Make music
with code.
Strudel is an open-source language for writing live music in the browser. Algoholic teaches you, one tiny pattern at a time — until you can improvise a set without thinking about syntax.
Three pillars. Each one a single satisfying click.
Sound
Trigger your first sample in 30 seconds. Banks of drums, synths, and field recordings — all loaded, no setup.
Rhythm
Learn pattern syntax — brackets, stars, rests, polymeters — by composing them and hearing the difference instantly.
Melody
Play notes, shape texture with filters and effects, and find the sound that's actually yours — not a tutorial's.
One loop, repeated until you can't unhear it.
Every Algoholic lesson is the same three beats. By chapter five it feels like a reflex.
Hear it.
Every concept starts with sound, not theory. You hit play, you hear the thing the lesson is about.
▸ press space to loop.
Tweak it.
A practice editor with helper buttons — no stuck staring at a blank line. Mess up safely.
▸ hit ⏎ to hear it
Pass the test.
A tiny check confirms your pattern does the thing. Then it sticks. Then the next one unlocks.
Algoholic is the bridge.
You hear the song.
You just can't type it.
- ▸ No prior code experience needed
- ▸ Helper buttons stand in for typing
- ▸ You'll learn syntax through your own ears
You can write code.
You can't write a hook.
- ▸ Skip the syntax lessons — jump to musicality
- ▸ Learn rhythm, voice leading, texture, mix
- ▸ Composition exercises, not "hello world"
Quick questions.
Strudel is a free, open-source live-coding environment for music — a JavaScript port of TidalCycles that runs in your browser at strudel.cc. It's the engine that makes the sound. Algoholic is a guided learning environment built on top of it: structured lessons, helper chips, and saved progress.
Nope. Algoholic teaches Strudel from the ground up — the first lesson assumes nothing more than 'I have ears.' Every concept is introduced with sound, then code, then a tiny exercise.
Also nope. The practice editor is half-typing, half-tappable: you can build your first patterns by clicking helper chips. You'll be writing fluently within a few hours.
Algoholic is free during alpha. We're figuring out the long-term shape — for now, sign up and use everything. Strudel itself is and will always be free and open-source at strudel.cc.
It's a style of performance where the music is written, edited, and rearranged on stage in front of the audience — code projected on screen. Algorave is the scene that grew up around it.
After the curriculum you'll be fluent enough in Strudel to leave Algoholic behind and write patterns directly at strudel.cc. That's the point — we're a ramp, not a walled garden.