing, I think that would be more like what Deadmau5 says, where even if you are doing it live, you aren’t manipulating much and it is heavily rehearsed. If instead, we were to start from scratch with ideas in your head and performing by creating the visuals and beat from scratch as we performed, that would be like an improvisation. I don’ t think either way of performing is inherently wrong, just what you want to showcase with your performance, whether that be your creativity, or a perfected spectacle.

I think the Deadmau5 vs Bailey comparison is a really clever way to frame what live coding is. He is being honest about something that a lot of performers pretend is not happening, and I think there is something refreshing about that. For me the whole point of live coding is that something could go wrong, and that tension is what makes it feel alive. A perfectly pre planned show with synced lights and video is impressive in its own way but it does not give me that feeling.

The Bailey section hit different because I actually feel like that philosophy is closer to how I think about using Hydra and TidalCycles. I do not always know what a pattern is going to sound like or what a modulation value is going to do to a visual until I try it, and I think that exploratory quality is what makes it feel like playing an instrument rather than just operating software. I have had some of my best moments in live coding sessions when the code did something I did not expect and I just leaned into it instead of fixing it.

Below is my live coding practice for this week.

Demo 1 

// feedback
src(s0).mult(osc(10,0,1)).out()
osc(2,0.,1).scale(0.5).modulate(noise(3,0.01),1).out(o1)
src(o2).modulate(src(o1).add(solid(1,1),-0.5),.005).blend(src(o0).add(o0).add(o0).add(o0),0.25).out(o2)
render(o2)

let p5 = new P5()

s0.init({src: p5.canvas})
p5.hide()

let hearts = []
let colors = ["#edbba8", "#e66f3c", "#c6b6d5", "#f1d147", "#a4cd98", "#95accb"]

class Heart {
  constructor(p) {
    this.p = p 
    this.x = p.random(p.width)
    this.y = -20
    this.r = p.random(0.5, 1.2)
    this.dy = p.random(1, 3)
    this.c = p.random(colors)
  }

  display() {
    this.p.push()
    this.p.translate(this.x, this.y)
    this.p.fill(this.c)
    this.p.noStroke()
    this.p.beginShape()
    for (let i = 0; i < this.p.TWO_PI; i += 0.1) {
      let x = 16 * Math.pow(Math.sin(i), 3) * this.r
      let y = (13 * Math.cos(i) - 5 * Math.cos(2 * i) - 2 * Math.cos(3 * i) - Math.cos(4 * i)) * -this.r
      this.p.vertex(x, y)
    }
    this.p.endShape(this.p.CLOSE)
    this.p.pop()
  }

  fall() {
    this.y += this.dy
  }
}

p5.draw = () => {
  p5.clear() 
  if (p5.frameCount % 10 == 0) {
    hearts.push(new Heart(p5))
  }

  for (let i = hearts.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
    hearts[i].display()
    hearts[i].fall()

    if (hearts[i].y > p5.height + 20) {
      hearts.splice(i, 1)
    }
  }
}

src(s0)
  .modulate(noise(3), 0.1)
  .out()

Demo 2