Hello all! I have some questions regarding starting a live coding community in an area that currently lacks one. I am a 15 year old programmer who loves to make music. I discovered live coding and Tidal about a year ago, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. My only problem is that I live in the Washington D.C. area, where there seems to be little to no livecoding community, and even if there were, I am far enough from D.C. that being regularly involved in any communities there would be quite difficult. I would love to start a livecoding community where I live, but I have no idea how I could go about doing this. Do any of you have any advice?
3 Likes
Hey Rythmos. Pretty obviously is that you’ll need some folks interested in livecoding. But first you might want to cast your net wide by seeking out computer musicians in the broader DC area that are working with more codey/open-ended music-making platforms (e.g. Max/MSP, PureData, SuperCollider, Reaktor…) …I know that in Baltimore MICA has a sound-art focus where they teach students these more open-ended platforms and I’m sure there’s a community built around those. Probably some people livecoding as well.
It takes a while to build up a community so start small. Introduce these folks to Tidal, which is a great & fun introduction to livecoding performance. Organize a meet-up. And once you have enough people try to organize a concert.
I used to live in central Florida making experimental electronic music and it was always a struggle to get a critical mass of people together to build a community around this kind of practice. Me and a few other people were part of an organization called “Electronic SubSouth” where we tried to bring together the disparate people in different towns/cities interested in this work and doing small concerts/workshops in these various places. But North Florida is probably pretty different from DC -> you’re not so far from so many livecoding communities (maybe check out one of the livecoding meetups in New York some day?)
good luck! 
Thank you for your reply! I think I agree that it may be best to start small. Some of the communities you mentioned seem interesting. I also go to a school with a very large population of programmers who I could see enjoying music. The school is very flexible when it comes to student-run clubs, so I am considering starting a live coding club. My one other question is about the guidelines for organizing things affiliated with toplap and livecoding. While I have been live coding for a little, I am rather new to the community, and am not familiar with the guidelines/general procedures for organizing groups of livecoders, if there are any. If there are, what are some resources I could check out to familiarize myself with the guidelines? I also saw something about “applying for TOPLAP approval,” what is that and do I need it to start a community?
Live coding is happening in Richmond these days… not too far afield! LivecodeDMV has a nice ring to it
If the “applying for TOPLAP approval” verbiage came from where I think it did, I believe it was meant to be in jest. I would say the main thing is to have a code of conduct before you get started, maybe some other groups could share what they’ve written? The one at talk.lurk.org might be a good starting place. Try to emphasize diversity up front!
Ah ok good so I don’t have to fill out any paperwork or anything 
:. Also I’ve been meaning to check out talk.lurk.org, so I’ll go ahead and do that. Thanks for your reply!
1 Like
Hey guys! Old thread!
I just moved here (NoVa, right outside of DC) from Europe, and was wondering what the scene was around here…
Any followup on the above? 
I’m in Florida and it’s still mostly beach cafes and sports bars. lol
1 Like
Hey sorry for necro-bumping as well, but also looking for a group in Richmond, VA. I found LiveCodeRVA run by @sicchio though I’m not sure how to get involved with it…thanks.
Hey there. We haven’t really done anything since the pandemic started and our fav venue got evicted from their space in 2020 :-/
Would like to organize something for the Algorave 10th birthday in March and might do some other shows this spring (all of my band may be in one place for the first time in two years!).
Maybe I should should a node channel on the discord? Although I don’t check discord much. Best way to reach me is email.
1 Like
Hi sicchio. I saw that on their website (SEDIMENT) – unfortunate 
. Though keep me updated on when you guys decide to have another event, I am new to this.
Email is probably the best way to get in contact with me as well, or IRC / XMPP (fmlatghor@chatserver.space / fmlatghor on most networks). My email is leocoogan@tutanota.com. I believe I’m on the algorave mailing list, too.
1 Like
Great, will be in touch at some point soon.
1 Like
@rythmos there are people in the DC area! there were some algoraves at spacycloud last year
feel free to message me if you have more ?s! I’m originally from Baltimore and come up to the area sometimes
lol where in flaaarida? i’m in new orleans rn
We are finally planning an Algorave-ish event April 8th at VCU Depillars Gallery in Richmond and could use another performer or two. Reach out kate@sicchio.com if interested.