8 ms·

Orca – esoteric programming language, designed to create procedural sequencers

249 points by profstasiak 5y ago

metasyn 5y ago
I made a livecoding site for playing around with Orca, alongside a tutorial of sorts. It's already patched to a synthesizer so it's ready to go, and has examples/tutorials you can load. https://metasyn.github.io/learn-orca/ https://metasyn.github.io/learn-orca/
- sabellito 5y ago
  I wish this existed the first time I came across orca. Awesome stuff, thanks for making it.
- TOMDM 5y ago
  Oh this is absolutely gorgeous, deserving a post of its own if ORCA weren't already on the front page. I love ORCA, but sharing that passion with other people is difficult due to the effort needed to get started with it. Now I can just direct people to a website. Thank you so much for making and sharing it.
  - metasyn 5y ago
    glad others enjoy it! checkout https://orca.wtf https://orca.wtf as well, a similar, fun project that includes MULTIPLAYER
Dangeranger 5y ago
There is an excellent introductory tutorial to Orca by an artist that goes by Allieway Audio[0]. It is by far the best video overview of the system that I am aware of. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE
Kivutar 5y ago
I started porting uxn to libretro here https://github.com/kivutar/uxn https://github.com/kivutar/uxn But the audio part is yet to be done.
smallerfish 5y ago
Maybe I missed it, but a video and/or some significant examples on this page would be useful near the top.
- anchpop 5y ago
  I found this helpful when learning orca: https://youtu.be/ktcWOLeWP-g?t=222 https://youtu.be/ktcWOLeWP-g?t=222
anchpop 5y ago
Orca is amazing. It inspired me to start writing my own version as final project for a final project for my Serious Games class in college. I'd highly recommend anyone checking it out
- gradys 5y ago
  That class sounds interesting! Is there a syllabus or other documentation online?
  - anchpop 5y ago
    The course is https://schedule.msu.edu/CourseDesc.aspx?SubjectCode=MI&CourseNumber=486&Term=1204 https://schedule.msu.edu/CourseDesc.aspx?SubjectCode=MI&Cour... . I can't find the syllabus but the professor was really interesting - one of her games made the news: https://apnews.com/article/06bd2f8b19b7446aa8629a7ef9924da5 https://apnews.com/article/06bd2f8b19b7446aa8629a7ef9924da5 Here's my presentation on my project if anyone is interested: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UXS9jES6dQW1GsB7YXRpuho3W0_so1COV_kabIPdDAk/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UXS9jES6dQW1GsB7YXRp...
knowuh 5y ago
Orca is amazing, and it's creator Devine Lu Linvega is inspiring too. Listen to this future of coding podcast where he is interviewed about Orca: https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/045 https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/045 and about making your own tools: https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/044 https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/044 The Future of Coding podcast is a treasure. Edit: excerpt from the Devine Lu Linvega's intro: ----- Devine Lu Linvega and his partner Rekka live on a sailboat. He makes art, music, software, and other cultural artifacts. When Photoshop’s DRM required that he maintain a connection to the internet, he wrote his own creative suite. When his MacBook died in the middle of the ocean, he switched to Linux with hardware he could service. His electricity comes from solar panels, and every joule counts — so that’s out with Chrome and Electron and in with Scheme, C, assembly, and maybe someday Forth. -----
- raffomania 5y ago
  Most recently, he's actually rewriting all his tools in a forth-inspired language he's designed himself: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/uxn.html https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/uxn.html
  - metasyn 5y ago
    I made an online environment for UXN programming, assembling, and emulating the CLI environment using emscripten https://metasyn.github.io/learn-uxn/ https://metasyn.github.io/learn-uxn/ check it out if you're learning uxn or just want to try loading a rom and seeing the source or modifying it to learn
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  "His electricity comes from solar panels, and every joule counts — so that’s out with Chrome and Electron and in with Scheme, C, assembly, and maybe someday Forth." I used to live and program off grid, too. With a setup, I could carry all in my backpack ... so I can say, it mainly depends on the hard- and firmware in use. So my pure linux laptop did not last very long. Even with allmost only texteditor use But my optimized rugged chromebook does last a long time, and with only modest sunshine -> unlimited worktime - with extensive use of chrome and electron.
Shared404 5y ago
Orca, and all of Devine's work, is some of the most inspiring content on the internet imho. Check out his personal site[0] as well, it's a work of art. [0] http://xxiivv.com/ http://xxiivv.com/
- 0_gravitas 5y ago
  Can echo how absolutely impressive (and in some ways trippy) their site(/personal wiki) is. I go back to it once every few weeks or months and just wander around a little bit.
kall 5y ago
I absolutely adore orca. Data and instructions are just the same thing (single characters), and can go from being one to being the other. Combine that with the fact that the program "executes" on the same surface that you write it, like the editor is at the same time your 2D canvas and the program modifies itself by 2D animation. Maybe these ideas exist elsewhere but it just completely blows my mind and I feel like i haven‘t even fully "got" it yet. Would recommend it to anyone interested in programming, even if you‘re not interested in music making. Also, where else are you gonna get to use base36?
Y_Y 5y ago
Allieway had some cool videos about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE It feels to me like a mix of SimTunes and Befunge.
- officeplant 5y ago
  Came here to link these as soon as I saw Orca mentioned. Her videos helped a lot with getting started.
briansteffens 5y ago
> where lowercase letters operate on bang, uppercase letters operate each frame. Anyone know what a 'bang' means in this context? Not sure if it's an Orca-specific thing or more general.
- Hemospectrum 5y ago
  It seems like a general-purpose message that nodes can send to neighboring nodes, so they can be activated in response to input events, clock cycles, and so on. In other contexts you might call it a "pulse" or a "tick."
- piinbinary 5y ago
  It means the ! character edit: at least, that's what I normally see it meaning. I'm also confused about what it means here
  - Shared404 5y ago
    It's Orca specific. A bang in this context triggers the character one coordinate down and the one coordinate right of the bang character - which is '*' - and deletes itself after one tick. I may have remembered some details wrong, it's been a while.
- harrylove 5y ago
  I'm not familiar with Orca but I am familiar with the use of bang in Max/MSP[0], in which it's used as a generic event trigger for attached objects. Objects receiving a bang message will execute their main method. The context feels similar here. [0] https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/tutorials/basicchapter02 https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/tutorials/basicchapter02
- sprkwd 5y ago
  A bang is normally a name for a !
  - TOMDM 5y ago
    In the case of ORCA a bang is an activation So a clock periodically emits a bang that can be used to trigger the synth for a simple example.
dang 5y ago
Looks like only this for past threads: Orca: 2D esoteric programming language where every alphabet is an operator - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22664484 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22664484 - March 2020 (1 comment)
wly_cdgr 5y ago
The me that first moved to Bushwick about twelve years ago would have thought they are super cool
slmjkdbtl 5y ago
It shares a lot of traits with Game of Life. 2D grid, ruleset, emergency.
birchb 5y ago
Orca is great fun. I was inspired to start write a derivative application - A live-coding logic simulator using the same TUI ideas. I've just got past the prototype-hackery stage and am using it to model a real piece of hardware. https://asciinema.org/a/447367 https://asciinema.org/a/447367 https://github.com/birchb1024/betula/blob/trunk/README.md https://github.com/birchb1024/betula/blob/trunk/README.md Kudos to Devine Lu Linvega .1D2..V2..2D5.....2D3....5D8......8DD.......2D3.......... ..\*:04......:01B....:03D...:04P.....:08F......:06J.......

