Though Csound is my preferred computer music language, I do love exploring the other options. The other big name in computer music languages is SuperCollider, obviously. I spent significant time with SC2 back when it was still a commercial app, and then didn’t touch SC until recently when I picked up The SuperCollider Book.
One of my self-imposed exercises to relearn the platform was to do a piece in the vein of sc140, a collection of SuperCollider compositions that fit in a tweet were curated by Dan Stowell.
fork{{play{var a,x=333;{var t=x=9.rand+1/3*x;a=a.add(SinOsc.ar([t,t+4]))}!9;Mix.new(a)*EnvGen.kr(Env.perc,2,0.1,0,1,2)};0.8.rand.wait}!9999}This exercise proved to be quite a success. Not necessarily for the final piece, but because this process forced me to seriously dig through the language and materials in order educate myself on various tips, tricks and hacks necessary to make everything fit in 140 characters; I’m certain it could be further optimized.