Hydra visuals are built by chaining functions, and the order of the chain changes the output

In Hydra a visual is constructed by chaining function calls on a source, e.g. osc().rotate().repeat().kaleidoscope().out(). Each function receives the current signal, transforms it, and passes it on, so the order of operations matters: repeating before a kaleidoscope gives a different result than after. This is analogous to patch order on a modular synth. In performance the coder iteratively adds, removes, and reorders calls, pressing Ctrl+Enter to execute and see the result immediately without a compile step.

Examples

osc(20).rotate(1).repeat(3,3).kaleidoscope(4).out() transforms the signal step by step. Swapping repeat and kaleidoscope changes the image, as Jack demonstrates live (‘what if I did the repeat before the kaleidoscope’).

Assessment

Write a Hydra chain that creates an oscillator, repeats it, then rotates the result, ending in .out(). Swap repeat and rotate and describe what changes. What does Ctrl+Enter do?