Texture: Visual Notation for Live Coding of Pattern

Live coding, the use of programming language in improvised performance, is the subject of growing research interest. However little light has so far been thrown on the visual (as opposed to the temporal) aspects of live coding practice. Live coders project their code when they perform in the name of openness, but in so doing create a troubling issue of audience code comprehension. Relatedly, the constraining pressures of live performance are leading live coders to rethink the visual design of their language interfaces, so they may rework programs at greater speed and with lower cognitive load, using representations that are closer to music compositional structure. These two issues meet at the boundary between human perception and language. We examine this boundary to find high-level understanding of issues in the design of live coding languages, which is then practically applied in the introduction of Texture, a visual programming language for improvising music.