I went on GitHub to Strudel’s repository. The first issue I tried to solve was about the automatic colorisation based on specific parameters. I spent a long time trying to solve it and wrote some code for it as well. After a while of not making any progress with it and being completely stuck, I realised I misunderstood the issue. I was trying to implement something that already exists. After, I thought a bit more about that issue, I came to the conclusion it might be better to try and solve another one. That was the moment where I realised that they could have been a bit more explanatory about the issues and what they exactly wanted from the contributor.  

After that, I chose another issue. The issue was that some of the 7 note scales are broken. Basically, there was a problem with how the offset function was implemented in the code and that the algorithm for counting and down a scale is messy. I managed to reduce the function. I reduced 4 lines of the function to one and scraped one of the modules it was implementing. So, with this issue I managed to make the code clearer, but it did not help with the “main” issue. I was back in the first step, as in the end I did not solve the problem, just made the code clearer.  

After “failing” to solve two issues, I spent some time thinking about what to do next. I considered just choosing another repository at that point. After giving it more thought, I realised I still wanted to contribute to Strudel. I really like the project in itself and also I was already slightly familiar with their code (how the code is split, in what folders which functions are etc).  

After that, I decided to text the Strudel Discord channel. I told them that I am working on a university assignment and would love to contribute to the project. I asked which issue I could solve (that also includes coding). I was very excited when I saw that someone answered to me two hours later. They ended up labelling five different issues as “good first issues” for me to choose.  

Image 1 – Conversation on the Strudel Discord 

I then found the perfect issue that was regarding the alternative solmization types. I thought this issue was a great piece of code to be working on, as I use solfege when writing music. That is why it was more meaningful to me, as I realized how solving this issue would improve the experience of more people when using Strudel (as it is something that I would also personally benefit from when using this project).  

Image 2 – screenshot of the issue on the Strudel repository