# ☕ Morning, 2026-07-30 — OPAL Day-5

**Everything from last night is superseded — that warning about ctrl+enter fading to
silence is FIXED and you confirmed it by ear ("no sample goes oblivion!! 👏"). This file
replaces it.**

Branch `claude/preload-eager-banks`, nothing pushed. Built while you were on the practice
recording and listening to the mix. Five things to check with your ears/eyes; everything
else is done and verified mechanically.

---

## 1. GIG BLOCKER — desire does not compile (5-second fix, but do it in Pulsar)

`live/collab/raph/desire.tidal:46` has `# pan 0.42plz /se` — committed, not a stray edit.
`plz` isn't a Tidal function. desire has **no blank lines**, so it's one do-block: this one
typo silences **every orbit**, d1 through d9. It's on the OPAL setlist.

**Fix in the editor, not on disk** — desire is in your dirty working tree and Pulsar saves
the buffer, so if your open tab already has the correction, a disk edit gets silently
reverted on your next save; if it doesn't, save after fixing. Change is one character:

```
-  # pan 0.42plz /se
+  # pan 0.42
```

Verify: `python3 tools/silent-eval.py --seeded live/collab/raph/desire.tidal` → should
print `desire: ok`.

---

## 2. Your practice take is packed, archived, and the mix is validated

You heard `mix/take94/take94_trimmed.wav` and called it clean but flagged the ~18min gap as
"not normal, a bad transition — cut it proper and fade". You were right and the tool was
wrong: three gaps (17s/18s/11s) all sat *just under* the trim threshold. Fixed — threshold
dropped to 10s, silences are now clamped to a 2s breath instead of removed whole, and every
cut fades (250ms) instead of butt-joining. Re-rendered: `mix/take94/take94_trimmed_v2.wav`
(18.75 min, all 5 gaps addressed including the one you named). **Give this one a listen —
it's the one that matters, not the v1 you already heard.**

Also done, no listening needed:
- `tools/take-lens.py pack 94 --compress` — the take's MIDI (29862 events), track state,
  and gear info now live next to the audio at
  `~/Work/Sound/Ardour/Tidal Live/takes/take94/`, safe from the gig-log prune timer.
  Archived with wavpack: **5.84 GB → 1.25 GB, every file verified lossless**, .wav sources
  untouched (deleting them is a separate step, your call, after you've heard v2).
- Found and fixed: xrun count in the sidecar was reading a *running total* as if it were a
  per-tick delta, reporting 58 million xruns for a 21-minute take. Real number: **230**.

Same command works on your next take: `tools/take-lens.py pack <N> --compress`.

---

## 3. silent-eval now covers all 13 setlist tracks (was 9)

Two of the tool's own bugs were making it diverge from how ghci actually runs your code —
fixed by matching ghci's defaults exactly (ExtendedDefaultRules, and hiding boot names from
the Context import so `let cutoff = ...` shadows the same way live). `perfect` and
`mafia_sans_serif` now build clean. That's how desire's real bug (#1 above) got found — the
tool used to lump it in with "harness limit, ignore this," which was actively hiding a gig
blocker. It now says `THE TRACK DOES NOT COMPILE` when it means that.

```bash
python3 tools/silent-eval.py --seeded     # whole setlist, should be 13/13 ok after #1
```

---

## 4. The slop renderer exists — first clip rendered, not yet good enough to send

`visuals/slop/render_slop_clip.mjs` takes a planned cut or any audio window and renders a
vertical reel with Slopmotion reacting to the real audio (not a synthetic pump). It ran
start to finish on 8s of take 94. **Frame rate is the open problem** — 7fps at 1080x1920,
which is the GL backend + the machine, not the pipeline (measured, details in
`visuals/slop/FEEDBACK.md`; needs re-measuring on a quiet machine, not tonight while the
rig was up). Not something to review yet — flagging so you know it's real now, not vapor.

```bash
node visuals/slop/render_slop_clip.mjs --idea wap          # from the OPAL plan
node visuals/slop/render_slop_clip.mjs --audio mix/take94/take94_trimmed_v2.wav \
     --start 300 --dur 30 --playset liquid-metal --name probe
```
(needs `cd ~/Work/Sound/hydra-live-hexa && . ~/.nvm/nvm.sh && nvm use 22 && npm run dev` running first)

---

## 5. desire bass rhythm — four things to A/B, not a decision made for you

You said: *"i gotta solve desire bassline is not great rythmics, could be cooler, more
ete_a_mauerpark or insouciance or haunted_house."* Read all three. The diagnosis is
mechanical: desire's d4 is four equal groups of the same repeated note, on the beat, never
resting — a metronome with a stutter, not a riff. The three references share six things it
has none of (uneven note durations, pitch=rhythm, eighth-note displacement against the
kick, accent following the rhythm, rests, a phrase longer than one bar).

`study/desire_bass_rhythm.tidal` has four alternatives, each isolating different mechanisms
so you can tell what you're reacting to — A (weight), B (gesture, biggest change), C
(space, safest/smallest change), D (all six combined — and deliberately *busier* than
today's line, to prove the fix isn't "fewer notes"). All four verified to compile and play.
Paste one `d4` over desire's real one and listen; pitch/key is unchanged in all four.

---

## Everything else from tonight — mechanical, no listening needed

- LED daemon (`lcxl-leds-watch.service`) was silently mute in the journal — Python's stdout
  buffering under systemd, plus its own `-q` flag suppressing the one line that mattered
  (track changes). Fixed both; verified live, restart not needed (already applied).
- `take-lens.py selftest` added — exercises the trim/fade rules on synthetic input, since
  two of them (the silence-bridge, the fade shape) never fire on real material and were
  otherwise unverifiable. All pass.

Nothing here needs a reload or restart. Go play. 🤘
