Coding livecoding

Abstract

Livecoding is an artistic programming practice in which an artist's low-level interaction can be observed with sufficiently high fidelity to allow for transcription and analysis. This paper presents the first reported "coding" of livecoding videos. From an identified corpus of videos available on the web, we coded performances of two different livecoding artists, recording both the (textual) programming edit events and the musical effect of these edits. Our analysis includes a novel, transition-matrix visualisation of the textual and musical dimensions of this data to create a "performer fingerprint". We show how detailed transcriptions of livecoding videos can be made which, we hope, will provide a foundation for further research into describing and understanding livecoding.