mondo notation

[felixroos]

implements a new kind of notation that combines mini notation with the ability to call functions. some links:

• Think about full DSL / "mondo notation" #96
• https://garten.salat.dev/uzu/uzulang1.html
• https://garten.salat.dev/uzu/uzulang2.html
• https://garten.salat.dev/uzu/uzulang3.html

most mini notation features work, but there might still be bugs. would be good to get a first version out in the next release. i'd like to playtest it in nudel.cc then

features

brackets

• [] => stepcat(...args).setSteps(1)
• <> => stepcat(...args).pace(1)
• {} => stepcat(...args)
• () => function application (see more info below)

infix operators

• * => fast
• / => slow
• ! => extend
• @ => expand
• % => pace
• ? => degradeBy (currently requires right operand)
• : => tail
• .. => range
• | => chooseIn
• , or $ => stack

quotes

you can use both "" and '' to get a string, where the contents can be anything (except the string delimiter itself). (escape characters currently don't exist)

comments

like in js, you can write line comments starting with "//". block comments do not exist for the time being

function application

• a b # c d => (c d (a b)) applies to the left side, e.g. s bd # fast 2 => (fast 2 (s bd))
• (# a b) => (lambda (_) (_ # a b)) returns a lambda that transforms its input, e.g. s bd # sometimes (# crush 4)

removed

• a b # (c d) => a (c d b) applies to the nearest left element, e.g. s bd # (fast 2) = (s (fast 2 bd))
• $ => applies function to the right, e.g. fast 2 $ s bd = (fast 2 (s bd))

desugaring

all features above are "syntax sugar" for plain s-expressions. it means the parser will output a syntax tree that can only contain lists or leaf values.

Examples

mondo snippet:

$ note (c2 # euclid <3 6 3> <8 16>) # *2 
  # s "sine" # add (note [0 <12 24>]*2)
  # dec(sine # range .2 2) # room .5
  # lpf(sine/3 # range 120 400)
  # lpenv(rand # range .5 4)
  # lpq(perlin # range 5 12 # * 2)
  # dist 1 # fm 4 # fmh 5.01 # fmdecay <.1 .2>
  # postgain .6 # delay .1 # clip 5

$ s [bd bd bd bd] # bank tr909 # clip .5
  # ply<1 [1 [2 4]]>

$ s oh*4 # press # bank tr909 # speed .8
  # dec (<.02 .05>*2 # add (saw/8 # range 0 1))

strudel equivalent:

$: note("c2(<3 6 3>, <8 16>").fast(2)
.s("sine").add(note("[0 <12 24>]*2"))
.dec(sine.range(.2, 2)).room(.5)
.lpf(sine.slow(3).range(120,400))
.lpenv(rand .range(.5, 4))
.lpq (perlin .range(5, 12) .fast(2))
.dist(1).fm(4).fmh(5.01).fmdecay("<.1 .2>")
.postgain(.6).delay(.1).clip(5)

$: s("bd bd bd bd").bank("tr909").clip(.5)
.ply("<1 [1 [2 4]]>")

$: s("oh*4").press().bank("tr909").speed(.8)
.dec("<.02 .05>*2".add(saw.slow(8).range(0, 1)))

same mondo snippet with minimal number of spaces:

$note c2#(euclid 3#(mul<1 2 1>)<8 16>)#*2 
#s"sine"#add(note[0 <12 24>]*2)
#dec(sine#range.2 2)#room.5
#lpf(sine/3#range 120 400)
#lpenv(rand#range.5 4)
#lpq(perlin#range 5 12#*2)
#dist 1#fm 4#fmh 5.01#fmdecay<.1 .2>
#postgain.6#delay.1#clip 5

$s[bd bd bd bd]#bank tr909#clip.5
#ply<1 [1 [2 4]]>

$s oh*4#press#bank tr909#speed.8
#dec<.02 .05>*2#(add(saw/8#range 0 1))

in the repl, mondo notation has to be enclosed with mondo`` . maybe we can find a solution to switch languages in the future. highlighting also works :)

new packages

• mondo with parser and evaluator (no ties to strudel)
• @strudel/mondo ties together mondo and strudel

breaking change: control functions call signature

this PR also comes with a breaking change:
so far, control functions would interpret multiple arguments as a sequence (fastcat). i've changed to to either accept 1 or 2 arguments. when given 2 arguments, the function will do a union. so essentially, the function then behaves like it was chained. (because mondo doesn't use method chaining)

other changes

• the core package now exports a strudelScope object, containing all the changes made to the global scope. it's the scope that is used for mondo evaluation
• made arp + arpWith top level functions using register
• the transpiler now exports registerLanguage, allowing to add a new language that can have highlighting
• setting s to "-" or "~" in superdough will also result in silence now
• adds tri, sqr, saw, sin shortcuts for waveforms
• add sin sqr cos aliases for signals removed

problems

there are some name collisions between variables in the scope and strings:

• sine (the sound) vs sine (the signal)
• square (the sound) vs square (the signal)

this means: s sine will not work, because sine will be a signal. instead s 'sine' has to be used atm... how this could be solved:

• avoiding the problem by adding aliases that don't collide (for some reason i've added aliases on both sides atm :D)
• doing some kind of type inference.. patterns would need types and the interpreter could then choose the fitting type

things mondo cant do (yet?)

how to write lists?

arrange(
  [4, "<c a f e>(3,8)"],
  [2, "<g a>(5,8)"]
).note()

how to write objects:

samples({ rave: 'rave/AREUREADY.wav' }, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples')

how to access array indices?

note("<[c,eb,g]!2 [c,f,ab] [d,f,ab]>").arpWith(haps => haps[2])

what else?

[yaxu]

After discussion on discord, to consider:

• swapping . for #, seems a bit easier on the eye
• using _ for a rest/gap instead of - (maybe still as well as ~)

I think that was the main things