/awesome-livecoding

All things livecoding

Live coding awesome

All things live coding

A curated list of live coding languages and tools

This list was created with the intention of giving a quick-glance over the many possibilities to engage in this practice. For further information, head over to TOPLAP.

Contents

What is live coding?

Quoting Wikipedia

Live coding (sometimes referred to as 'on-the-fly programming', 'just in time programming' and 'conversational programming') is a performing arts form and a creativity technique centred upon the writing of source code and the use of interactive programming in an improvised way.

Websites

  • TOPLAP, the home of Live Coding

Languages

(In Alphabetical Order)

  • afterglow, a live-coding lighting controller, building on the Open Lighting Architecture with Clojure and bits of Overtone. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux lisp FLOSS
  • Alda, a music programming language for musicians. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux FLOSS
  • ChucK, Strongly-timed, Concurrent, and On-the-fly Music Programming Language. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux FLOSS
  • Conductive, a set of Haskell libraries for livecoding and real-time music applications. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux haskell Supercollider FLOSS
  • Cyril, a programming language designed for fast prototyping of visualisations and livecoding visuals. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux openFrameworks FLOSS
  • Extempore, (previously Impromptu) a programming language and runtime environment designed to support 'cyberphysical programming'. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux lisp FLOSS
  • Fluxus, a rapid prototyping, playing and learning environment for 3D graphics, sound and games. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux | Android | PS2 racket-lang lisp FLOSS
  • FoxDot, Live Coding with Python and SuperCollider. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Python Supercollider FLOSS
  • Gibber, creative coding for JavaScript. Google Chrome | Mozilla Firefox web JavaScript FLOSS
  • ixi lang, an experimental project concerned with the creation of digital musical instruments and environments for generative music. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Supercollider
  • i-score, an interactive sequencer that allows live programming of OSC-enabled applications, through a visual language and JavaScript scripting. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux C++ FLOSS
  • LiveCodeLab, a web-based language and environment for VJs, musicians and graphic artists. Allows for immediate and engaging run-as-you-type prototyping, also used in education. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux web FLOSS
  • Max, a visual programming language for media. Windows | macOS graphical-language Commercial
  • Moonlet, Lua live coding. Windows | GNU/Linux
  • Overtone, an open source audio environment designed to explore new musical ideas from synthesis and sampling to instrument building, live-coding and collaborative jamming. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Supercollider lisp FLOSS
  • PraxisLive, hybrid visual IDE for live creative coding. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Java Processing GLSL graphical-language FLOSS
  • Pure Data, an open source visual programming language that can be used to process and generate sound, video, 2D/3D graphics, and interface sensors, input devices, and MIDI. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux graphical-language FLOSS
  • re<urse, a language for generating musical patterns. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux TypeScript FLOSS
  • Repetition.sc, a mini-lang for generating rhythmical patterns. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Supercollider FLOSS
  • serialist, a live coding environment that generates MIDI messages. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux JavaScript FLOSS
  • Skoar, a high-level language for coding music with SuperCollider. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux SuperCollider Python FLOSS
  • Sonic Pi, the Live Coding music synth for everyone. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Ruby Supercollider FLOSS
  • Steno, Concatenative little metalanguage for live coding. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Supercollider
  • SuperCollider, a platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition, used by musicians, artists, and researchers working with sound. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux FLOSS
  • synth-x, an experimental live coding environment for making music created with modern web technologies. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux JavaScript nodejs
  • TidalCycles, is a language for Live Coding pattern. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linxux Haskell Supercollider FLOSS
  • Vivid, Haskell synth live coding. Haskell Supercollider
  • Vuo, a realtime visual programming language for interactive media. macOS visual-language FLOSS | Commercial
  • vvvv, a hybrid visual/textual live-programming environment for easy prototyping and development. Windows visual-language Freeware | Commercial
  • Wulfcode, a Midi live-coding environment for performance or composition. macOS | Windows* | GNU/Linux* FLOSS
  • xi, a domain-specific language for Live Coding musical patterns in Ruby. Windows | macOS | GNU/Linux Ruby Supercollider FLOSS

