Strudel: Algorithmic Patterns for the Web

This paper introduces Strudel (or sometimes StrudelCycles), an alternative implementation of the Tidal (or Tidal-Cycles) live coding system, using the JavaScript programming language. Strudel is an attempt to make live coding more accessible, by creating a system that runs entirely in the browser, while opening Tidals approach to algorithmic patterns (Mclean 2020) up to modern audio/visual web technologies. The Strudel REPL is a live code editor dedicated to manipulating Strudel patterns while they play, with builtin visual feedback. While Strudel is written in JavaScript, the API is optimized for simplicity and readability by applying code transformations on the syntax tree level, allowing language operations that would otherwise be impossible. The application supports multiple ways to output sound, including Tone.js, Web Audio nodes, OSC (Open Sound Control) messages, Web Serial andWeb MIDI. The project is split into multiple packages, allowing granular reuse in other applications. Apart from TidalCycles, Strudel draws inspiration from many prior existing projects like TidalVortex (McLean et al. 2022), Gibber (Roberts and Kuchera-morin 2012), Estuary (Ogborn et al. 2017), Hydra (Jack [2022] 2022), Ocarina (Solomon [2021] 2022) and Feedforward (McLean 2020).