In their battle against time, live coders often wish there was a simpler and faster way to input code during performances that wouldn't compromise their musical expression. Roger Pibernat, an active member of Barcelona's growing live coding community, will be developing a series of tools at Ljudmila's research residency that will help speed up coding in SuperCollider and make it easier for beginners. During his residency, Roger is developing techniques for code input, editing, organization, setup, and navigation workflows in live coding perfomances with SuperCollider. The idea is to create a technical guide for playing the instrument - the code in SuperCollider - just like documentation on playing techniques for analog instruments is made. Roger's goal for the proposed SuperCollider code is to conform as much as possible to the live coding manifesto, especially in points regarding the insight into algorithms and performer's mindset, and the ability to produce expressive music.

»The choice of SuperCollider could be questioned, since there are so many languages out there. As a practicing live coder, I've tested many different languages, most of which rely on SuperCollider for DSP, but kept coming back to SuperCollider precisely for its DSP capabilities. If coding speed and syntax sparseness are its only drawback, it makes a lot more sense to try and fix it, rather then renouncing SuperCollider altogether.«

Roger is drawing from his experiences with SuperCollider and the issues he's stumbled upon in his (and his colleagues') performances. Since he's come up with most of the solutions spontaneously so far, the goal of his research residency is to take a more systematic approach. This project could be considered a guide for live coders who wish to improve their knowledge of the instrument, with a set of live coding techniques and exercises addressing practical aspects of the activity.

Timeline

• Ljudmila On-The-Fly hackaton 2 – 6 Marec 2022 @ Vetrinjski Dvor in Maribor
  
• Keyboard Acrobatics (workshop and presentation) Tuesday and Wednesday, 22 and 23 March, 5 p.m. @ osmo/za, Slovenska 54, Ljubljana
  
• From Scratch (live coding session) Wednesday, 23 March, 8 p.m. @ osmo/za, Slovenska 54, Ljubljana
  

About the artist

Roger Pibernat is a self-taught illustrator, musician and programmer, who constantly explores new artistic expressions and fields of knowledge. He started using SuperCollider in 2011 and has since performed with the Barcelona Laptop Orchestra in venues ranging from small bars to Sonár festival. Roger is co-founder of the art collective Wú, where he makes electroacoustic instruments, develops digital and interactive installations and creates audiovisual performances. He is an active member of the growing live coding community in Barcelona.

Production: Ljudmila, Art and Science Laboratory

The residency is made possible with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana – Department for Culture. The residency is a part of the On-the-Fly project that is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.