From sonic Pi to overtone: creative musical experiences with domain-specific and functional languages

Authors:
Samuel Aaron;Alan F. Blackwell
Affiliations:
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Venue:
Proceedings of the first ACM SIGPLAN workshop on Functional art, music, modeling & design
Year:
2013

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Abstract

Domain Specific and Functional languages provide an excellent linguistic context for exploring new forms of music notation -- not just for formalising compositions but also for live interaction workflows. This experience report describes two novel live coding systems that employ code execution to modify live sounds and music. The first of these systems, Sonic Pi, aims at teaching core computing notions to school students using live-coded music as a means of stimulating and maintaining student engagement. We describe how an emphasis on a functional style improves the ease in which core computer science concepts can be communicated to students. Secondly we describe Overtone, a functional language and live coding environment aimed towards mprofessional electronic musicians. We describe how Overtone's abstractions and architecture strongly benefit from a functional-oriented implementation. Both Sonic Pi and Overtone are freely available open-source platforms.