# Introducing modal, new lua port of Tidal

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228>\
**Category:** Announcements\
**Created:** [19 June 2024 16:23 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228 "2024-06-19T16:23:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![noe](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/noe/32/2878_2.png) [@noe](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/noe)\
**Post date:** [19 June 2024 16:23 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228/1 "2024-06-19T16:23:40Z")

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I have worked on this project called Xi, the moonscript port of tidal at the beginning of this year, inspired by [tranquility](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/tranquility-tidalcycles-in-lua/4568).

Later I went back to lua for its dev tooling as this project got larger and more messy. So this is just awkwardly "the other lua port" for now...

[modal](https://github.com/noearc/modal)  
[modal wiki, where I document the process and ideas](https://github.com/noearc/modal/wiki)

Recently, I got quite some mileage so I want to rebrand it and share it with the community again.

There's at least three selling point in this project:

1. `Maxi-notation`, which will give us the ability to write stuff like

2. `Tooling`, I am working on two pieces of tooling that nowadays are the standard for new programming languages: a `Language Server` and a `tree-sitter` grammar.

3. `Run everywhere`, becuase lua is a tiny language that runs everywhere, modal can run everywhere, browsers, servers, game engines, embedded devices etc.

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**Author:** ![noe](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/noe/32/2878_2.png) [@noe](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/noe)\
**Post date:** [19 June 2024 16:40 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228/2 "2024-06-19T16:40:12Z")

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@yaxu @xinniw

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**Author:** ![xinniw](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/xinniw/32/1668_2.png) [@xinniw](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/xinniw)\
**Post date:** [29 June 2025 19:54 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228/3 "2025-06-29T19:54:56Z")

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Hi! I've been away from the forum for (eek) quite a long time. I also sort of just stopped working on tranquility as life got in the way. I'm really excited to see someone moving the idea of lua tidal forward!!

Its super exciting for all the reasons you mentioned!

Maybe there is some way I can help out when I get more time...

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**Author:** ![b0id](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/b0id/32/3256_2.png) [@b0id](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/b0id)\
**Post date:** [9 September 2025 00:03 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/introducing-modal-new-lua-port-of-tidal/5228/4 "2025-09-09T00:03:27Z")

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So, while I haven’t begun to port Tidal to Lua, I have started successfully at an implementation of highlights for Neovim, similar to Pulsar or Strudel. There is some Supercollider relevant scripts there, and also a ton of lua (some of it is slop and I apologize) The whole project was written in a week, and still needs a lot of polish/bug finding. [GitHub - b0id/HighTideLight.nvim: HighTideLight.nvim is a Neovim plugin that enhances the Tidal live coding experience by providing real-time visual feedback. Currently in active development.](https://github.com/b0id/HighTideLight.nvim/tree/master)