I started learning Tidal just over a year ago, and spent a good amount of time puzzling over the last paragraph of the What is a pattern? page on the userbase, with a lot of head scratching. Quoting it here:
A
ControlMap
is simply a dictionary (or map) for storing some values by name (using a string). As well as using it for external control values within the AState
datatype, we also use it to makeControlPattern
s. They are simply patterns of controlmaps, and are used for representing patterns of synthesiser messages. So for example thespeed
function insound "bd sn" # speed "2 3"
) turns a pattern of numbers into a pattern of controlmaps, the Asound
turns a pattern of words into a pattern of controlmaps, and the A#
composes them together into a new pattern of controlmaps. . Feel free to comment on the discussion page if something is unclear!
For the longest time, not knowing much Haskell, I figured I'd eventually figure out what the 'A' in the A State
, the A sound
, and the A #
referred to. Anyway, fascination with Tidal convinced me to buckle down and get some comfort with Haskell. And a year or so later, I'm feeling significantly more comfortable with Haskell, but I still haven't seen the 'A' outside of this paragraph. So I thought it was finally time to ask what it means . . .
Can anyone shine some light on this?