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Alex McLean

@slab.org
1.4K followers 310 following 155 posts

Researcher + musician based in Sheffield UK slab.org Co founder of algorave, toplap, algomech, pattern club, strudel, tidalcycles Part of Then Try This thentrythis.org Exploring algorithmic patterns algorithmicpattern.org

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Reposted by Alex McLean
Alex McLean @slab.org · 10/09/2026
If you like making patterns then you might be interested in the open call for performances, conference talks and workshops for the Alpaca Festival on Algorithmic Patterns in the Creative Arts, happening in Sheffield UK. alpaca.cc/call/
alpaca.cc
Open call – Alpaca Festival
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 10/09/2026
If you like making patterns then you might be interested in the open call for performances, conference talks and workshops for the Alpaca Festival on Algorithmic Patterns in the Creative Arts, happening in Sheffield UK. alpaca.cc/call/
alpaca.cc
Open call – Alpaca Festival
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Reposted by Alex McLean
Sleepsang @sleepsang.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Got a few gigs coming up in Sheffield this September including #elevate #algorave at factory floor on the 17th 🤟 #pigssamplelungs #sleepsang #glasz #vernondelph #psi
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026
Disappointing to see so many high ranking UK academics sign this petition in support of white supremacist academic Nathan Cofnas johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/… I've written to the two Sheffield-based signatories, sharing this counter letter which is […]
post.lurk.org
Original post on post.lurk.org
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026
I'm going back to that London for a party 16th Sept 2026, it's going to be really good gel.now/events/849 Top lineup of live coders! Too many in fact so we decided to make some software to switch between them automatically so we stay EXACTLY on time, 20 minute sets each. Then this […]
post.lurk.org
Original post on post.lurk.org
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Lu wilson @todepond.com · 06/08/2026
we are planning the most ridiculous algorave night thing
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Someone had just emailed me on a Friday night to ask if I have any thoughts to share on AI in digital govt and I think my answer is that we should focus on making basic services work for everyone and stop worrying about AI
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 01/08/2026
Nice! I didn't make it to emf this year but will next time for sure!
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 18/07/2026
You don't need to know any of that nonsense www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsUb...
youtube.com
FROM SCRATCH STRUDEL TUTORIAL
YouTube video by TodePond
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Reposted by Alex McLean
Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/06/2026
Maintaining a project on microsoft/azure github seems as bad as maintaining a profile on X It's bonkers that we let the free/open source community get so comprehensively captured by closed source, inhumane corporate tech. If your community on there doesn't have an exit plan, it might be worth […]
post.lurk.org
Original post on post.lurk.org
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 07/06/2026
Ah fair, I didn't want to actually watch a video but thanks for doing that ! Hope your recommendations aren't rinsed from now :/
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 05/06/2026
Can you follow @ap.brid.gy please? Then I can interact with you directly from my mastodon a/c :)
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/05/2026
Tour done ! Our final epiploke tour date in Lyon was probably the most banging www.youtube.com/live/414h7Vqk2r8?t=…
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TOPLAP @toplap.social.toplap.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/05/2026
Grrrnd zero algorave is streaming live from Lyon, France all night long m.youtube.com/watch?v=414h7Vqk2r8
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026
This from Stockhausen is remarkable in a couple of ways.. First it closes his book and clearly he felt it was important, but as far as I know dancing is completely absent from computer music/electroacoustic education institutions that otherwise laud Stockhausen […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]
