Programming Music in Lisp

    Sam Aaron, one of the developers of Overtone, posted an impressive video on how he synthesizes melodies in the Emacs editor using various tricks - instrument triggers, assigning future events and designing samples - in Clojure language. Music sounds immediately after writing a line of code (live coding).


    Overtone is a convenient front-end for the well-known open-source program SuperCollider (see "Introduction to SuperCollider" ). Overtone uses SuperCollider as an audio engine, and programming is done on Clojure. However, Overtone can work on another engine, for example, jack under Linux.

    The sound synthesis in Overtone looks impressive, but it's hard to imagine that the musicians will actually use it. Rather, it is a tool for entertainment or learning programming, maybe even for game development. Working with Overtone is easier than with SuperCollider, because you do not need to learn the special programming language that is used in SuperCollider.

    But Overtone developers have serious plans. They are going to make a visual interface similar to PureData or Max / MSP, as well as integrate P2P-functionality for collaboratively composing music, conducting joint jam sessions, sharing tools and effects.

    You can imagine how in the future DJs will light the audience at discos, programming mixes in Emacs right on the stage. The program code will be broadcast on the big screen, and music will immediately sound from the speakers. This is a jam session using live coding, which Overtone developers probably dream of.

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