# Cybernetic Control?

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/cybernetic-control/6222>\
**Category:** TidalCycles\
**Tags:** questions\
**Created:** [21 September 2026 15:54 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/cybernetic-control/6222 "2026-09-21T15:54:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![blizzy](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/blizzy/32/3116_2.png) [@blizzy](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/blizzy)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2026 15:54 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/cybernetic-control/6222/1 "2026-09-21T15:54:32Z")

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Hello! Kind of an open-ended question here. Been interested in musical cybernetics (see [La Synthèse Humaine](https://www.youtube.com/@lasynthesehumaine6932) and Nathan Ho's [blogpost](https://nathan.ho.name/posts/cybernetic-synthesis/) for deeper discussion in the modular and Supercollider domains) for a long time and am wondering if it's possible to implement in Tidal, maybe with the assistance other gear or software. To oversimplify, I want to use feedback for control.

I know that Tidal is generally best as the 'brains' of a system-- you send patterns to superdirt/midi/etc, and doesn't so easily take in external instructions (at least in my experience). In this case I'm not looking for _external_ control exactly, but I do want the control pattern to be influenced by the audio output or another control pattern which is influenced by the first, and so on and so on... want to explore the blurred line between synthesis and sequencing, as Nathan kinda put it.

I imagine it could involve some chain of [conditions](https://tidalcycles.org/docs/reference/conditions), maybe somehow using Supercollider and Haskell trickery to generate a number to be referenced by the [binary](https://tidalcycles.org/docs/reference/conditions#ascii--binary--binaryn) function, something like that?Or maybe sending midi to [cycseq](https://github.com/thgrund/cycseq) to trigger different patterns which send midi to cycseq etc? Just not sure how one would manipulate the 'base' control pattern, or if you'd have to compromise and start with some 'seed' so to speak.

I looove orchestrating audio feedback using [cross orbit routing](https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/blob/master/hacks/cross-orbit-rounting.scd) and using [tidal-looper](https://github.com/thgrund/tidal-looper) or [inr](https://tidalcycles.org/docs/reference/synthesizers/#audio-input) to sample tidal manipulated by outboard gear, and think this could be a really cool way to extend the idea. I think cybernetics is an open enough paradigm that you could approach this from a lot of angles. Obviously this is more naturally explored in Supercollider/Pure Data/modular but I believe Tidal's malleable enough to get something going.

-May / frogonbough