DAWs are nice but... have you ever tried live coding music?

[Memento Beats]

Recently, I stumbled upon this trend on Instagram in which a producer literally codes music live in some program.

I didn't see anything like this before.

Especially, I was very amazed with music by Switch Angel (IG: @_switch_angel) and I decided to dig the topic a little bit deeper and here is what I found for those of you who might be interested in this.

1. What is live coding?​

Live coding is a way of making music in an algorithmic way. A code is basically a partiture in this case and/or an equivalent to piano roll/sequencer in DAWs. In other words - the code becomes an instrument here - like... literally. The mostly used things in live coding are:

• randomness
• loops
• rhythm mathematics

Because of the above live coding is a great tool for genres like:

• trance
• various electronic music
• EDM
• ambient / generative music

2. What are the tools that you can use to do live coding?​

There are various programs that allow you to play with live coding.

2.1. Sonic Pi - the most popular at the moment​

• Website: https://sonic-pi.net/
• Language used for live coding: Ruby (DSL - Domain Specific Language) - not pure Ruby, more like Ruby tuned for making music
• Ideal for: producers with little programming background who want to start their journey with live coding

2.2. TidalCycles​

• Website: https://tidalcycles.org/
• Language used for live coding: Haskell (DSL)
• Characteristic traits:
  • very abstract - you have to think in patterns, functions
  • offers very powerful rhythmic tools - you can create polyrhythms and other crazy rhythmic patterns with it
• Ideal for:
  • producers with stronger programming background
  • producers who want to go out of the usual 4/4 and play with polyrhythms or some irregular meters
  • producers who like to think in a "mathematical way"
  • producers who make techno/algorave

2.3. FoxDot​

• Website:
  • Github repo: https://github.com/Qirky/FoxDot
  • Home page: https://foxdot681713046.wordpress.com/
• Language used for live coding: Python
• Characterstic traits:
  
  • less abstract than TidalCycles, more structured than Sonic Pi
  • in general very clear and logical
• Ideal for: producers who want to start their journey with live coding but look for the compromise between TidalCycles abstraction and simplicity of Sonic Pi

2.4. SuperCollider​

• Website: https://supercollider.github.io/
• Language used for live coding: SuperCollider has own language created specifically for it, but you can integrate FoxDot with this and code with Python
• Ideal for:
  • producers who love sound design - offers full synthesis from scratch and great control over it

3. Do I need to know some programming language to do live coding?​

To be honest - it is advised. Generally speaking, people with programming background will have it easier to get a hang of what is actually going on in all the tools I described. But as you can see some of them like Sonic Pi are claimed to be beginner friendly.

4. Will live coding replace my DAW? Can I do everything in it?​

Short answer: No, it's more of an instrument that you can use.

Live coding will give you:

microvariations in your patterns
irregularity
"living" patterns
great way to generate MIDI sequences, drones, glitches, random arpeggios
a "wow effect" for anyone looking at what you're doing - hence it's now a popular trend on Instagram etc.
as mentioned before it will be a brilliant addition for anyone who likes to make techno, ambient, EDM, soundtracks and wants to have some different than the usual piano roll

But it is not going to:

replace or do anything related to mixing let alone advanced mixing
precise automation
work with vocal
give you the same level of sound design that is offered for example by Serum / Vital

Furthermore:

it doesn't offer classical arrangement
it doesn't offer possibility to edit audio
it is not going to give you a full control over dynamics

5. Thoughts?​

To me, the whole thing is truly fascinating and especially, as a person who can code something (not like a very big things but I have some knowledge about programming) this is really interesting.

Furthermore, it gives you this whole futuristic vibe when working on something like techno/trance/rave/edm/hardcore etc. It literally feels as if you were in some Cyberpunk or something.

Personally, since I have most experience with Python, I will probably try to play around with FoxDot.

What about you?

Have you tried live coding music?
Would you like to?
Are you going to?
What are your thoughts about it?

Below you can see and hear how it's done by Switch Angel:

 

[Iron Keys]

Is this like trackers or something

 

[Fade]

Between this and AI - I give up!

But yeah I saw this not long ago. It looks cool, something to do for fun. I'm assuming it allows the user to export this into some sort of MIDI file at whatnot?

 

[Memento Beats]

Is this like trackers or something

Could you please elaborate what exactly you mean?

It looks cool, something to do for fun.

Yes, exactly. It's something great to break your usual workflow and try something new.

I'm assuming it allows the user to export this into some sort of MIDI file at whatnot?

In general yes, but it's not a straightforward export as it is in DAWs. Because you need to keep in mind that it is meant for live music performance - you code music on stage/stream etc and that's it. From what I found out by using ChatGPT:

Sonic Pi​

WAV: Yes

• Sonic Pi has a built-in Record button.
• It renders the audio directly to a WAV file (offline-style, not mic recording).
• This is the cleanest export experience among live coding tools.

MIDI: Limited

• Sonic Pi can send MIDI out to external gear/DAWs.
• It does not export MIDI files directly.
• Workaround: record MIDI in your DAW while Sonic Pi plays.

Summary:
✔ Best beginner-friendly WAV export
✖ No direct MIDI file export

TidalCycles​

WAV: Yes (but manual)

• TidalCycles sends audio to SuperDirt (SuperCollider).
• You typically record using:
  • SuperCollider’s recording functions, or
  • An external DAW (Reaper, Ableton, etc.)
• This is still lossless and clean, not “mic recording”.

MIDI: Yes

• Tidal has strong MIDI support.
• You can route MIDI to:
  • Hardware synths
  • DAWs (and record MIDI there)
• No native .mid file export, but DAW capture works perfectly.

Summary:
✔ Powerful MIDI workflows
✔ Studio-grade audio recording
✖ Requires setup

FoxDot​

WAV: Yes (via SuperCollider)

• Like Tidal, FoxDot runs on SuperCollider.
• You record audio using SuperCollider’s recorder or a DAW.

MIDI: Possible, but not its main strength

• MIDI is supported but less central than in Tidal.
• Usually used for audio synthesis.

Summary:
✔ Clean audio rendering
MIDI is secondary

SuperCollider (standalone)​

WAV: Yes (true offline rendering)

• SuperCollider can:
  • Record in real time
  • Render non-real-time (NRT) audio to WAV (fast + precise)
• This is the most powerful and technical option.

MIDI: Yes

• Can send and receive MIDI
• You still record MIDI externally if you want .mid files

Summary:
✔ Maximum control
✔ Professional rendering
✖ Steep learning curve

 

[Fade]

I guess it's fun for some people, but I wouldn't want to mix coding with making beats! It would be interesting to see a live coding beat battle though. "Battle of the Beat Geeks" or something like that.

 

[Memento Beats]

It would be interesting to see a live coding beat battle though. "Battle of the Beat Geeks" or something like that.

Yup, fully agree with this That would be interesting to see.