Musician turned Programmer turned Musician

2025-07-20 · Source: ThePrimeagen · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Creative Coding · Depth: Intermediate, medium

Summary

A programmer details his return to music production through Strudel, a JavaScript-based live-coding music environment accessible in the browser with a REPL. Initially a musician, then a programmer for 16 years, he discovered Strudel and sought to combine his programming prowess with music. He developed an integration using a Bun server, Playwright, and curl commands to bridge his Vim editor with Strudel's browser interface. The demonstration showcases building musical patterns using Strudel's mini notation, including high hats, bass drums, and baselines, and orchestrating them with cycles and ranges. He also explores adding effects like reverberation, low-pass filters, and super saw delays.

Key takeaway

For creative technologists or software engineers seeking novel artistic expression, exploring live-coding music environments like Strudel offers a direct path to merge programming skills with real-time sound design. You can integrate your preferred text editor, such as Vim, with browser-based tools using scripting and automation frameworks like Playwright. This approach allows for rapid iteration and complex pattern generation, transforming coding into an immediate musical performance.

Key insights

Live coding music environments like Strudel enable programmers to merge coding skills with real-time musical composition.

Principles

• Combining disparate skills can lead to novel creative outputs.
• Browser-based REPLs offer immediate feedback for creative coding.
• Custom tooling can bridge preferred environments with new platforms.

Method

Integrate Vim with Strudel by launching a Bun server with Playwright, then use curl from Vim to send code to Playwright, writing it into Strudel's browser interface.

In practice

• Experiment with Strudel's mini notation for complex patterns.
• Use Strudel's range feature to orchestrate musical sections.
• Apply filters and delays to enhance live-coded sounds.

Topics

• Live Coding
• Strudel
• Music Programming
• JavaScript
• Vim Integration
• Playwright Automation
• Algorithmic Composition

Best for: Software Engineer, Creative Technologist

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by ThePrimeagen.