hackertube.io

Functional Composition - Chris Ford

ClojureTV · talk · Watch on YouTube

Functional programmingMusic theory, synthesis & productionCreative coding & generative art

What it is

Chris Ford builds up from a single sine wave through layered abstractions to a Bach canon, using Clojure and the Overtone audio environment. The talk shows music theory as a natural fit for functional programming.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN repeatedly recommends it as a delightful talk that makes music theory click and introduces Clojure and Overtone.

  • 6 people recommended it
  • 6 different months
  • 4 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “one talk about music and programming that I enjoyed a lot is 'functional composition' by chris ford, using clojure.”

    Builds a full theme from layered simple waves in Clojure

    agumonkey, 2013-07 · Strong recommendation · in “The Haskell School of Music (2012) [pdf]”

  2. “Great, great talk linked to in the article, about using Clojure to abstract and live-code music.”

    Using Clojure to abstract and live-code music

    kremlin, 2015-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Creative computing with Clojure”

  3. “Recommend this talk that made Music 'click' for me.”

    Made music theory click via functional composition

    zphds, 2018-05 · Strong recommendation · in “Live Coding in Sporth: A Stack-Based Language for Audio Synthesis [pdf]”

  4. “Recently I watched a great presentation[0] about Overtone by Chris Ford”

    Overtone presentation engaging even to a non-programmer with music background

    1MachineElf, 2023-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Overtone – programmable, live music in Clojure”

  5. “Learn Clojure via Overtone!”

    Introduction to Clojure through the Overtone music library

    grayrest, 2014-03 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Will soon have lots of time and little money – how to spend it?”

  6. “Using functional composition to build a Bach canon out of pure sine waves.”

    Builds a Bach canon from pure sine waves with functional composition

    yayitswei, 2020-09 · Recommendation · in “The sound of Erlang: How to use Erlang as an instrument”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: clojure, overtone, music theory, functional programming, live coding, sine waves

Also recommended by the same people