4 ms·

Show HN: Create Music with R

70 points by hackoo 2y ago

tgv 2y ago
Using the addition operator for manipulation is a bit unusual. Why did you choose it? I don't have R studio or anything on my computer, so I can't test it, but do things like music <- Music() + Meter(4, 4) + Line(...) + (Line(...) + Articulation(">", 1)) work?
- nomonnai 2y ago
  In base R, `+` is the usual arithmetic operator for numeric and complex vectors. I'm not a super R expert but I'm pretty sure the addition operator is overloaded here. It simply means: add(Music(), Meter(4, 4), Line(...), Line(...), Articulation(">", 1)) Edit. Found the definition in the source [1]. I think the approach is similar to Go's approach to method definition [2]. Methods are defined on types, i.e., methods are functions with special receiver arguments. The infix notation instead of prefix notation is just syntactic sugar. [1] https://github.com/flujoo/gm/blob/69d639be86b0cef80d815a73a605ad7f9f5e0ce2/R/2-add-music.R#L27 https://github.com/flujoo/gm/blob/69d639be86b0cef80d815a73a6... [2] https://go.dev/tour/methods/1 https://go.dev/tour/methods/1
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- andylynch 2y ago
  This is quite idiomatic for R; packages like ggplot do the same thing to, for instance, build up graphics- see https://r4ds.hadley.nz/data-visualize https://r4ds.hadley.nz/data-visualize for some nice examples
  - erikgahner 2y ago
    ggplot2 is pretty much an exception at this point, and if the package was created today it would use the pipe instead of add [1]. Most packages use pipes now (especially with the introduction of the pipe operator in R 4.1.0). [1] https://forum.posit.co/t/why-cant-ggplot2-use/4372/7 https://forum.posit.co/t/why-cant-ggplot2-use/4372/7
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
      I am no R expert, but pipes don't seem the most intuitive for ggplot. This is because they would imply that, e.g., ggtitle() %>% geom_point() means that ggtitle() outputs an input for geom_point().
      - hadley 2y ago
        That’s exactly how ggplot (not 2!) worked: https://github.com/hadley/ggplot1 https://github.com/hadley/ggplot1
- hackoo 2y ago
  In creating a music score, you literally "add" components to the score. So it's natural to implement this operation this way. From the OOP perspective, it's just method overloading. Not uncommon in R development.
- tetris11 2y ago
  R is a Lisp dialect in disguise.
ttpphd 2y ago
This is nuts and I love it. Great work!
darknavi 2y ago
I always liked the idea of coding music. Programmatically making some awesome tracks. Then open source it and let people run it on what ever they want.
- pierrec 2y ago
  It's definitely a thing, in fact I wrote an entire album exactly that way! https://github.com/pac-dev/AmbientGardenAlbum https://github.com/pac-dev/AmbientGardenAlbum It wasn't exactly a hit, but then again promotion is the hard part. I'm finishing a lengthy write-up on the process, which focuses more on harmony (specifically freestyle just intonation) rather than programming. I believe the programming portion is highly personal, so it's more interesting to share general composition techniques that apply well to algorithmic music. Executable music is also an established genre in the demoscene, but the music is typically written in trackers rather than with code. The extremely small intro categories do have fully algorithmic music, which can be really inspiring. That said the size limit often forces the sound into a "bytebeat" style, so I'd say size-unrestricted algorithmic music ends up being a rare genre that's not even found in the demoscene (as far as I know! I'd love to find more music like this).
- SushiHippie 2y ago
  Yeah I normally don't make any music, but I really like glicol. A while ago the author of glicol 'shilled' it on HN, and I was really blown away by the demo tracks, for example: https://glicol.org/demo#themodel https://glicol.org/demo#themodel (don't forget to change line 14 after a while ;))
fuzzythinker 2y ago
A bit hard to find, his blog is under https://flujoo.github.io/ https://flujoo.github.io/ . Found it in profile area of https://github.com/flujoo https://github.com/flujoo . HN post of his other work ch0p1n in 2022: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30321645 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30321645

