I was inspired by the theory of the backrooms for this composition. Since I already wanted to go for something creepy/eerie, the video I found of the backrooms with the random visuals fit perfectly.

I wanted to start with calm and distant music, gradually introducing the more distorted and abnormal sounds, as this was happening, I simultaneously changed the visuals to make more and more intense, often being modified with the sounds. The climax was supposed to be reached towards the end of the composition when the visuals got more and more intense/red and bright, and the music got more and more creepy, finishing with the numbers track.

Tidal Code:

d1 $ stack [
  slow 4 $ s "pad:1.5" # gain 0.5,
  s "bass*2" # room 0.3 # gain 1.2
]


d2 $ stack [
  s "haw(4,8) blue(4,8)" # speed 0.5 ,
  ccv "<64 0 127 0>" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
]

d2 $ stack [
slow 1 $ s "moog" >| note (arp "up" (scale "major" ("[0,2,4,6]") + "a5"))# room 0.4 # gain 0.7,
 ccv "<0 64 127 64>" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
 ]

 -- # room 0.4 # gain 0.5,

d2 $ stack [
slow 1 $ s "moog" >| note (arp "up" (scale "major" ("[0,2,4,6]") + "a5")) # room 0.4 # gain 0.7,
ccv 0 # ccn 1 # s "midi"
]
-- # krush 10

d1 $ fast 2 $ s "moog" >| note (arp "up" (scale "major" ("[0,2,4,6]") + "a5")) # room 0.4 # gain 1 # squiz 0.3
-- # squiz 0.1
-- note "a5"
-- add this d4 $ fast 2 $ s "stab*2 stab*2 stab*2 <stab*6 [stab*2]!3>" # room 0.7 # gain (range 1.2 1.4 rand)
d4 $ fast 2 $ s "stab*2 stab*2 stab*2 <stab*6 [stab*2]!3>" # room 0.7 # gain 1.3

d1 $ stack [
  slow 2 $ s "bassfoo" >| note (arp "updown" (scale "major" ("[0,2,4,6]"+"<0 0 2 3>") + "c2")) # room 0.4 # delay 0.9,
  ccv "<127 0 64 >" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
-- add squiz and have it distort image
-- hydra 2
]

d1 $ slow 2 $ ccv " 127 64" # ccn "0" # s "midi"

d3 $ stack [
  slow 4 $ s "pad:1.5" # gain 0.1,
  s "bass*2" # room 0.5 # gain 0.1
]

d2 $ stack [
  s "haw(4,8) blue(4,8)" # speed 0.5 # gain 0.5,
  ccv "<64 0 127 0>" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
]
d3 silence
d4 silence
d1 silence
-- d4 $ fast 2 $ s "stab*2 stab*2 stab*2 <stab*6 [stab*2]!3>" # room 0.7 # gain (range 1.2 1.4 rand)

d2 $ slow 2 $ s "[~numbers:1] [numbers:2] [~numbers:3] [numbers:4] [numbers:5] [numbers:6] [~numbers:7] [numbers:8*2]" # squiz 1.5 # gain 1.2
d3 $ slow 2 $ s "[numbers:1*2] [numbers:2] [numbers:3] [numbers:4] [numbers:5] [numbers:6] [numbers:7] [numbers:8]" # note "c'maj e'min d'maj" # room 0.4 # squiz 2
hush

Hydra Code:

s0.initVideo("/Users/kween/Desktop/Spring 2025!/LiveCoding/0.mp4")

src(s0).out()


src(s0)
  .saturate(0.8)
  .contrast(1.1)
  .modulate(noise(1, 0.1), 0.15)
  .modulateScrollX(osc(2, 0.1, 1), 0.05)
  .brightness(-0.1)
  .out()


  src(s0)
  .brightness(() => cc[0] * 0.5 - 0.5)
  .out()



src(s0)
      .blend(src(o0).diff(s0).scale(() => cc[1] * 1),1)
      .modulatePixelate(noise(2,0.01).pixelate(16,16),1024)
      .out()


 src(s0)
          .modulate(noise(() => cc[0] * 2, 0.2))
          .color(0.4, 0.1, 0.1)
          .contrast(1.5)
          .brightness(0.3)
          .modulateScale(voronoi(5, 0.3))
          .rotate(() => Math.sin(time) * 0.1)
          .out(o0)



      src(s0)
        .blend(src(o0).diff(s0).scale(.99),1.1)
        .modulatePixelate((noise(() => cc[0] * 2, 0.1)).pixelate(() => cc[0] * 2,16),1024)
        .out()


      src(s0)
          .blend(src(o0).diff(s0).scale(.99),1.1)
          .out()


          //end?
              src(s0)
                .modulate(noise(() => cc[1] * 2, 0.1))
                .colorama(() => cc[0] * 0.5)
                .rotate(() => Math.sin(time) * 0.2)
                .color(1, 0.2, 0.2)
                .out()

          src(s0)
            .blend(src(o0).diff(s0).scale(.99),1.1)
            .modulate(noise(() => cc[1] * 2, 0.1))
            .colorama(() => cc[0] * 0.5)
            .rotate(() => Math.sin(time) * 0.2)
            .color(1, 0.2, 0.2)
            .out()


              src(s0).out()



hush()