My first Algorave performance

So on Friday I performed at my first ever Algorave; an event where digital artists get together to perform music and create visual spectacles using computer code. The music is created using a form of composition called Live Coding where music is algorithmically programmed. I'd been interested in Live Coding ever since my Masters in Computer Music but found the area-specific language, such as SuperCollider and Tidal, a bit difficult to grasp and musical ideas slow to develop. This prompted me to start development on my own system, FoxDot.

FoxDot is a Python based language that takes an object-oriented approach to Live Coding and makes music by creating Player Objects that are given instructions such as the notes to play and their respective durations. The sounds themselves are synthesised in SuperCollider - for which FoxDot was originally designed as an abstraction.

The music at Algoraves comes in a variety of forms but mainly with the intention to make people dance. I was playing alongside some artists of whom I've watched countless videos and even written essays about, so I was very honoured to do so. I was very nervous as it was the first time I'd used my FoxDot language in a public setting and I think it showed in my performance. I noticed that many performers would stand (I chose to sit) and move rhythmically with the music and even spend some time away from the keyboard. By doing this I think  they not only could take a moment to enjoy the occasion, but also have a think about their next 'move' in terms of their sound. I was typing almost constantly and I think that  had a detrimental effect on the overall performance; the set was varied and had  too many lulls - but I did see some people dancing so I can't be completely disappointed.

Here's the whole event on YouTube (I start around 10 min)!


I'm next performing at the International Conference on Live Interfaces at the end of June at the University of Sussex and have given myself the challenge of including a computer vision aspect to the performance and I can't wait!

TOPLAP Leeds: First public outing of "FoxDot"

Outside of my PhD research into nonverbal communication in musicians I also have a passion for Live Coding music and programming my own music-making system, FoxDot. I'm quite new on the Live Coding "scene" and have been wanting to get more involved for the last year or so but never really plucked up the courage to do something about it. Luckily for me I was asked by the Live Coding pioneer, Dr. Alex McLean, to help set up TOPLAP Leeds, a node extension of the established Live Coding group TOPLAP, along with a few other students.

What this means, I don't really know, but Alex encouraged me to put on a small demonstration of the code I've been working on to get some feedback from my peers. It was the first time I had used FoxDot in a public setting that wasn't YouTube and I was actually really nervous. I started working on the system last year for a module in composition as part of my Computer Music MA and from there it grew - but I had never really thought I would use it to perform. The feedback was really positive and the group gave me some great ideas to put into practice but my PhD comes first and I'm trying to limit the amount of time I spend on FoxDot to only weekday evenings and Sunday - but it's just so fun! 

FoxDot is a pre-processed Python based language that talks to a powerful sound synthesis engine called SuperCollider and let's you create music-playing objects that can work together or independently to make music and I'm really hoping to promote it over the next few years amongst the Live Coding community. It's generally in a working state but I have so many ideas for it that it seems like it's still very much in its infancy. The reason for writing this blog post about it is to try and make it all a bit more real. For so long I've been working on it in a private way; only letting the public see it in brief clips on YouTube - it's time I actually started to put it out there and letting it loose on the world. If you're interested in Live Coding, I urge you to check out http://toplap.org and also my FoxDot website https://sites.google.com/site/foxdotcode/ and see what you can do. I'm performing at the ODI Leeds on Friday 29th April and you can get tickets here.

I hope this is the first step of a long and rewarding journey.