sprout-garden-sound-engine

Sprout Garden: Sound Engine

The garden plays music. Strudel makes it happen.

The Vision

The garden isn't just accompanied by music - the garden IS the composition.

Sprouts flowing through plots = notes triggering
Loops = rhythmic patterns
Parallel paths = polyphony
Transforms = timbral changes
The visualization IS the sequencer

Strudel Integration

Strudel is TidalCycles for the browser - live coding music through patterns. It's the perfect audio engine for Sprout Garden because both are fundamentally about patterns.

Why Strudel?

Feature	Benefit
Browser-native	No installation, works in same context as game
Pattern-based	Same mental model as garden flow
Web Audio API	High performance, low latency
TidalCycles heritage	Battle-tested pattern language
Open source	Can embed and extend

The Mapping

Garden Event          →  Strudel Pattern
─────────────────────────────────────────
Sprout enters plot    →  Note triggers
Plot type             →  Sound/instrument
Sprout color          →  Pitch or filter
Sprout shape          →  Sample or synth
Loop iteration        →  Pattern cycle
Fork (1→many)         →  Chord / polyphony
Grafter (many→1)      →  Note cluster
Tick                  →  Beat subdivision

Example Flow

Garden path:

🌱 → → ⚙️ → → 🎨 → → 🎯

Strudel pattern equivalent:

s("spring:emit vine vine gear:transform vine vine bloom:transform vine harvest:arrive")
  .sound("piano")
  .scale("C:pentatonic")

Each plot type maps to a note in the scale. The sequence of plots = the melody.

Architecture

Option 1: Event-Driven

Garden emits events, Strudel plays them:

// Garden simulation emits
garden.on('sprout:enter', (sprout, plot) => {
  strudel.trigger({
    sound: plotSounds[plot.type],
    note: colorToNote[sprout.color],
    duration: '8n'
  });
});

garden.on('sprout:transform', (sprout, before, after) => {
  strudel.trigger({
    sound: 'transform',
    note: shapeToNote[after.shape],
    fx: 'filter:sweep'
  });
});

Option 2: Pattern Generation

Garden generates Strudel pattern strings:

function gardenToPattern(path) {
  const notes = path.map(step => plotToNote(step.plot));
  return `s("${notes.join(' ')}")`;
}

// Execute the pattern
strudel.repl(gardenToPattern(sprout.lineage));

Option 3: Hybrid (Best)

Background pad: Strudel pattern loops based on garden structure
Event triggers: Individual sounds on sprout events
Generative: Pattern evolves as garden changes

// Background: garden structure → looping pattern
const backgroundPattern = generateBackgroundPattern(garden);
strudel.repl(backgroundPattern);

// Events: sprout movement → triggers
garden.on('tick', (sprouts) => {
  for (const sprout of sprouts) {
    triggerSproutSound(sprout);
  }
});

Sound Design

Plot → Sound Mapping

Plot	Sound	Character
Spring 🌱	Pluck/bell	Beginning, bright
Vine →	Quick blip	Movement, passing
Form Grower ⚙️	Mechanical click + tone	Transformation
Color Bloomer 🎨	Chime/shimmer	Color = pitch
Delay ⏱️	Sustained pad	Held note
Gate 🚧	Pass: ding / Block: thunk	Success/fail
Fork ⑂	Chord (split)	One becomes many
Grafter ⊕	Resolution chord	Many become one
Harvest 🎯	Resolution/arrival	Completion

Color → Pitch

Color	Note	Feeling
Red 🔴	C	Root, grounded
Green 🟢	E	Third, warmth
Blue 🔵	G	Fifth, open
Yellow 🟡	A	Sixth, bright

Pentatonic - can't hit a wrong note.

Shape → Instrument/Timbre

Shape	Instrument	Texture
Circle ●	Sine/pad	Smooth, round
Square ■	Square wave	Edgy, digital
Triangle ▲	Triangle wave	Hollow, flute-like
Star ★	Bell/pluck	Bright, sparkly

Loop → Rhythm

A loop in the garden creates a rhythmic pattern:

  ⊕ → ⚙️ → 🎨 → ❓
  ↑               ↓
  └───────────────┘

This is literally a musical loop. Each iteration = one bar/cycle.

Strudel pattern:

s("merge gear bloom check").loop()

Soundpacks

Same garden, different vibes:

Pack	Aesthetic	Use Case
Cartoon	Boings, bloops	Fun, kids
Chiptune	8-bit	Retro game
Glass	Crystal bells	Ambient, calm
Nature	Water, birds	Zen garden
Synth	Analog pads	Focus mode
Orchestra	Strings, woodwinds	Elegant
Techno	Kicks, hats	Daddy mode 🎧

Switch soundpack = same garden plays different genre.

Implementation Path

Phase 1: Basic Triggers

Load Strudel as dependency
Map plot types to sounds
Trigger on sprout events
Volume/mute control

Phase 2: Generative Background

Generate pattern from garden structure
Background pad based on garden "shape"
Tempo tied to tick rate

Phase 3: Full Integration

Garden edits = pattern edits (live coding!)
Export garden as Strudel pattern
Import Strudel pattern as garden (!)
Visualize sound patterns as garden paths

Phase 4: The Reverse

Parse Strudel patterns into gardens.

s("bd sd bd sd")

Becomes:

🌱 → 🔵 → 🟢 → 🔵 → 🟢 → 🎯
      kick  snare kick  snare

The pattern IS the garden. The garden IS the pattern.

Research Links

The Dream

A kid builds a garden. The garden plays music. They don't know they're composing.

An adult builds a workflow. The workflow plays music. They debug by ear.

A musician plays music. The music draws gardens. They compose visually.

Same thing. Different entry points.

🌱 = 🎵 = 🚂 = 📊

Slots

North

slots:
- sprout-garden

South

slots: []

East

slots: []

West

slots: []

↑ northsprout-garden