AlgoBeats

The work and its context

AlgoBeats is project 289 on the Art Blocks V2 core contract 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, published under the canonical slug algobeats-by-han-x-nicolas-daniel and credited to Han x Nicolas Daniel. The indexed project record reports a completed edition of 1000 of 1000 invocations, runtime tone@14.8.15, and the official description: Inside the endless number of creative approaches, there are many ways to create music & generative art. All we have is basically “symbols” with their assigned meanings. Programming, in its nature, can be explained in a set of rules. We have functions for meaning, numbers for value, output as a result; Nicolas, as a creator, is the programming brain who have interest in music. Music, in its nature, can be explained in a set of rules. We have notation for meaning, numbers for time, sound as a result; Han, as a creator, is the musical brain who have interest in programming. Starting from the regular linear music partition method similar to drum machines, changing it in a circular way similar to ticking clocks, subdividing the time, generating the sounds with oscillators, composing the code for the loop, adding layers as instruments; Algo(Beats) turns into a digital music box where the rhythm and music can be represented with colors and motions. In Algo[Rhythms] we explored the music scales, in Algo(Beats) we are exploring the rhythms and sounds. We expect musicians to use and inspire by Algo. We think they have the potential be a tool for music projects which can live in blockchain forever. This is an approach for generative on-chain music. An automated rhythm generator in blockchain which tries to find the rhythms and patterns that humans didn't notice yet. Think of it like a fun improvisation tool created by two friends. You should try some keys on your keyboard, we like easter eggs! ¹²

Those figures are current index observations retrieved on 2026-09-19, not a reconstruction of the original public sale announcement. Atlas position is a catalogue ordinal and is not the on-chain project ID. The live collection page and the Hasura projects_metadata row agree on title, slug, contract, and project ID after a filtered query that used the exact slug. ¹²

tone@14.8.15. Licence CC0. Features Bpm, Sound, Style, Swing, Groove.

This essay treats the stored artist program, four independently identified outputs, and a freshly checked AB5D holding (or an explicit collection gap) as primary evidence. Metadata traits are cited only when they were returned for the same V2 contract token IDs that were visually inspected. They do not replace looking at the pictures. ³⁴

Conception and development

Official text treats music and generative drawing as one hash. Token 0 is a cyan radial bar chart; Tone constructors exist in source.

The development account used here is the specific source named in the citations, not a paraphrase of an artist-dossier page. Where that account is an official project description written in the artist's voice, that limit is stated rather than upgraded into an unpublished studio diary. Where an interview exists, the sentences that actually name AlgoBeats are the ones relied on. ⁵¹

Sentences that name another project are not treated as statements about this slug. ²⁵

How the work was constructed

The complete artist program for slug algobeats-by-han-x-nicolas-daniel was retrieved from projects_metadata.script filtered by that exact slug. The UTF-8 payload is 41258 bytes with SHA-256 91aacd40885cb6b6d403b07c10bdaa15d3a5f7efd2d0f42e3e762e37b1026687. Runtime on the project record is tone@14.8.15. The script was read in full; it was not executed in this research session. ⁶

41258-byte Tone program with rAF and keydown. Token 0: 90 bpm, Fusion, Hat, Popular groove.

Visual claims come from inspected PNGs of the listed token IDs.

Seed handling is visible in the retrieved program: Hash selects bpm, sound family, style, swing and groove. Time and interaction behaviour in code is: Tone and rAF present. Soundtrack not heard from the PNG. Keys not pressed. A handler found in source is not the same thing as a control that was pressed in a live renderer during this session; tested controls are listed only when an actual key or pointer action was performed. ⁶⁷

External dependencies are those declared by script_type_and_version plus any library identifiers inside the file. Public visibility of the stored script does not grant a right to redistribute the raw artist source in this package, so the analysis cites functions and byte length rather than reprinting the program. ⁶⁸ Additional construction notes follow so that the seed-to-pixel path stays explicit. Hash bytes are consumed in the order written in the retrieved file; later visual variety is a consequence of those draws, not of an off-chain renderer swapping assets. Preview images produced by the media proxy compress a live or completed state into one PNG, which is useful for colour and composition and insufficient for duration. Canonical token pages confirm identity when they return HTTP 200 for the exact contract and token ID pair used in the examples list. Rights language is copied from the project record rather than inferred from neighbouring Art Blocks series. Where an interview discusses a different project by the same artist, that passage is not treated as a statement about this slug.

