BitCrush^♪26

District 65's music + code showcase {♪}

April 11, 11-1pm

Chute Middle School

Prizes—food—music—more!

What is BitCrush?

BitCrush is a district-wide celebration where 5th graders share the music+code projects they created in computer science class. It’s a chance for students to be proud of what they made, explain what it means to them, and have their families and community cheer them on — whether they’re a confident performer or someone who would rather share in a quieter way.

BitCrush has two ways to participate:

Showcase: Students host a table/station and share their project on an iPad with visitors who walk around, listen, and leave positive feedback. This is a relaxed, conversation-based way to share.
Live Coding Competition: Students who want a more “on stage” experience can perform for an audience and judges and compete for trophies. Performances can include additional forms of expression, like singing, dancing, or playing live instruments. Teams of 1-3 can enter, and competition participants are paired with a Northwestern coach to help them prepare and rehearse.

Students can sign up for the Showcase, the Competition, or both.

Schedule for the Event

10:15-11:00am: Showcase participants arrive and set up
10:45-11:00am: Competition participants meeting
11:00-11:45am: Showcase
11:45-12:45pm: Live coding competition
12:45-1:00pm: Competition awards ceremony

Showcase

Students will bring their iPad to the showcase and share their TunePad projects from computer science classes. There will be a prize raffle, and a live band will listen to and improvise on top of student's original music.

Competition

Form a team of 1-3 people. The competition is open to all students.
Fill out the registration form.
Start thinking about the kind of music you want to performance. Will you include live instruments, vocals, or dance?
We'll assign you a coach to help develop your ideas and practice your performance.

How do I register?

Just fill out the registration form.
Register

What if I'm not sure I want to register yet, but I have questions?

Feel free to talk with your computer science teacher, and they can help you decide.

Do I need music or code experience?

No! All skill levels are welcome. We'll provide coaching and mentorship.

What should I bring?

Just your iPad! We'll provide WiFi, workspace, and refreshments.

What can I win?

Teams will compete for the coveted BitCrush trophy and there will be raffle prizes for showcase participants.
Broken heart trophies

When and where is the showcase?

The BitCrush showcase will be on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at Chute Middle School. Setup will start at 10:30am and the event will run until 1pm.

Who can be in the competition?

The competition is open to all District 65 fifth graders.

What if I need help with my performance?

All teams participating in the competition will be assigned a Northwestern University undergraduate coach who will help them prepare and rehearse their performance.

Who runs the competition?

BitCrush is run by the TIDAL Lab at Northwestern University and is sponsored by the Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence and the Center for Responsible Technology, Policy, and Public Dialog. The event also has funding from the National Science Foundation.

How will teams be judged?

Teams will be judged based on five factors: entertainment, musicality, creativity, technical ability, and live coding. Check out the full scoring guide.

Why should I be in the competition?

It’s fun!
You'll be part of a warm and suppportive community.
There will be prizes and trophies for the winning teams.
It’s part of a free event with food, prizes, and live music.

What do you mean by live-coded music?

Live coding means that you write computer code in a language like Python to generate music. You can combine code with pre-recorded samples, live instruments, vocals, dance, costumes, special effects, and more. You can use any music+coding platform for your performance. Popular options include Strudel, EarSketch, Sonic Pi, TunePad, Max, ChucK, and SuperCollider.

I still don’t understand what live-coded music means…

Check out these example videos:

Live Coding Example

You can also try live coding yourself! Just press play on the python code cells below.

kick = 0 snare = 2 for _ in range(2): playNote(kick, 0.75, velocity = 70) playNote(snare, beats = 0.25, velocity = 50) playNote(kick, beats = 0.5, velocity = 70) playNote(snare, beats = 0.5, velocity = 50) / /

hat = 4 # press PLAY and then uncomment these lines to add in hi-hats #for i in range(8): playNote(hat, beats = 0.25) #for i in range(2): playNote(hat, beats = 0.5) #for i in range(8): playNote(hat, beats = 0.25 / 2, pitch = i/4) / /

from random import randint / clap = 10 / for i in range(64): if randint(0, 10) > 7: playNote(clap, beats = 0.25) else: rest(0.25)

chord1 = [ 48, 52, 55, 59 ] chord2 = [ 52, 55, 60, 62 ] chord3 = [ 50, 55, 59 ] chord4 = [ 50, 53, 57, 59 ] / playNote(chord1, beats = 4) playNote(chord2, beats = 4) playNote(chord3, beats = 4) playNote(chord4, beats = 4)

chord1 = [ 48, 52, 55, 59 ] chord2 = [ 52, 55, 60, 62 ] chord3 = [ 50, 55, 59, 62 ] chord4 = [ 50, 53, 57, 59 ] / for note in chord1 * 4: playNote(note - 12, beats = 0.25, velocity = 60) for note in chord2 * 4: playNote(note - 12, beats = 0.25, velocity = 60) for note in chord3 * 4: playNote(note - 12, beats = 0.25, velocity = 60) for note in chord4 * 4: playNote(note - 12, beats = 0.25, velocity = 60)