trespaul / tidal-doc

TidalCycles documentation rework.

TidalCycles

Usage and development

npm run dev    # local server for development
npm run build  # build production site into dist/ folder

Structure

public/                     --- files copied directly to build
src/
├── assets/                 --- general assets
├── content/docs/           --- collection for all site content
│  ├── blog/                --- files for blog section
│  │  ├── assets/...        --- assets for blog posts
│  │  └── profile/...       --- individual profiles
│  ├── explanation/...      --- explanation section
│  ├── getting-started/...  --- getting started section
│  ├── guides/...           --- guide section
│  │  ├── audio/...         --- SuperDirt and SuperCollider specific guides
│  │  └── tidal/...         --- Tidal-specific guides
│  ├── introduction/...     --- introduction section
│  ├── reference/...        --- reference section
│  │  ├── config/...        --- config reference
│  │  ├── functions/...     --- Tidal functions (autogen)
│  │  ├── mini-notation/... --- mini-notation reference
│  │  └── superdirt/...     --- superdirt reference
│  └── index.mdx            --- homepage
├── pages/                  --- manually structured pages (not used)
│  └── og/[...slug].ts      --- opengraph images endpoint
├── styles/custom.css       --- custom css
astro.config.mjs            --- all site config, sidebars, etc.
package.json                --- npm configuration, dependencies
README.md                   --- this file
tailwind.config.mjs         --- tailwind config, theming

Purpose of different docs sections

1. Introduction: what is Tidal, what is it used for, what has it been used for, who are the community, etc.
2. Getting started: how to get up and running from scratch, to making a first sound.
3. Guides: all guides to do a specific thing that isn't necessary to know at first.
4. Explanation: in-depth theoretical explanation of internal workings.
5. Reference: lists of, e.g., functions or options and their descriptions, perhaps with an example; could perhaps be autogenerated.

The specific pages are:

• Introduction
  • What is Tidal? [what it is; what it is used for; the components of the stack; the concept: cycles and patterns]
  • Showcase [select performances / releases; list of artists; academic publications; ...]
  • Community [links to platforms, forum]
  • Related projects [livecoding projects, inspired / inspired by; e.g., tidal-vis ...]
• Getting started
  • Installation
  • Tutorial [getting from installed to first sounds, then to sounding like something (introduce to basic usage of stuff, incl. mini-notation) (can be multiple pages)]
    • currently: cycles, patterns, controls, control patterns, pattern players
• Guides [how to do specific things that aren't necessary to know at first; address common questions like "how do I get Tidal to do X?"; page titles should follow from "How to ..." / start with a verb; can perhaps be organised into subsections, or we can rely on search; the below are examples]
  • Coding with Tidal
    • Create patterns
      • Write arpeggios
      • Write chords
      • Write rhythms
      • Use generative algorithms
    • Modify patterns
      • Combine patterns
      • Restructure your patterns using functions
      • Transition between patterns
    • Combine samples
      • Assign the actual notes to the samples
      • Slice your samples and rearrange their contents
      • Trim samples and deal with overlaps
    • Continuous modulators
      • Modify ongoing sounds with control busses
      • Modulate parameters with signals
    • Shift time
      • Set tempos and global time signatures
      • Trigger a pattern from the start
    • Combine functions
      • Chain functions with $
      • Compose functions with .
    • Manage state
      • Traverse through lists with state values
  • Audio
    • Add effects to SuperDirt
    • Add samples to Tidal
    • Add synthesisers to SuperDirt
    • Add audio channels
    • Control latency
    • Reduce sample load memory and startup time
    • Run SuperDirt in another host
    • Protect everyone's ears with a limiter
  • Connections
    • Send control voltage out
    • Connect to a DAW
    • Send and receive MIDI
    • Use Tidal with multiple users
    • Send OSC elsewhere
    • Visualise Tidal events
• Explanation [more in-depth theoretical explanation of internals; Haskell stuff; these suggestions by ninioArtillero on Discord]
  • The Haskell language [left and right associativity, layout rules]
  • The Pattern data type
  • Types and typeclasses [crash course]
  • FRP and pattern semantics
  • The SuperDirt OSC interface
• Reference
  • Tidal
    • Configuration
    • Functions [technical documentation, lists of functions; autogenerate]
    • Mini-notation
      • ...
      • Time shorthand
  • SuperDirt
    • Configuration
    • Default library
      • Samples
      • Audio effects
      • Synthesisers
    • ...