Live Coding for the Wild Raver

This course dives into the raw, improvisational energy of live coding as a performance practice for sound and visuals. We will explore how to build audiovisual experiences in real time using tools like ChucK for sound synthesis and timing, Hydra for live-coded visuals, and Strudel/Chudel for pattern-based music creation. The focus is on immediacy, experimentation, and developing a personal performance workflow that thrives in unpredictable, high-energy environments.

On the audio side, you will learn how to generate, manipulate, and sequence sound using code by working with timing, rhythm, and texture as flexible, evolving structures rather than fixed compositions. We’ll explore pattern systems, live sequencing, and how to stay responsive while coding in front of an audience.

For visuals, we will focus on Hydra as a live-codeable video synthesizer. You’ll learn how to generate and manipulate visuals through functions for transformation, modulation, blending, and color control. We will also explore integrating external media such as images and video, and how to keep visuals reactive and in sync with live sound.

By the end of the course, you will have a toolkit for building live audiovisual performances that are chaotic, expressive, and uniquely yours—designed for dance floors, experimental spaces, and anywhere code meets sound, light, and movement.
for question [email protected]The course also introduces projection mapping using Aethermapper. You’ll experiment with geometry, edges, and spatial perception, creating visuals that feel embedded in the environment and responsive to the energy of a live setting.

By the end of the course, you will have a toolkit for building live audiovisual performances that are chaotic, expressive, and uniquely yours—designed for dance floors, experimental spaces, and anywhere code meets sound, light, and movement.

is a researcher and artist based at Stanford University, working at CCRMA. Her work lives at the intersection of music, technology, and computation, moving between algorithmic composition, live coding, and audiovisual performance. A composer, digital artist, and live coder, she performs across concert halls and underground electronic scenes, building systems that generate, mutate, and sometimes misbehave in real time. Her current research drifts toward figures of the feminist cyborg that is fluid, hybrid, and resistant to fixed identities but also echoing traditions of cyberfeminist thought where boundaries between body, machine, and imagination dissolve. She works with ephemerality, transformation, and forms of sonic ritual, where code becomes both instrument and spell.

No previous experience required. You’ll need a laptop, and headphones are highly recommended. Come ready to experiment and be prepared for the rave on the final day.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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