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Markdown
296 lines
No EOL
12 KiB
Markdown
# Orca-Workshop
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Orca is an esoteric programming language and live editor designed to quickly create procedural sequencers.
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Orca is one of the inventions of Devine Lu Linvega of the small artist collective 'Hundred Rabbits'.
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In this workshop we will:
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1. Look at a few orca demos to get an impression
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2. Get an orca setup running on your machine
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3. Get a very quick language overview
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4. Play through some tutorials together
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5. Get hooked and get lost in the rabbithole of orca
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Please find a collection of orca resources at the end of this document.
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## Installation
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### Orca
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There are many implementations of Orca.
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The ones that work well for this workshop are:
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* Easy setup: electron/js
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* Advanced setup: ANSI-C implementation
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#### Easy setup
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The quickest way to get started on any platform is to just use the 'fancy' electron framework version. I recommend doing that for the workshop, to avoid the "install-party" effect.
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Download and run the binary release. The source link is just for your reference.
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* Binary release: https://hundredrabbits.itch.io/orca
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* Source/Docs: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca
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#### Advanced Setup
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My favourite setup though, is running the ANSI-C version in [Cool-Retro-Term](https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term).
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Orca AND Cool-Retro-Term are available in many package managers, have a look in yours. Maybe you are lucky...
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Of course you can run this version of orca in any terminal.
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* Source/Docs: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca-c
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### Pilot
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Orca cant make any sounds on its own, it can only generate MIDI, OSC or UDP output.
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Pilot is a 'companion' program (from hundredrabbits as well) that is a fun little synthesizer and is very easy to use with orca over UDP.
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Download and run the binary release. The source link is just for your reference.
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* Binary release: https://hundredrabbits.itch.io/pilot
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* Source/Docs: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Pilot
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## Language Quick Overview
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* Esoteric Programming Language
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* 'Frame-Oriented' (execution model)
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* 26 operators `A`-`Z`
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* 1 datatype - Base36
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* Uppercase operators execute on every frame
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* Lowercase operators execute on a 'Bang'
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* Data is just Base36 numbers '0-9' and 'a-z'
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* I/O: no I just O. MIDI/OSC/UDP
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# Tutorial Main Function
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This is the Tutorial main function. Return here after every tutorial to decide what you wanna do next.
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Definitely, do the **Tutorial 1: First Bleeps**, first.
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If you are reading this you must be have completed **Tutorial 1: First Bleeps**. Congratulations! You did so, right?
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Your next options are:
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1.) You feel like the lazy beaver and just want to improve your bleepyness the easy way, and quickly sound
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like you know what your doing?
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**Tutorial 2a: CakeTracker** is for you
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2.) You feel more like the clever rabbit, you need the deep dive, and in the end you want to know more about orca than your
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fellow workshop-mates that just bleep-away with their 2 operators?
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**Tutorial 2b: ScopeHero** is for you.
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## Tutorial 1: First Bleeps
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In this tutorial we will only learn 2 of the 26 operators, and we will already be making polymetric noise.
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Isn't that great?
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Have a look into the directory `tutorials/1_first_bleeps/`.
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There is an orca program for each chapter.
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### 1. Bangs
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The 'bang' is the trigger that activates lower-case operators.
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There is technically only one operator that directly generates a bang. Its the operator `D`.
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* `D` - Delay, bang periodically (count / frame-modulo)
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```orca
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.................................................................
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..######.....#....#.....#..#####...####..........................
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..#.....#...#.#...##....#.##....#.#.....#........................
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..#.....#..#...#..#.#...#.#.......##.............................
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..######..##....#.#..#..#.#..####..#####.........................
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..#.....#.#######.#...#.#.#.....#.......##.......................
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..#.....#.#.....#.#....##.#.....#.#.....##.......................
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..######..#.....#.#.....#..#####...#####.........................
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.................................................................
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.................................................................
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...#.uppercase...#...#.lowercase......#..........................
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...#.executes....#...#.needs.a.bang...#..........................
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...#.evey.frame..#...#.to.execute.....#..........................
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.................................................................
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.............................D....#.D.bangs.periodically.#.......
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..................................#.*.is.a.bang.#................
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.........I.........i.........i...................................
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.........i...................0...................................
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.................................................................
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```
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### 2. First Bleeps
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Operators you learn in this chapter:
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* `;` - Send UDP packet (- / data)
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for synthesizing the actual waves we are using 'Pilot', a soft-synth which we control with UDP packets.
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So, the commands we send using the UDP output operator are actually Pilot commands, not orca.
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Pilot commands are 3-5 'bytes' long, where the first 3 are required.
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The format is: `CH` `OCT` `NOTE` [`VOL`] [`DECAY`]
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Where:
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* `CH` - Channels 1-f exist, they all sound different (and they are monophonic)
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* `OCT` - Around 8 octaves should definitely exist
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* `NOTE` - Note names where Upper-case are white keys and Lower-case are Black-keys
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* `VOL` - The Volume 0-z (even though the doc says 0-f, but hey we love clipping dont we?)
