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TidalCycles Documentation

website·Indexed 35 days ago

https://tidalcycles.org/

Documentation for TidalCycles, a live-coding environment for patterns. Includes guides on mini-notation, rhythmic sequences, sample trimming, and time manipulation. Covers installation and troubleshooting for macOS, Linux, and Windows, as well as integration with SuperDirt, MIDI, and Open Sound Control (OSC). Features reference materials for oscillators, control busses, and state values introduced in version 1.7.2.

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What's inside TidalCycles

  1. Overview of Didactic Pattern Visualizer (DPV)

    Didactic Pattern Visualizer (DPV) is a tool for visualizing sound patterns from Tidal Cycles using a scrolling grid of colored shapes in Processing. It allows developers and artists to study the complexity of Tidal's pattern syntax and receive visual feedback on rhythmic interactions, polymeters, and note placements during composition or live performance.

  2. Overview of Tidal Cycles live coding environment

    Tidal Cycles (also known as 'Tidal') is a free and open-source live coding environment designed for creating algorithmic patterns. It is written in Haskell and relies on SuperCollider for synthesis and MIDI output. Tidal's model of patterns of time has inspired a family of similar environments known as Uzulangs, including the web-based Strudel environment.

  3. Overview of Plaits synthesis engine parameters

    The Plaits module uses the engine parameter (values 0-15) to select the synthesis model. All engines utilize three primary shaping parameters: harm, timbre, and morph. Additionally, the mode parameter can be set to 1 to emulate the original hardware's AUX output, providing a distinct rendering of the sound.

  4. Overview of Tidal-listener for OSC message inspection

    Tidal-listener is an experimental tool used to inspect incoming and outgoing OSC (Open Sound Control) messages for Tidal Cycles. It is primarily used for debugging and monitoring the communication between Tidal Cycles and its connected synthesizers or software.

  5. Overview of Ableton Link synchronization

    Link is a peer-to-peer network protocol designed to synchronize musical beat, tempo, and phase across multiple applications on one or more devices. Unlike traditional MIDI clock synchronization, which relies on a master-slave relationship, Link allows all connected devices to communicate and agree on a common tempo and beat phase. This results in more stable synchronization, supports wireless connections, and allows devices to be added or removed from the network without disrupting the timing.

  6. Overview of Tidal Cycles

    Tidal Cycles (or Tidal) is a software environment for creating rhythmic patterns using code, designed for live coding music (e.g., algoraves) or studio composition. It is embedded in the Haskell language, though deep Haskell knowledge is not required to use it. By default, it uses the SuperDirt synth/sampler for sound generation, but it can also control other synthesizers via Open Sound Control (OSC) or MIDI.

  7. Overview of TidalCycles transitions

    Transitions are functions used to switch musically between patterns. They can be applied to standard d patterns (e.g., d1, d3) or arbitrary named patterns. Many transitions have an In variant that allows specifying the number of cycles the transition takes to complete.
    -- Using a named pattern
p "drums" $ s "bd(3,8) drum*4"
xfade "drums" $ s "arpy*8" # n (run 8)

  8. Overview of Tidal Cycles architecture

    Tidal Cycles is an interconnection of several components rather than a monolithic software. It consists of two main parts:

    1. A Pattern Library: Comprising a text editor and the Haskell interpreter.
    2. An audio engine: Comprising SuperDirt (which receives messages and converts them to sound) and SuperCollider (which sends the sound out).

  9. Use external controller input in Tidal 1.0.0

    Tidal 1.0.0 introduces support for external input via the OSC (Open Sound Control) protocol, allowing developers to integrate external controllers with TidalCycles.

  10. Understand the TidalCycles Cycle

    A 'cycle' is the fundamental loop of time in TidalCycles, defaulting to one cycle per second. All samples defined within a single pattern string are 'squashed' into one cycle. As more steps are added to a pattern, they are played faster to ensure they all fit within the same cyclic duration, distributing events evenly.
    -- All of these loop over the same amount of time (one cycle)
d1 $ sound "bd sd"
d1 $ sound "bd sd hh cp mt arpy drum"
d1 $ sound "bd sd hh cp mt arpy drum odx bd arpy bass2 feel future"

  11. Find community tutorials for TidalCycles

    Beyond the official documentation, community-created guides are available, such as the 'Eris Fairbanks Introduction to Tidal'.
    [Eris Fairbanks Introduction to Tidal](https://web.archive.org/web/20190427222710/http://ericfairbanks.org/music/tidal/code/2017/05/31/an-introduction-to-tidal.html)