Libraries and tools

(Also in Alphabetical Order)

  • Arcadia, live coding Clojure in Unity3D.
  • CHmUsiCK, library to make chucK a 'more algorave like' language.
  • cl-collider, A SuperCollider client for CommonLisp.
  • dafxpipe, software for live coding audio effects and synths.
  • disclojure, a live coding environment for Overtone and Leipzig.
  • EspGrid, synchronization and sharing for network music.
  • Extramuros, language-neutral shared-buffer networked live coding system.
  • Fragment, collaborative live GLSL coding environment, additive/spectral/granular synthesizer.
  • The Force, webGL live coding performance IDE.
  • Gibberwocky, use Gibber inside Max/MSP and Max4Live.
  • glslViewer, Live GLSL coding render for MacOS and Linux.
  • hsc3, a Haskell SuperCollider client.
  • HYLOGEN, an embedding of GLSL in Haskell.
  • incudine, Music/DSP programming environment for Common Lisp.
  • isobar, a Python library for algorithmic composition by expressing and constructing musical patterns.
  • KodeLife, Real-time GPU shader editor, live-code performance tool and graphics prototyping sketchpad.
  • LÖVELive, 💕 Live coding framework for LÖVE(2D Game Engine).
  • pytebeat, a piece of software for doing livecoding bytebeat performances.
  • p5-live, Live Coding for p5.js.
  • REPL Mode, this mode adds in a Read-Evaluate-Print-Loop console to Processing 3.0.
  • Republic, SuperCollider library for conversational coding.
  • s2hs2, an interface between TidalCycles and Processing.
  • sonic-pixels, interactive lighting effects for Sonic Pi.
  • tidal-autocode, auto-generates patterns for TidalCycles (requires Atom editor).
  • tidal-chord, an add-on to the amazing live coding project TidalCycles.
  • TidalUnity, an interface between TidalCycles and Unity 3D.
  • Tidal-Unity, TidalCycles meets Unity 3D.
  • tida1vm, another TidalCycles environment inside Docker.
  • tidebox, TidalCycles live coding environment inside a Docker container.
  • Troop, real-time collaborative live coding with FoxDot.
  • WavTexture, a Unity example showing how to bake a waveform of an audio clip into a texture and use it in a shader.

To Watch

To Read

To Dance

  • Algorave, embrace the alien sounds of raves from the past, and introduce alien, futuristic rhythms and beats made through strange, algorithm-aided processes.
  • Eulerroom, algorithmic music streams, mainly live coded and/or algorave but possibly also stranger things.
  • Algorave Guidelines, guidelines to host an Algorave.

Conferences

  • ICLC, International Conference on Live Coding.
  • FARM, Workshop on Functional Art, Music, Modeling and Design.
  • ICLI, International Conference on Live Interfaces.

Community

  • LiveCode Slack, enter your email address and you're ready to go!. chat
  • LURK, a host for discussions around cultural freedom, experimental, new media art, net and computational culture, and things like that. Mailing List
  • POTAC, Programing of The Art Computer. Weblog
  • /r/livecoding, the Live Coding subreddit.
  • LiveCoders, a semi-curated list of people doing live coding in the performing arts.

Related lists

Acknowledgement

This has been brought to you by these contributors.

How to contribute?

  • Fork this repository.
  • Add the changes you feel appropriate (be it a language, something to read, something to watch, a tool, a conf, etc).
  • Create a Pull Request with a description of what you've modified.
  • ???
  • PROFIT !

Here is a friendly guide of how to proceed.

Code Of Conduct

This list follows the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct v1.4.0, available here.

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as contributors and maintainers pledge to making participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

TL;DR: Be nice to each other.

License

CC0
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

To the extent possible under law, Mauro Lizaur has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.