sicchio / terpsicode-1

a live coding language for dance

terpsicode

a live coding language for dance

How It Works

The core of the language is the move, which comprises a number and a move name:

5 jump

The move name can be any folder name within the tagged directory. If the number of moves given exceeds the total possible number of moves, the maximum moves will be returned. The maximum moves can also be called for with the all modifier.

all jump

Typing a move into the input and hitting enter adds the move to the end of the current cycle. Using the ↑ and ↓ keys cycles through previous commands.

Timing

Each image in a cycle shows by default for 2.5s. This timing can be changed using the speed command:

speed 3

where the value is the number of seconds for which the image displays. This can also be a decimal:

speed 0.3

Special speed commands with a default value are also available: staccato (.5s), sudden (1s), and sustain (5s).

Commands

Commands can be used to affect the order in which images are displayed and how often they are displayed. Many commands can be run on both a specific move or on the list of moves as a whole.

Global and Local Commands

random
random 5 jump

accumulation	shows first image, then first and second, then 1, 2, 3, etc.
deceleration	the reverse of accumulation; shows all images, then all but last, all but last two, etc.
rondo	shows first image + second image, first image + third image, etc.
random	shows a random image from a list
scramble	shows all images from a list in a random order

Local-Only Commands

Local-only commands can only be run on a specific move or set of options.

sometimes 2 jump
abba 2 jump 5 lunge

often	shows given move 50% of the time	often 2 lunge
sometimes	shows given move 25% of the time	sometimes 3 run
coin_flip	chooses between two moves	coin_flip 1 reach 2 run
abba	shows moves in the pattern abba	abba 2 jump 5 lunge

These can all be combined with elements from the list of global and local commands:

often retrograde 5 jump

Global-Only Commands

Global-only commands can only be run on the list of moves as a whole. Only timings are global-only.

Running the App

To run the app:

1. Download the code in this repo as a bundle or fork the repo and use your local version.
2. In the root directory, run npm i to install the packages.
3. Run npm start to launch the app.

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Want to learn more about how the language is architected? See the architecture docs

Want to make a live coding language? Look here https://worldmaking.github.io/workshop_nime_2017/