Transforming Patterns

We can start to make much more complex patterns using transformations

Using functions like slow you can start to transcend the cycle

slow stretches the pattern over more cycles

d1 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

d1 $ slow 2 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

fast squashes the pattern into less than one cycle

You might also see people writing density - it’s the same thing!

fast 0.5 is the same as slow 2!

d1 $ fast 2 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

d1 $ fast 0.5 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

hurry is similar to fast, but also applies a speed transformation

d1 $ sound "arpy arpy arpy:1 arpy:2"

d1 $ hurry 2 $ sound "arpy arpy arpy:1 arpy:2"

d1 $ hurry 0.5 $ sound "arpy arpy arpy:1 arpy:2"

You can reverse a pattern with ‘rev’

d1 $ rev $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

Or play it forwards and then backwards with ‘palindrome’

d1 $ palindrome $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

iter starts the pattern at a different point each cycle, shifting it the given number of times until it gets back to where it started

d1 $ iter 4 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

every allows us to schedule transformations or effects in different cycles e.g. every fourth cycle, play twice as fast:

d1 $ every 4 (fast 2) $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

... or you could schedule an effect in the same way, using #

d1 $ every 4 (# vowel "a o") $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

jux (short for 'juxtapose') takes a transformation or an effect and plays it in one speaker the original pattern plays in the other speaker.

d1 $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"
d1 $ jux (rev) $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"
d1 $ jux (hurry 2) $ sound "arpy arpy arpy:1 arpy:2"

chunk applies a transformation or an effect to a different part of the pattern each time. For example with 4 as a parameter, it will step through each quarter of the cycle.

d1 $ chunk 4 (hurry 2) $ sound  "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"
d1 $ chunk 4 (# speed 2) $ sound  "alphabet:0 alphabet:1 alphabet:2 alphabet:3"

Feeling brave?

More than one transformation is possible! You can chain them together using .

d1 $ jux (rev . (slow 1.5)) $ sound "arpy arpy:1 arpy:2 arpy:3"

Remember that (almost) everything is a pattern so we can apply these transformations to our effects too!

d1 $ sound "jvbass [jvbass jvbass] jvbass ~" # note "1 [3 5] 7"
d1 $ sound "jvbass [jvbass jvbass] jvbass ~" # iter 3 (note "1 [3 5] 7")

What about slowing down or scaling sine and saw?