Match the BEA(M)T: Real-Time Generative Music with Elixir

What attendees will learn

• How to use Elixir's functional style to generate musical structures
• How to separate pure data modeling from effectful I/O (OSC → Sonic Pi)
• How to leverage BEAM processes and supervision trees in a concrete way
• How to connect FP theory (associativity, identity, immutability) with a fun, audible domain
• How to extend these techniques for creative coding or production-grade concurrent systems

Requirements

• Laptop with Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Headphones
• Ability to pull a prebuilt Docker image (or provided offline image if needed, I will bring an emergency USB stick)
• Basic knowledge of functional programming concepts (pattern matching, immutability, higher-order functions)

Agenda

• Setup & hello world sound (10 min): Docker image + first beep
• Elixir crash course for FP folks (15 min): syntax + FP similarities/differences
• Pure Functions → Sequences of Sound (20 min): Note struct, melody functions, send to Sonic Pi
• Concurrency as an Orchestra (40 min): processes as instruments, conductor process, supervision demo
• Generative transformations (30 min): streams, randomness, variations
• Jam session (15 min)
• Wrap-up & Q&A (20 min): lessons + discussion

Companies using this technology

Examples: WhatsApp, Discord, PagerDuty, BBC.

Financial services, telecom, and IoT companies leverage the BEAM's concurrency and fault tolerance.

Target audience roles

• Functional programming practitioners curious about Elixir and the BEAM
• Developers interested in concurrency, distributed systems, generative art
• Attendees who enjoy hands-on exploration and seeing functional principles applied in a playful, tangible way (music)