Microrhythms

The timestamps of the first rhythm are 0 1/5 1/2 2/3 1. We could naively express this with a stack:

s("hh").struct(
stack(
  "x", // 0
  "~ x ~@3", // 1/5
  "~ x", // 1/2
  "~@2 x" // 2/3
))

While this works, it has two problems:

• it is not very compact
• the durations are wrong, e.g. the first note takes up the whole cycle

In the video, the duration of a timestamp is calculated by subtracting it from the next timestamp:

• 1/5 - 0 = 1/5 = 6/30
• 1/2 - 1/5 = 3/10 = 9/30
• 2/3 - 1/2 = 1/6 = 5/30
• 1 - 2/3 = 1/3 = 10/30

Using those, we can now express the rhythm much shorter:

s("hh").struct("x@6 x@9 x@5 x@10")

The problems of the first notation are now fixed: it is much shorter and the durations are correct. Still, this notation involved calculating the durations by hand, which could be automated:

Pattern.prototype.micro = function (...timestamps) {
const durations = timestamps.map((x, i, a) => {
  const next = i < a.length-1 ? a[i+1] : 1;
  return next - a[i]
})
return this.struct(timeCat(...durations.map(d => [d, 1]))).late(timestamps[0])
}
s('hh').micro(0, 1/5, 1/2, 2/3)

This notation is even shorter and it allows directly filling in the timestamps!

This is the second example of the video:

Pattern.prototype.micro = function (...timestamps) {
const durations = timestamps.map((x, i, a) => {
  const next = i < a.length-1 ? a[i+1] : 1;
  return next - a[i]
})
return this.struct(timeCat(...durations.map(d => [d, 1]))).late(timestamps[0])
}
s('hh').micro(0, 1/6, 2/5, 2/3, 3/4)