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* `DECAY` - The 'length' of the note, 0-f (?)
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Example:
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`;13C` - Pilot plays note 'C' of octave 3 (default volume and length)
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```orca
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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..#######.###.######...#####..#######.......######..#.......#######.#######.######...#####.......
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..#........#..#.....#.#.....#....#..........#.....#.#.......#.......#.......#.....#.#.....#......
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..#........#..#.....#.#..........#..........#.....#.#.......#.......#.......#.....#.#............
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..#####....#..######...#####.....#..........######..#.......#####...#####...######...#####.......
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..#........#..#...#.........#....#..........#.....#.#.......#.......#.......#.............##.....
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..#........#..#....#..#.....#....#..........#.....#.#.......#.......#.......#.......#.....##.....
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..#.......###.#.....#..#####.....#..........######..#######.#######.#######.#........######......
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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............................................D2...................................................
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......#.;.operator.send.UDP.#..........#....*;15C................................................
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......#.to.pilot............#....................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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............................................D3...................................................
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.......................................#.....;24E................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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............................................D5...................................................
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.......................................#.....;54G................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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............................................D7...................................................
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.......................................#.....;33G................................................
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.................................................................................................
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.................................................................................................
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```
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### Congrats
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Congratulations you have witnessed the easiest programming language to make a sound. 2 operators are all you need.
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Now return to the **Tutorial main function** to plan your next adventure.
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## Tutorial 2a: CakeTracker
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In this tutorial we will learn how, using only 4 more operators, we can melodize beethoven out of the water like a piece of cake.
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Have a look into the directory `tutorials/2a_caketracker/`.
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There is an orca program for each chapter.
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### 1. Counter
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In this chapter you learn 1 of 2 operators that can count.
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* `C` - Count (rate / modulo)
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### 2. Track
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The track lets us store a list and access its elements.
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* `T` - Track (index, length / list)
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You guessed it, using a counter you can now iterate the elements of a list
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### 3. Variables
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In this chapter you learn all the operators related to variables:
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* `V` - Variable, r/w single (Write: name / val | Read: - / name)
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* `K` - Kontakt, read multiple (Read: count / names)
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### 4. CakeTracker
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**Putting it all together**
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Using the values of our list (in track) as note-numbers, we are now the new-age melody heroes.
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Enjoy the eternal bleeps of the spotless beethoven.
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### Congrats
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Congratulations beethoven went home crying.
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Now return to the **Tutorial main function** to plan your next adventure.
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## Tutorial 2b: Scopehero
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This is a _very_ **empowering** tutorial with its 13 operators covered.
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Have a look into the directory `tutorials/2b_scopehero/`.
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There is an orca program for each chapter.
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### 1. Arithmetic
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In this chapter you learn (almost) all the operators to generate and manipulate numbers:
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* `C` - Count (rate / modulo)
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* `I` - Increment (increment / max)
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* `R` - Random (min / max)
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* `A` - Add (operand / operand)
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* `B` - Subtract (operand / operand)
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* `M` - Multiply (operand / operand)
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### 2. Variables
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In this chapter you learn all the operators related to variables:
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* `V` - Variable, r/w single (Write: name / val | Read: - / name)
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* `K` - Kontakt, read multiple (Read: count / names)
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### 3. Writer
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There are a number of operators to write data into the grid.
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In this chapter we only look at one:
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* `X` - Write (x, y / data )
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### 4. Flying Operators
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In this chapter you learn about all the _flying_ operators `\o/ \o/ \o/`:
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* `E` - East
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* `W` - West
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* `N` - North
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* `S` - South
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### 5. Scope
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**Putting it all together**
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Yay, by now we have already learned 15 operators, more than half of them all.
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Now we can combine them to create a 'scope' to visualize and debug any variable values.
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### 6. ScopeHero
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**Putting it even togetherererer**
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What is even more fun than 1 scope, is 3 scopes.
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Let generate 2 'signals', add them together to create a third signal, and use our scope technique to visualize whats going on.
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### Congrats
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Congratulations!!! You are hardcore! your mum must be so proud of you! All that bloody brain acrobatics without even one bleep, a real martyr.
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Now return to the **Tutorial main function** to plan your next adventure.
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## Resources
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### Orca
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#### General
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* Maybe the most official home of Orca: https://100r.co/site/orca.html
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* Docs/Examples: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/orca.html
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#### ANSI-C version
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* https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca-c
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#### JS/Electron version
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* Browser/online version: https://hundredrabbits.github.io/Orca/
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* Binaries (js/electron): https://hundredrabbits.itch.io/orca
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* Sources/Docs: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca
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### Pilot
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* Source/Docs: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/pilot |