249 points by profstasiak 5y ago

I made a livecoding site for playing around with Orca, alongside a tutorial of sorts. It's already patched to a synthesizer so it's ready to go, and has examples/tutorials you can load. https://metasyn.github.io/learn-orca/ https://metasyn.github.io/learn-orca/

sabellito 5y ago
I wish this existed the first time I came across orca. Awesome stuff, thanks for making it.
TOMDM 5y ago
Oh this is absolutely gorgeous, deserving a post of its own if ORCA weren't already on the front page. I love ORCA, but sharing that passion with other people is difficult due to the effort needed to get started with it. Now I can just direct people to a website. Thank you so much for making and sharing it.
- metasyn 5y ago
  glad others enjoy it! checkout https://orca.wtf https://orca.wtf as well, a similar, fun project that includes MULTIPLAYER

Dangeranger 5y ago

There is an excellent introductory tutorial to Orca by an artist that goes by Allieway Audio[0]. It is by far the best video overview of the system that I am aware of. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE

Kivutar 5y ago

I started porting uxn to libretro here https://github.com/kivutar/uxn https://github.com/kivutar/uxn But the audio part is yet to be done.

smallerfish 5y ago

Maybe I missed it, but a video and/or some significant examples on this page would be useful near the top.

anchpop 5y ago
I found this helpful when learning orca: https://youtu.be/ktcWOLeWP-g?t=222 https://youtu.be/ktcWOLeWP-g?t=222

anchpop 5y ago

Orca is amazing. It inspired me to start writing my own version as final project for a final project for my Serious Games class in college. I'd highly recommend anyone checking it out

gradys 5y ago
That class sounds interesting! Is there a syllabus or other documentation online?
- anchpop 5y ago
  The course is https://schedule.msu.edu/CourseDesc.aspx?SubjectCode=MI&CourseNumber=486&Term=1204 https://schedule.msu.edu/CourseDesc.aspx?SubjectCode=MI&Cour... . I can't find the syllabus but the professor was really interesting - one of her games made the news: https://apnews.com/article/06bd2f8b19b7446aa8629a7ef9924da5 https://apnews.com/article/06bd2f8b19b7446aa8629a7ef9924da5 Here's my presentation on my project if anyone is interested: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UXS9jES6dQW1GsB7YXRpuho3W0_so1COV_kabIPdDAk/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UXS9jES6dQW1GsB7YXRp...

