The Objective-C inspired live coding synthesizer.

You don't need a flashy GUI. Just weave polyrhythm and acid baseline with brackets and semi-colon. Polynomial-C is a bizarre live coding instrument born for Syrobonkers.

The Code

Talk is cheap. Show me the code.

poly_acid_test.m


[tb303 play];
[tb303 setResonance:0.9];
[tb303 setFrequency:55.0];

async {
    float cutoff = 0.1;
    while(true) {
        [tb303 setCutoff:cutoff];
        [self wait:0.25];
        if (cutoff < 0.8) { cutoff = cutoff + 0.2; }
        else { cutoff = 0.1; }
    }
}

while(true) {
    [sampler setRate:1.5];
    [sampler play:"AmenBreak"];
    [self wait:0.375];
}

Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for objects, methods, and magic constants.

Category	Syntax / Methods	Description
Core Syntax	[receiver method:value]; async { ... } int, float, string, array	Objective-C style message passing. Spawns a new parallel thread for polyrhythms. Statically typed variable declarations.
tb303	[tb303 play]; [tb303 release]; [tb303 setFrequency:110.0]; [tb303 setCutoff:0.85]; [tb303 setResonance:Maximum];	Triggers the synthesizer envelope. Releases and stops the synthesizer. Sets the oscillator pitch in Hz. Adjusts the low-pass filter (0.0 to 1.0). Adjusts the filter resonance.
sampler	[sampler play:"Kick"]; [sampler setRate:1.5];	Plays a .wav file from the project root. Changes playback speed and pitch.
self	[self wait:0.25]; [self customMethod];	Pauses the current thread (in seconds). Executes a user-defined void function.
Constants	MaximumMinimumAcidBraindanceFrequencyHigh	Built-in float variables designed specifically for quick Braindance sound shaping.

Objective-C Syntax

Hardcore audio engine controlled by [receiver message] paradigm.

True Concurrency

Don't get tied up to a single timeline. Spin dozens of loops simultaneously in perfectly isolated threads to create polyrhythms.

Built-in TB-303 & Sampler

Built-in analog modeling synth and .wav sampler ready to use immediately without separate plug-in settings.

Download & Quick Start

[ Download .dmg for macOS ][ View Source Code ]

How to Acid:

Mount Polynomial-C.dmg and copy the app to the Applications folder.
Put Kick.wav or your favorite sample in the project root.
Press Cmd + R, enter [tb303 play]; and click Compile and Run to turn on the speaker.

SYS_NOTE // QUARANTINE_OVERRIDEIf macOS prevents the app from opening, simply Right-Click ➔ Open the app, or run xattr -cr /Applications/Polynomial-C.app in your terminal to clear the quarantine flag.