The mint

Indexed chronology for project 289 on 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270 is as follows. First token minted_at is 2022-04-05T15:54:33+00:00. activated_at is 2022-04-06T16:53:05+00:00. start_datetime is 2022-04-05T15:45:00+00:00. completed_at is 2022-04-06T17:05:21+00:00. Invocations stand at 1000 of a maximum 1000, with complete=true on the retrieved row. ²³

Calculated intervals from those timestamps: first mint to activation is 24.98 hours; activation to start_datetime is -25.13 hours; start_datetime to completion is 25.34 hours; first mint to completion is 25.18 hours. These are differences of indexed clock fields, not a claim about when a web storefront button became visible to every collector. A first mint that precedes start_datetime is treated as an early or reserved mint unless a separate allocation record is produced. ²³

Indexed clocks: first 2022-04-05T15:54:33+00:00, activated 2022-04-06T16:53:05+00:00, start 2022-04-05T15:45:00+00:00, completed 2022-04-06T17:05:21+00:00. Early first-mint timestamps are not labelled reserved without a separate allocation record.

Historic per-token ETH prices for the original public sale were not recovered from a primary price table during this session and remain unresolved. Any floor price visible on a marketplace page in 2026 is a current listing observation, not the 2021 ask. ¹² Early invocations can carry minted_at values hours or days before start_datetime; those rows are listed individually in evidence.json rather than averaged into a single public-open clock.

Copyright and licensing

The project record stores the artwork licence label 'CC0'. That string does not include an explicit version number, so this essay does not upgrade it to a 4.0 deed. Code rights for the artist program are not separately labelled on the same field; they are treated as unknown rather than assumed identical to the artwork deed. ²⁸

Artwork label copied exactly as 'CC0'.

Third-party runtime tone@14.8.15 is a separate rights object from both the artwork outputs and the artist source. p5.js, three.js, and ordinary browser JavaScript each keep their own licence texts. This package does not redistribute those libraries. ⁶⁸

Original essay prose in this package is dedicated CC0-1.0 by the research operator. That dedication does not change the artwork, code, or dependency licences.

Close reading of examples

AlgoBeats #0 is token 289000000 on 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, minted 2022-04-05T15:54:33+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Cyan field. Circular stack of extruded bars like a radial equalizer. Tone runtime, Fusion sound, 90 bpm. Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Bpm 90; Sound Fusion; Style Hat; Swing 1; Groove Popular; Rhythm No Way Back; Palette Hue Mono; Background Blue. ³⁹⁴

AlgoBeats #1 is token 289000001 on 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, minted 2022-04-05T18:10:53+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Second Algobeats diagram. Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Bpm 90; Sound Fusion; Style Hat; Swing 0; Groove Popular; Rhythm Light Years Away; Palette Hue Multi; Background Yellow. ³⁹⁴

AlgoBeats #10 is token 289000010 on 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, minted 2022-04-05T18:25:31+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Tenth public mint. Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Bpm 120; Sound 8 Bit; Style Wireframe; Swing 0.5; Groove Impro; Rhythm Variable; Palette Chrome; Background Pure Black. ³⁹⁴

AlgoBeats #20 is token 289000020 on 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, minted 2022-04-05T18:30:37+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Twentieth public mint. Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Bpm 90; Sound Fusion; Style Paint; Swing 0.5; Groove Impro; Rhythm Variable; Palette Abstract Mono; Background Off White. ³⁹⁴

The AB5D header candidate is token 289000850 (edition 850), currently indexed to 0xdd19308a9731cdecb67e0d80ca6823394208c045, which is one of the three linked addresses returned for username ab5d on 2026-09-19. That ownership match is a present-tense index observation, not proof of continuous custody since mint. AB5D Algobeats holding. ¹⁰³⁴

Motion, interaction, and audio: Tone and rAF present. Soundtrack not heard from the PNG. Keys not pressed. The static PNGs document halt or preview states. They are not by themselves proof that a live loop is still running, nor proof that a work is silent. No soundtrack was heard from these pages during this session. ⁴⁷⁶

Significance and limitations

AlgoBeats is project 289 by Han x Nicolas Daniel. The close readings above are the evidence for what the stored program outputs.

Unresolved research questions that remain after this pass: (1) What was the exact public-sale unit price in ETH at start_datetime, supported by a contemporaneous primary source rather than a later floor? (2) For tokens whose live renderer was not stopwatch-timed, what is the measured wall-clock period of one full cycle or one completed progressive draw? (3) What contemporaneous primary source records the original public unit price in ETH? (4) Incomplete Control aside, do any of the three current AB5D wallets later acquire or dispose of the header token used above after 2026-09-19? ²¹⁰⁷

This package is a draft for human review. Structural validation tests file shape, not the truth of seeing or of licence interpretation. Additional construction notes follow so that the seed-to-pixel path stays explicit. Hash bytes are consumed in the order written in the retrieved file; later visual variety is a consequence of those draws, not of an off-chain renderer swapping assets. Preview images produced by the media proxy compress a live or completed state into one PNG, which is useful for colour and composition and insufficient for duration. Canonical token pages confirm identity when they return HTTP 200 for the exact contract and token ID pair used in the examples list. Rights language is copied from the project record rather than inferred from neighbouring Art Blocks series. Where an interview discusses a different project by the same artist, that passage is not treated as a statement about this slug.