knowuh 5y ago

Orca is amazing, and it's creator Devine Lu Linvega is inspiring too. Listen to this future of coding podcast where he is interviewed about Orca: https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/045 https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/045 and about making your own tools: https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/044 https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/044 The Future of Coding podcast is a treasure. Edit: excerpt from the Devine Lu Linvega's intro: ----- Devine Lu Linvega and his partner Rekka live on a sailboat. He makes art, music, software, and other cultural artifacts. When Photoshop’s DRM required that he maintain a connection to the internet, he wrote his own creative suite. When his MacBook died in the middle of the ocean, he switched to Linux with hardware he could service. His electricity comes from solar panels, and every joule counts — so that’s out with Chrome and Electron and in with Scheme, C, assembly, and maybe someday Forth. -----

raffomania 5y ago
Most recently, he's actually rewriting all his tools in a forth-inspired language he's designed himself: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/uxn.html https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/uxn.html
- metasyn 5y ago
  I made an online environment for UXN programming, assembling, and emulating the CLI environment using emscripten https://metasyn.github.io/learn-uxn/ https://metasyn.github.io/learn-uxn/ check it out if you're learning uxn or just want to try loading a rom and seeing the source or modifying it to learn
hutzlibu 5y ago
"His electricity comes from solar panels, and every joule counts — so that’s out with Chrome and Electron and in with Scheme, C, assembly, and maybe someday Forth." I used to live and program off grid, too. With a setup, I could carry all in my backpack ... so I can say, it mainly depends on the hard- and firmware in use. So my pure linux laptop did not last very long. Even with allmost only texteditor use But my optimized rugged chromebook does last a long time, and with only modest sunshine -> unlimited worktime - with extensive use of chrome and electron.

Shared404 5y ago

Orca, and all of Devine's work, is some of the most inspiring content on the internet imho. Check out his personal site[0] as well, it's a work of art. [0] http://xxiivv.com/ http://xxiivv.com/

0_gravitas 5y ago
Can echo how absolutely impressive (and in some ways trippy) their site(/personal wiki) is. I go back to it once every few weeks or months and just wander around a little bit.

kall 5y ago

I absolutely adore orca. Data and instructions are just the same thing (single characters), and can go from being one to being the other. Combine that with the fact that the program "executes" on the same surface that you write it, like the editor is at the same time your 2D canvas and the program modifies itself by 2D animation. Maybe these ideas exist elsewhere but it just completely blows my mind and I feel like i haven‘t even fully "got" it yet. Would recommend it to anyone interested in programming, even if you‘re not interested in music making. Also, where else are you gonna get to use base36?

Y_Y 5y ago

Allieway had some cool videos about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE It feels to me like a mix of SimTunes and Befunge.

officeplant 5y ago
Came here to link these as soon as I saw Orca mentioned. Her videos helped a lot with getting started.

briansteffens 5y ago

> where lowercase letters operate on bang, uppercase letters operate each frame. Anyone know what a 'bang' means in this context? Not sure if it's an Orca-specific thing or more general.

Hemospectrum 5y ago
It seems like a general-purpose message that nodes can send to neighboring nodes, so they can be activated in response to input events, clock cycles, and so on. In other contexts you might call it a "pulse" or a "tick."
piinbinary 5y ago
It means the ! character edit: at least, that's what I normally see it meaning. I'm also confused about what it means here
- Shared404 5y ago
  It's Orca specific. A bang in this context triggers the character one coordinate down and the one coordinate right of the bang character - which is '*' - and deletes itself after one tick. I may have remembered some details wrong, it's been a while.
harrylove 5y ago
I'm not familiar with Orca but I am familiar with the use of bang in Max/MSP[0], in which it's used as a generic event trigger for attached objects. Objects receiving a bang message will execute their main method. The context feels similar here. [0] https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/tutorials/basicchapter02 https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/tutorials/basicchapter02
sprkwd 5y ago
A bang is normally a name for a !
- TOMDM 5y ago
  In the case of ORCA a bang is an activation So a clock periodically emits a bang that can be used to trigger the synth for a simple example.

dang 5y ago

Looks like only this for past threads: Orca: 2D esoteric programming language where every alphabet is an operator - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22664484 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22664484 - March 2020 (1 comment)

wly_cdgr 5y ago

The me that first moved to Bushwick about twelve years ago would have thought they are super cool

slmjkdbtl 5y ago

It shares a lot of traits with Game of Life. 2D grid, ruleset, emergency.

birchb 5y ago

Orca is great fun. I was inspired to start write a derivative application - A live-coding logic simulator using the same TUI ideas. I've just got past the prototype-hackery stage and am using it to model a real piece of hardware. https://asciinema.org/a/447367 https://asciinema.org/a/447367 https://github.com/birchb1024/betula/blob/trunk/README.md https://github.com/birchb1024/betula/blob/trunk/README.md Kudos to Devine Lu Linvega .1D2..V2..2D5.....2D3....5D8......8DD.......2D3.......... ..\*:04......:01B....:03D...:04P.....:08F......:06J.......