Atoms

BRDFs model how a surface reflects light as a function of incoming and outgoing directions

Breaking things and recovering fast is core livecoding practice, not a failure to hide

Bresenham's algorithm for drawing digital straight lines is an implementation of the Euclidean algorithm

Bricolage programming is a creative feedback loop of making a code change, perceiving the output, and reacting — without forward planning

Bridging a stereo amplifier combines both channels in mono to roughly double the power output

Bristol's Purple sound (2008) fused dubstep with 1980s synth-funk and G-funk, seeding future bass

Buchla's 1966 system included light and projector modules to control visuals from the same patch

Buchla's Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator acts as one module doing many jobs, far beyond a sequencer

BufRd reads a Buffer at any frame index, enabling sinusoidal, noise-driven, and custom playback paths

Buss compression glues a mix and should be inserted during mixdown so its side effects shape mix decisions

By the 2010s nu-disco production had permeated mainstream pop, with producers often working anonymously for pop acts

cables.gl operators are programmable in JavaScript with typed ports, extending the patch beyond the built-in op library

Camelot wheel major-to-minor harmonic mixing matches the number and changes the letter (A/B)

Capacitive touch sensors report finger position by centroid-weighted averaging across multiple activated pads

Capping wavetable harmonics at the limit of hearing rather than Nyquist saves memory

Cascading identical biquad filters degrades the corner response — each stage needs a unique Q derived from pole spacing

Cellular automata with continuous state values (0–255) produce fluid wave-like patterns

Centralising all sensor inputs through a single OSC/WebSocket bridge (MAMI pattern) lets TouchDesigner focus on interaction design rather than device plumbing

Chaining compressors lets each stage handle a different dynamic task

Chaining single-change mutations creates descendants that diverge progressively from an ancestor idea

Chaining two compressors in series allows independent control of different dynamic problems on the same signal

Chance operations use randomness as a deliberate artistic tool, not as an absence of control

Changing filter envelope slope shape (convex vs concave) via modulation matrix produces distinct filter sweep characters

Channel Modifier curves remap DMX output values non-linearly, enabling LED linearisation and channel parking

Chicago footwork battles use randomly chosen neutral judges from outside the competing crews to prevent favoritism

Choosing source material is half the creative work of sample-based production

chop and striate slice a sample into n pieces; striate interleaves slices from multiple samples where chop plays each sample's slices sequentially

Chopping a sample into equal slices and playing them in random order creates beat-slicing effects

Chopping and blending are two DJ mixing strategies with opposite tradeoffs for following the music

Chord-progression identification by ear trains hearing each chord's function as a harmonic sequence unfolds

ChucK shreds are sample-synchronous concurrent processes spawned with spork ~

ChucK Unit Analyzers extract audio features from a signal for real-time analysis

CineCer0 live-codes video, image, and text as composable function chains in the browser

CineCer0's natural/every/round/chop functions align video playback to Estuary's cycle grid

CineCer0's ramp function linearly interpolates a style parameter over a given number of cycles

Circle packing fills a region by growing circles until they touch, then freezing each on collision

Circle-circle collision is detected by comparing center distance to sum of radii

Classifier-free guidance combines conditional and unconditional model outputs at inference to steer generation without a separate classifier

Classifier-guided diffusion steers generation by adding classifier-score gradients to the noise prediction

CLiC models a live-coding collective as horizontal and adhocratic — no owners, directors, or teachers

Clip envelopes automate parameters only within their clip while track automation applies across the full arrangement

Cloning one particle into a repeated stream builds a pitched tone from a single grain

Close omnidirectional microphone placement outperforms distant directional microphones for wildlife field recording

Colorizing the shadow penumbra with warm tones rather than grey makes rendered images more cinematic

Colour bass combines brostep's impact with melodic dubstep's rich tonality in vibrant mid-range sound design

Coloured noise is made by scaling each DFT bin of white noise by 1/f^B before inverse-transforming

Combine distortion, amp simulation, and saturation for dub 'colour' — but don't overcook, since mastering boosts it further

Combining fast grid traversal with local SDF raymarching accelerates scenes where objects occupy sparse grid cells

Combining one tempo-synced and one free-running delay tap creates polyrhythmic dub delay texture

Combining X-write with a movement operator animates a self-propelled operator across the grid

ComfyUI's HTTP API accepts workflows as JSON with nodes keyed by numeric IDs and links as [node_id, slot_index] arrays

Commenting a voice out or in is the most legible and reversible layer transition

Compiling UNet and VAE to TensorRT engines delivers the largest throughput gain in StreamDiffusion

Completing a production requires an immersive lock-in, not piecemeal sessions

Compressing inactive TOP networks to one-eighth resolution recovers GPU memory headroom in multi-scene VJ rigs

Compute work in WebGPU runs in a compute pass that is recorded before the render pass in the same command encoder

Concatenative synthesis drives resynthesis by selecting and joining database sound segments whose features best match a target

Connecting nodes with springs that pull toward a rest length produces force-directed layouts and elastic motion

const replaces the entire playing pattern with another one

Constant-voltage (70V) distribution allows many loudspeakers to share one amplifier using impedance-transforming taps