70 points by hackoo 2y ago

tgv 2y ago

Using the addition operator for manipulation is a bit unusual. Why did you choose it? I don't have R studio or anything on my computer, so I can't test it, but do things like music <- Music() + Meter(4, 4) + Line(...) + (Line(...) + Articulation(">", 1)) work?

nomonnai 2y ago
In base R, `+` is the usual arithmetic operator for numeric and complex vectors. I'm not a super R expert but I'm pretty sure the addition operator is overloaded here. It simply means: add(Music(), Meter(4, 4), Line(...), Line(...), Articulation(">", 1)) Edit. Found the definition in the source [1]. I think the approach is similar to Go's approach to method definition [2]. Methods are defined on types, i.e., methods are functions with special receiver arguments. The infix notation instead of prefix notation is just syntactic sugar. [1] https://github.com/flujoo/gm/blob/69d639be86b0cef80d815a73a605ad7f9f5e0ce2/R/2-add-music.R#L27 https://github.com/flujoo/gm/blob/69d639be86b0cef80d815a73a6... [2] https://go.dev/tour/methods/1 https://go.dev/tour/methods/1
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
andylynch 2y ago
This is quite idiomatic for R; packages like ggplot do the same thing to, for instance, build up graphics- see https://r4ds.hadley.nz/data-visualize https://r4ds.hadley.nz/data-visualize for some nice examples
- erikgahner 2y ago
  ggplot2 is pretty much an exception at this point, and if the package was created today it would use the pipe instead of add [1]. Most packages use pipes now (especially with the introduction of the pipe operator in R 4.1.0). [1] https://forum.posit.co/t/why-cant-ggplot2-use/4372/7 https://forum.posit.co/t/why-cant-ggplot2-use/4372/7
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
    I am no R expert, but pipes don't seem the most intuitive for ggplot. This is because they would imply that, e.g., ggtitle() %>% geom_point() means that ggtitle() outputs an input for geom_point().
    - hadley 2y ago
      That’s exactly how ggplot (not 2!) worked: https://github.com/hadley/ggplot1 https://github.com/hadley/ggplot1
hackoo 2y ago
In creating a music score, you literally "add" components to the score. So it's natural to implement this operation this way. From the OOP perspective, it's just method overloading. Not uncommon in R development.
tetris11 2y ago
R is a Lisp dialect in disguise.

ttpphd 2y ago

This is nuts and I love it. Great work!

darknavi 2y ago

I always liked the idea of coding music. Programmatically making some awesome tracks. Then open source it and let people run it on what ever they want.

pierrec 2y ago
It's definitely a thing, in fact I wrote an entire album exactly that way! https://github.com/pac-dev/AmbientGardenAlbum https://github.com/pac-dev/AmbientGardenAlbum It wasn't exactly a hit, but then again promotion is the hard part. I'm finishing a lengthy write-up on the process, which focuses more on harmony (specifically freestyle just intonation) rather than programming. I believe the programming portion is highly personal, so it's more interesting to share general composition techniques that apply well to algorithmic music. Executable music is also an established genre in the demoscene, but the music is typically written in trackers rather than with code. The extremely small intro categories do have fully algorithmic music, which can be really inspiring. That said the size limit often forces the sound into a "bytebeat" style, so I'd say size-unrestricted algorithmic music ends up being a rare genre that's not even found in the demoscene (as far as I know! I'd love to find more music like this).
SushiHippie 2y ago
Yeah I normally don't make any music, but I really like glicol. A while ago the author of glicol 'shilled' it on HN, and I was really blown away by the demo tracks, for example: https://glicol.org/demo#themodel https://glicol.org/demo#themodel (don't forget to change line 14 after a while ;))

fuzzythinker 2y ago

A bit hard to find, his blog is under https://flujoo.github.io/ https://flujoo.github.io/ . Found it in profile area of https://github.com/flujoo https://github.com/flujoo . HN post of his other work ch0p1n in 2022: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30321645 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30321645