LIVE MARKET CODING

Introduction

LIVE MARKET CODING is a sound generation environment based on the theme of a capitalist supermarket. Use text commands to create a live sound composition by manipulating your cart and adding products with different attributes. This sonic experience provides a playful critique of consumerism and capitalism, transforming the act of shopping into musical creation.

Basic Commands

Cart Manipulation

The cart represents the rhythm section of your composition. Different wheel types produce different rhythms.

my cart has square wheels    // Basic square rhythm
my cart has broken wheels   // Irregular rhythm
my cart has premium wheels  // Precise, consistent rhythm
my cart has defective wheels // Glitchy rhythm
my cart has bargain wheels  // Fast but inconsistent
my cart has luxury wheels   // Precise with subtle variations
my cart has no wheels       // Silence

Adding Products

Products are synths that create the melody and sound textures. Each product has its own distinctive sound.

add beer                    // Adds a beer (FM synth with harmonics)
add salad                   // Adds a salad (square wave AM synth)
add ham                     // Adds ham (sawtooth mono synth)
add milk                    // Adds milk (plucked string synth)
add chips                   // Adds chips (white noise synth)
// etc.

Special Modes

Modes affect the overall sound and ambiance.

discount mode on            // Discount mode - random detuning
inflation mode on           // Inflation mode - gradually increasing pitch
consumerism mode on         // Consumerism mode - product enhancement
black_friday mode on        // Black Friday mode - total chaos
aisle_7 ambience on         // Aisle 7 mode - eerie reverb
fluorescent_lights flicker on // Flicker mode - subtle tremolo

All modes can be deactivated by replacing on with off.

Product Modifiers

Modifiers change the sound characteristics of products. Add them before the product name.

Pitch Modifiers

Modifier	Effect
fresh	Increases pitch by one octave
old	Decreases pitch by one octave

Filter Modifiers

Modifier	Effect
strong	Low-pass filter, emphasizes bass
flavorless	High-pass filter, emphasizes treble

Effect Modifiers

Modifier	Effect
cheap	Bitcrusher effect, quality reduction
expensive	Reverb, more spacious sound
processed	Chorus, thicker sound
industrial	Distortion, dirty sound
overpriced	Phaser, sweeping sound
vomit	Chebyshev, extreme distortion
artisanal	Tremolo, undulating volume
bargain	Delay with moderate feedback
luxury	Significant reverb
artificial	Vibrato, undulating pitch
mass-produced	Intensive bitcrusher
addictive	Ping-pong delay, stereo repetitions

Combined Examples

add fresh strong beer        // Fresh, strong beer
add old flavorless expensive milk // Old, flavorless, expensive milk
add cheap processed industrial ham // Cheap, processed, industrial ham

Special Parameters

These parameters add specific characteristics to products.

Nutriscore

Modifies the key of the product.

add beer nutriscore A       // Beer in A key
add ham nutriscore C        // Ham in C key

Shelf Life

Sets the repetition frequency of the product.

add milk shelflife today    // Very fast repetition
add wine shelflife decade   // Very slow repetition

Options: today, week, month, year, decade, forever

Product State

add beer open              // Open product, unpredictable behavior

Complex Combinations

add old beer nutriscore C shelflife month open

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Enter	Execute current line
Ctrl + Shift + Enter	Execute all lines
Ctrl + R	Generate a random command
Escape	Stop everything

Practical Tips

• Start by setting your cart wheels to establish a basic rhythm.
• Add products one by one to understand their specific sound.
• Experiment with different modifiers to create interesting sound textures.
• Special modes can create powerful effects but are also more unstable.
• Use the random command generation to discover new combinations.
• If the sound becomes too chaotic, use the "Stop All" button and start over.

About

LIVE MARKET CODING is a livecoding art project developed by TOPLAP Strasbourg. It is part of a critical approach to capitalism and consumerism through an interactive sound experience.

For more information about TOPLAP Strasbourg and livecoding events, visit livecodingstrasbourg.github.io