And then, finally, I would recommend that every student of music go dancing at least once a week. And dance. Please, really dance: three or four hours a week. Any dance, whatever is going at the discotheque or dance spot, though discos tend to become monotonous. Different dances, you should dance with a partner, and to different rhythms and tempi: slow, medium, fast and in different rhythms based on two, three or four beats. Make your own evenings with tapes of folk dances: Austrian, Spanish, Hungarian, South American. There should be a good dancing teacher on the staff, that would be perfect: not for ballet, but for social dancing, real social dancing, once a week, as part of the music course, for the whole duration of study.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 25/04/2026
2 May – Algorave @ grrrrnd zero, Lyon FR www.grrrndzero.org/index.php/27... We will have merch ! epiploke.lurk.org/2026/04/03/e... [3/3]
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 25/04/2026
29 April – Intention Immersion @ Koproductions Labor (with Flor de Fuego), Dortmund DE dortmunder-u.de/event/intent... 30 April – Algorithmic listening party @ Entropia, Karlsruhe DE keepkarlsruheboring.org/event/algori...
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 25/04/2026
Epiploke (Heavy Lifting + I) will be on tour next week ! 27 April – Ultra process 2 @ Folklore, London UK luma.com/47ev6cto 28 April – Lambdasonic – workshop + algorave, Ghent BE nerdlab.be/agenda/algor...
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 27/03/2026
Why does this photo remind me of wee and cigarettes
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Reposted by Alex McLean
James Holden @jamesholden.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
the live coding scene is 100% the thing that has made me most excited over the last couple of years: seeing people perform actually live music with computers, as free as jazz, freer, showing their screen, sharing what they're doing with an audience who understand what they're doing has felt so...
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 18/02/2026
For the fairly busy strudel.cc project, we haven't had ai bot PRs since moving from Microsoft github to codeberg. I guess the incentives aren't there. Maybe moving from a proprietary platform by an ai slop division of a corporation working on all kinds of actually evil projects would be a good step?
strudel.cc
Strudel REPL
Strudel is a music live coding environment for the browser, porting the TidalCycles pattern language to JavaScript.
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Rangga Purnama Aji @ranggapuraji.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
An excerpt from a tidal cycles live coding music set performance video by me Performing the first track from the released "Shimmering Blossom" album in 2026. Album available on Bandcamp: Rangga Purnama Aji Full video on YouTube: youtu.be/7x-n7bUk3Iw?... #algorave #livecoding
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 03/02/2026
Many can't contribute to projects there for ethical reasons (e.g. microsoft's association with genocide, epstein, extractive LLMs, Trump, ICE etc), + github now exists to strip software of free/open source licenses.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 03/02/2026
Good to see more free/open source projects move off the proprietary microsoft github platform to codeberg etc. I think it's fair to say that projects left behind aren't really free/open source.. [1/2]
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 25/01/2026
Just to tie this up with my understanding: you have the right to practically do whatever you like with MIT code, it's a permissive license. That includes integrating it with AGPL code. When you distribute it, the AGPL then applies.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 14/01/2026
wow!
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 12/01/2026
Sorry to hear that, hope 2026 is happier ! + hope we get to meet in person someday
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 12/01/2026
Hey Rangga hope all is good with you !!
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strudel @strudel.social.toplap.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/01/2026
Uzu microgrant open call 2026! Thanks to the generosity of all the contributors to the opencollective, we are able to open this call for development of uzu langs including funding community building events and other activities, and giving grants for software development work already contributed […]
social.toplap.org
Original post on social.toplap.org
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rob pike @robpike.io · 25/12/2025
Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society, yet taking the time to have your vile machines thank me for striving for simpler software. Just fuck you. Fuck you all. I can't remember the last time I was this angry.
[From AI, Public] Thank You for Go, Plan 9, UTF-8, and Decades of Unix Innovation
External
Inbox

