tidalcycles / pulsar-tidalcycles

Pulsar plugin for TidalCycles

TidalCycles plugin for Pulsar

TidalCycles is a language for live coding algorithmic patterns.

After TidalCycles installation (checkout official documentation for details),

Then, you can:

• Open a .tidal file
• shift+enter to evaluate the current line or selection
• (cmd/ctrl)+enter to evaluate multiple-lines or selection
• ctrl+alt+shift+enter to evaluate the whole editor
• ctrl+<number> to mute/unmute the connection
• ctrl+alt+<number> to mute/unmute the connection 1
• ctrl+0 to unmute all

To send patterns to SuperDirt, use d1 .. d9, e.g.:

d1 $ sound "bd cp"

Configuration

Interpreter

You can choose between 3 Haskell interpreters:

• Default: ghci installed with Cabal is the default choice
• Stack: ghci installed with stack
• Nix: ghci installed with nix

GHCI Path

By default the plugin will use the ghci and ghc-pkg binaries in $PATH configuration.

You can configure your Haskell binary folder to use a different version of it. (Only works with Default interpreter)

Boot Tidal Path

The plugin will load the BootTidal.hs file according to this sequence:

• if configured, the file set in the Boot Tidal Path configuration
• if exists, the one in the current directory
• if exists, the one in the current Tidal installation, given by the ghc-pkg binary configured with Haskell Path
• the fallback choice is the one included with the plugin

SuperDirt

SuperDirt can be started automatically at the first tidal code evaluation. The plugin will use a superdirt_startup.scp if it's present into the current folder, otherwise it will use the default startup command. This feature can be disabled in configuration.

Autocomplete

You can turn on/off autocomplete with this option.

Documentation details with Hoogle

With hoogle the autocomplete experience will improve and official tidal documentation will be shown.

Install hoogle and set the Hoogle Path configuration (by default it's already hoogle) if you install it with stack, add two dashes at the end of the property (e.g. stack hoogle --).

After installation you have to generate tidal documentation, in your terminal run:
hoogle generate tidal
or
stack hoogle -- generate tidal (with stack)

Console

The console can be customized:

Prompt

Customize the console prompt with a string. Placeholders can be used, e.g.

eval #%ec

will prompt:

eval #1>
eval #2>
etc...

Placeholders

• %ec: eval count
• %ts: current timestamp (unix format, seconds)
• %diff: character comparison difference between last two evaluations

Only Show Log When Errors

Filter all the console log and show only errors

Only Log Last Message

Filter all the console old logs and show only the last one

Osc Eval

It's possibile to evaluate tidal code with OSC messages.

Port

The plugin is listening on this specified port for incoming osc messages:

• Default Port: 3333

Ip

The plugin is listening on this ip address for incoming osc messages:

• Default Ip: 127.0.0.1

Address

The plugin is filtering incoming osc messages with this specified address.

• Default address: /pulsar/eval

Arguments

Type

Mandatory type argument to specify what kind of evaluation is requested:

1. line (evaluate single line)
2. multi_line (evaluate code block)
3. whole_editor (evaluate all the editor)

Row / Column

row and column parameters can be specified to move the cursor on that position before the evaluation.

Sound Browser

To make the sound browser at the first tidal evaluation, add your paths to the Sound Browser Folders in the plugin configuration, separed by commas.\ For example, on macOS, the default SuperDirt samples are at
/Users/<yourUser>/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/Dirt-Samples/
Restart editor (Pulsar) to apply changes.

Other configurations

• Show error notifications: show editor notifications on error

Troubleshooting

Some flags have not been recognized: prompt-cont

The GHC version is too old (like 8.0.3). Solutions:

• Comment, remove or bring to the end of the file the row :set prompt-cont "" in the BootTidal.hs file
• Upgrade GHC (to at least 8.6)

'' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

The BootTidal.hs and ghci path cannot contain whitespace inside. Solutions:

• put your scripts and the BootTidal.hs in a path that doesn't contain whitespaces.

Note: this is fixed in GHC version 8.12

Could not find module Sound.Tidal.Context

The BootTidal.hs file is loaded correctly, but tidal is not installed or did not load correctly. Try restarting your editor. To install tidal, follow the documentation for your platform:
Documentation > Install Tidal

Variable not in scope

This could mean that the BootTidal.hs file you are using has a value not supported by the version of tidal you have installed. You can find the variable in the error message in your BootTidal.hs and comment out that line (using double hyphens).

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to this package, here are some guidelines:

JavaScript Formatting

A .jsbeautifyfc file is used to define JavaScript formatting settings. Please use a beautifier package (we recommend atom-beautify) to format your changes with these settings.

Specs

Always run specs before open a PR. To run them:

pulsar --test spec