Live coding is process-first: you start with something and follow where it leads rather than executing a fully-formed idea

McLean rejects the notion of an efficiently-executed ‘musical vision’ as the point of a performance. Instead he frames live coding — and music generally — as exploratory: you begin with a small seed (a pattern, a function, a combination) and discover the piece by responding to what emerges. Pattern work suits this because it is ‘full of surprises’ — small changes to simple generators produce unforeseen results the performer then reacts to. Practically this reframes preparation (build a vocabulary of moves rather than a fixed set) and reduces the fear of the blank slate: the goal on stage is to learn something new with the tool, not to reproduce a rehearsed plan.

Examples

Yaxu’s solo sets deliberately built around trying a newly-added Tidal function or an untested combination live, treating the performance itself as exploration rather than reproduction. A beginner equivalent: starting a jam from one s "bd sn" line and mutating it, instead of pre-writing the whole track.

Assessment

Contrast a ‘process-first’ live-coding approach with a ‘plan-execution’ approach. Give one concrete rehearsal habit that supports the process-first stance on stage.