bit beat logo

---bit beat---

an image of bit beat running side by side from command line and a nintendo ds

---bit beat--- is a minimalist live coding tool made with UXN

To use it you will need the following:

  • The ---bit beat--- ROM. Download here
  • The UXN Emulator. Download here
  • You will also need SDL2 installed. UXN uses this to interact with controllers, keyboard, mouse etc.

    • Put the uxnemu file and the beat_bit1.0.rom file in the same folder

    Run this from command line inside the folder

    ./uxnemu ./beat_bit1.0.rom

    Commands

    F1 # increase screen size

    Tab # switches between the four voices

    Shift + Backspace # will delete the entire line of text.

    rhythm: r 80808480 # the letter r followed by an 8 digit hex number. The bits correspond to the rhythm e.g. r 80808080 would be 10000000100000001000000010000000 or 4 quarter notes

    pitch: n[60 63 67] # the letter n followed by an array of midi values. i.e. 60 = middle C. The collection of pitches will be iterated through repeatedly

    waveform: i 1 # the letter i followed by a single digit that represents the waveform. Currently: #01=sin #02=tri #03=saw #04=violin #05=piano #06=noize #07=noise-rand #08=kick-drum

    bitshift: f # the letter f will bitshift the rhythm and then add it to itself. A quick way to create some rhythmic variation