Musician turned Programmer turned Musician

TL;DR

A lifelong coder rediscovered music by using Strudel, a JavaScript live-coding tool, to compose beats entirely from Vim via Playwright automation.

Key Points

• 1.Timeline: learned basic programming from a 1999 game called Grail, switched to guitar in high school, abandoned music in 2010 after watching *The Social Network*, then returned 16 years later
• 2.The catalyst was an algorithm-served clip showing Strudel, a browser-based JavaScript live-coding environment where typed code produces music in real time using a "cycle" timing model
• 3.To avoid using a browser editor, he built a Bun server using Playwright so he could send code from Vim via curl commands directly into Strudel — keeping his workflow fully terminal-based
• 4.He created a custom DSL (domain-specific language) on top of Strudel's mini notation system, enabling rests, subgrouping, syncopation, and layered effects like reverb, low-pass filter, super saw, and sine-wave-modulated delay
• 5.He structured a full song by sequencing ranges: baseline alone for 2 cycles, baseline + bass drum for 2 cycles, then all three layers (high hat, bass drum, baseline) for 4 cycles