Author: Alwin Mathew

What is Alda?

Alda is a text-based, open-source programming language designed for musicians to compose music in a text editor without needing complex graphical user interface (GUI) software.

The Alda music programming language was created by Dave Yarwood in 2012. Interestingly, he was a classically trained musician long before he was a competent programmer

Why Alda?

In contrast to working with complex GUI applications available at the time, Dave Yarwood found that programming pieces of music in a text editor is a pleasantly distraction-free experience.

How it Works

The process is beautifully simple:

1. Write the notes in a text file using Alda’s syntax
2. Run the file through the Alda interpreter
3. Hear the music come to life

Key Features

Alda uses the General MIDI sound set — giving you access to over 100 instruments.

Basic Syntax

• Pitch: The letter represents the pitch. c is C, d is D, e is E, and so on.
• Duration: The number indicates how long it lasts in beats. In Alda, smaller numbers mean longer notes—it’s backwards from how we normally think!
• Octave: The octave number tells Alda how high or low to play. c4 is middle C, c5 is one octave higher, c3 is one octave lower.

Handy Shortcuts

• > moves you up one octave
• < moves you down one octave

Chords and Rests

• The forward slash / is your chord maker. It tells Alda to play notes at the exact same time.
• Rests use r instead of a note name. The same duration rules apply.

Visual Aid

The vertical bar | does absolutely nothing to the sound. It’s just there to help you read the music more easily.

Demo

Here is the short demo I made using Alda!

It is a fairly simple Piano composition

Code

This is the code that I ran for the Demo Video !!

piano:
  c4 d4 e4 f4 | g4 a4 b4 > c5
  < b4 a4 g4 f4 | e4 d4 c2
  
piano:
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | e5 d5 c5 < b4
  a4 c5 e5 g5 | a5 g5 e5 c5
  
piano:
  c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 | f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5
  g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 | c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4
  
piano:
  c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 | f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5
  g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 | c4/e4/g4 r2 r4
  
piano:
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | < b4 g4 e4 c4
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | < b4 g4 e4 c2 r2

piano:
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | e5 d5 c5 < b4
  a4 c5 e5 g5 | a5 g5 e5 c5
  
piano:
  c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 | f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5
  g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 | c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4
  
piano:
  c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 | f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5
  g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 | c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4

piano:
  c4 d4 e4 f4 | g4 a4 b4 > c5
  < b4 a4 g4 f4 | e4 d4 c2
  
piano:
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | < b4 g4 e4 c4
  c4 e4 g4 > c5 | < b4 g4 e4 c2 r2
  
piano:
  c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 | f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5 f4/a4/c5
  g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 g4/b4/d5 | c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 c4/e4/g4 r2 r2

piano:
  c4/e4/g4 r2 | r1

piano:
  c4 r2 | r1

Alda represents a beautiful intersection between programming and musicianship—proof that sometimes the simplest tools can inspire the most creative work.

Thank You!!!

Hey There!!

I’ll be working with traditional Indian tabla drum sounds but treating them in completely new ways through code.

When I think about what music is saying, this passage makes it clear: it is not about words. I realized I have been looking for a hidden message when the real conversation is in how it makes you feel. The call and response in a song is not sharing information. It is sharing a moment.

The idea that this happens through microtiming was interesting to learn. Musicians are not just playing notes to each other. They are listening and answering in real time with their timing. That is the communication.

Music’s meaning is not something you decode. It is something you experience together, a connection built note by note. The conversation is the feelings that it invokes in those who hear it.

Here is my first attempt at live coding using Hydra!!

I was really struck by the idea of live coding as a “technique of making strange.” The text mentions it in a creative sense, but what I noticed is how deep this simple act feels to me. When I use apps or websites, everything is designed to be smooth and invisible like the code is hidden and the choices are pre made. I just click and things happen. It feels easy, but also a little like I am being led.

Live coding by putting the raw code on screen for everyone to see, does the opposite. It makes the machine visible again. For me, that seems powerful. It turns coding from a private and technical task into a public conversation. That act of showing feels like a small act of resistance in a world that wants technology to feel natural and unchallengeable. It reminds me that I am a user, not just a consumer and there is a big difference.