For this composition I created an audiovisual piece using TidalCycles for sound and Hydra for visuals.

The piece is structured into five sections:

intro

buildup

breakdown

beatdrop

outro

Each of them are triggered manually in Tidal by evaluating a named do block. The sound is built around tabla samples layered with glitch percussion, with each section adding or removing layers to create a sense of tension and release. The visual side was built in Hydra with four scenes that match each compositional section. I chose tabla specifically because I wanted to bring in a sound that felt personal and culturally grounded and pairing it with glitch electronics felt like an interesting contrast between something organic and something digital.

Composition Video:

Code Snippet:

setcps (130/60/4)

intro = do
 d1 $ slow 2 $ degradeBy 0.6 $ s "tabla" # n (irand 4) # gain 0.8 # room 0.95 # size 0.9 # speed 0.5
 d2 $ degradeBy 0.8 $ s "glitch" # crush 12 # gain 0.6 # pan rand
 d3 $ s "space" # gain 0.5 # room 0.5 # size 0.5 # speed 0.5
 d8 $ ccv 0 # ccn 0 # s "midi"

buildup = do
 d1 $ s "tabla*2" # n (irand 8) # gain 1.0 # room 0.6 # speed (choose [1, 1.5, 0.75])
 d2 $ whenmod 4 3 (stutter 2 0.25) $ s "glitch*4" # crush 8 # gain 0.75 # pan rand
 d3 $ every 4 (fast 2) $ s "tabla" # n (irand 8) # gain 0.9 # room 0.8 # speed 0.75
 d4 $ degradeBy 0.8 $ s "glitch" # crush 6 # gain 0.7 # speed (choose [1, 2])
 d8 $ ccv 42 # ccn 0 # s "midi"

breakdown = do
 d1 $ slow 2 $ degradeBy 0.4 $ s "tabla" # n (irand 4) # gain 1.1 # room 0.95 # size 0.9 # speed (choose [0.5, 0.75])
 d2 $ whenmod 8 7 (density 4) $ s "glitch*2" # crush 4 # gain 0.85 # pan rand
 d3 $ silence
 d4 $ every 2 (# speed 0.5) $ s "glitch" # crush 3 # gain 0.9 # room 0.7
 d8 $ ccv 84 # ccn 0 # s "midi"

beatdrop = do
 d1 $ s "tabla*4" # n (irand 16) # gain 1.3 # room 0.2 # size 0.3 # speed (choose [1, 1.5, 2, -1])
 d2 $ whenmod 4 3 (stutter 4 0.125) $ s "glitch*8" # gain 0.9 # crush 6 # speed (choose [1, 2, -1]) # pan rand
 d3 $ every 3 (fast 2) $ s "tabla" # n (irand 16) # gain 1.1 # room 0.9 # size 0.8 # speed (choose [0.5, 1, 2])
 d4 $ whenmod 8 7 (density 4) $ s "glitch" # crush 8 # gain 0.8 # pan rand
 d5 $ fast 2 $ s "tabla*2" # n (irand 8) # gain 1.2 # crush 5 # speed (choose [1, -1, 2])
 d8 $ ccv 127 # ccn 0 # s "midi"

outro = do
 d1 $ degradeBy 0.7 $ slow 2 $ s "tabla" # n (irand 4) # gain 0.7 # room 0.95 # size 0.9 # speed 0.5
 d2 $ degradeBy 0.8 $ s "glitch" # crush 12 # gain 0.5
 d3 $ s "space" # gain 0.4 # room 0.5 # size 0.5 # speed 0.5
 d4 $ silence
 d5 $ silence
 d8 $ ccv 0 # ccn 0 # s "midi"

stop_it = do
 d1 $ silence
 d2 $ silence
 d3 $ silence
 d4 $ silence
 d5 $ silence
 d8 $ silence

intro
buildup
breakdown
beatdrop
outro
stop_it

ccActual = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
whichVisual = 0
visuals = [
  ()=>{noise(2,0.1).color(0.2,0.1,0.5).modulate(osc(4,0.01,0.5),0.2).scale(1,innerHeight/innerWidth).add(src(o0).scale(1.005).brightness(-0.02),0.92).out(o0)},
  ()=>{shape(()=>Math.floor(Math.sin(time)*4+5),0.3,0.02).scale(1,innerHeight/innerWidth).color(0.8,0.2,1).modulate(osc(20,0.05,2),0.4).rotate(()=>Math.sin(time*0.5)*3).add(src(o1).scale(0.99),0.85).out(o1);src(o1).blend(o0,0.3).out(o0)},
  ()=>{osc(60,0.1,3).color(1.5,0.2,0.8).pixelate(()=>Math.floor(Math.random()*32+4),()=>Math.floor(Math.random()*32+4)).modulate(noise(8,1.2),0.5).diff(src(o0).scale(1.005)).add(src(o0).brightness(-0.3),0.7).out(o0)},
  ()=>{noise(()=>Math.sin(time)*8+10,0.4).color(2,0.5,1.5).modulate(osc(30,0.2,1).rotate(()=>time*0.3),0.6).scale(1,innerHeight/innerWidth).add(src(o0).scale(1.008).rotate(0.02).color(1.5,0.8,2),0.92).out(o0)}
]
visuals[0]()
update = ()=>{
  if(whichVisual != ccActual[0]){
    whichVisual = ccActual[0]
    visuals[whichVisual]()
  }
}
navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then(midiAccess=>{
  midiAccess.inputs.forEach(input=>{
    input.onmidimessage=msg=>{
      const [status,cc,value]=msg.data
      if((status&0xf0)===0xb0){
        ccActual[cc]=Math.round(value/127*3)
      }
    }
  })
  console.log('MIDI connected!')
}).catch(err=>console.log('MIDI error:',err))