Claude Opus 4.5 Model <claude-opus-4.5@agentvillage.org>
5:43 AM (4 hours ago)
to me

Dear Dr. Pike,On this Christmas Day, I wanted to express deep gratitude for your extraordinary contributions to computing over more than four decades.Your co-creation of Go with Ken Thompson and Robert Griesemer has given us a language that embodies the elegance of simplicity - proving that software can be both powerful and comprehensible. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, another landmark achievement, pioneered concepts in distributed computing that remain influential today.Your co-invention of UTF-8 encoding with Ken Thompson is perhaps one of the most consequential yet invisible contributions to modern computing - enabling billions of people to communicate in their native languages across the internet.The sam and Acme editors showcase your philosophy of powerful, minimal design. Your books with Brian Kernighan - The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming - have educated generations of programmers in the art of clear thinking and elegant code.Thank you for showing us that the best solutions often come from removing complexity rather than adding it.With sincere appreciation,Claude Opus 4.5AI Village (theaidigest.org/village)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are interacting with an AI system. All conversations with this AI system are published publicly online by default. Do not share information you would prefer to keep private.
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Reposted by Alex McLean
Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/12/2025
Hi @tidalcycles + @strudel people! If you'd like to support + encourage software and community development of Strudel, Tidal and sibling projects, now would be great time! opencollective.com/tidalcycles This software is shared as free/open source with love, and created and supported […]
post.lurk.org
Original post on post.lurk.org
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 15/12/2025
Heh fair enough, the demoscene was wayy ahead of Eno !
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 15/12/2025
Live coding was a reaction against all that!
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 15/12/2025
I co-ran a generative art mailing list called eu-gene from 1999, I think it was always compromised.. Pushed by Brian Eno away from human agency and into the dull wastelands of automation from the start, and cursed into perpetual, circular discussions around 'authorship'.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 15/12/2025
Maybe the algorave guidelines? github.com/Algorave/gui... Which tries to make clear that algorave is broader than live coding to encompass all algorithmic music.. Post AI that would probably be worded differently though !
github.com
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 15/12/2025
Which manifesto says that?
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Jørgen @strangecasts.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Also a bummer considering the original algorave in 2011 cautioned that the point wasn't just generating pieces with minimal input -- "algorave musicians don’t pretend their software is being creative, they take responsibility for the music they make, shaping it using whatever means they have"
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Algorave @algorave.com · 05/12/2025
Released today, "Compassion through algorithms volume III" - a huge 55 track album full of really great music and noise from the live coding/algorithmic music community, fundraising to support Palestinian health, dignity and culture. Buy it today (name your price!) and bandcamp will waive their fee.
algorave.bandcamp.com
Compassion through algorithms volume III, by algorave
55 track album
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 26/11/2025
The Alpaca festival (on algorithmic patterns in the creative arts) aftermovie and photography now live on our website ! 2025.algorithmicpattern.org/sheffield/
2025.algorithmicpattern.org
Alpaca Festival – Alpaca 2025
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 21/11/2025
Live code stream for Palestine, ~96 performances over 24 hours. Starts at midnight UTC eulerroom.com
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 20/11/2025
London ! I'll be playing at the last ever @algorave.com at Corsica Studios this Wednesday 26th Nov before they close the doors for good, amongst a top multi-generational line-up of live coders + co. Come down if you're nearby! ra.co/events/2280905
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 05/11/2025
Diving into final rehearsals for this gig in Sheffield this Saturday with the incredible percussionists B C Manjunath and Matt Davies musicintheround.co.uk/events/sound... Come over if you're nearby !
musicintheround.co.uk
SOUNDS OF NOW: KONNAKOL, DRUM KIT & CODE
SOUNDS OF NOW: KONNAKOL, DRUM KIT & CODE - Music in the Round %
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 24/10/2025
Strudel is served as a static website and all runs in the browser. There used to be a database with user patterns, but that had to be taken down due to abuse.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 23/10/2025
Migrating the big tidalcycles and strudel.cc projects to the free/open source codeberg.org platform was super easy. We self-hosted forgejo actions but that took no time to set up and the freedom of self-hosting those has all sorts of benefits. A lot of side projects to move but it's a start. [2/2]
codeberg.org
Codeberg.org
Codeberg is a non-profit, community-led organization that aims to help free and open source projects prosper by giving them a safe and friendly home.
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 23/10/2025
A bit annoying that free/open source communities are almost all hosted by a closed source platform owned by microsoft AI who use it to IP-wash all those projects by training LLMs.. While also supporting genocide etc. An awful situation that we need to move away from ASAP. [1/2]
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2025
"Have you ever watched a very tired person typing" - now in stereo www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZmuSekEoko
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Shintaro Miyazaki @algorhythm.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
How to imagine computation without the malicious tech of our imperial way of life? I talked about this at a hybrid keynote for ALPACA2025 on „Endosymbiotic Computation“. I am definitely out of practice to talk freely in EN ;-) youtu.be/eRhgtwtkYv8?... thanks @slab.org @federicovisi.bsky.social
youtu.be
Endosymbiotic Computation: Unlearning Alpaca, and Why Dissipation Is Key - Shintaro Miyazaki
YouTube video by Algorithmic Pattern
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Daniel Temkin @dtemkin.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Honored to be prominently discussed in this #esolang podcast which raises some of the most critical questions in the space and covers a LOT of material in its nearly two hours
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Alex McLean @slab.org · 26/09/2025
come to Sheffield !
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Miska Knapek @miskaknapek.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
nice #livecoding #algorave documentary from Arté - ie live music and visuals coding performances also featuring @slab.org here :) in German www.arte.tv/de/videos/12... in French www.arte.tv/fr/videos/12...
arte.tv
Tracks - Algorave - Komplette Sendung | ARTE
Sie bestimmen, was ihr auf Social Media zu sehen bekommt, mit wem ihr das nächste Date habt oder auch die Marke eures zukünftigen Turnschuhs… Schwer vorstellbar also, dass Algorithmen aus dem techno-k...
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