Creating Patterns

The following functions will return a pattern. These are the equivalents used by the Mini Notation:

functionmini
cat(x, y)"<x y>"
seq(x, y)"x y"
stack(x, y)"x,y"
timeCat([3,x],[2,y])"x@3 y@2"
polymeter([a, b, c], [x, y])"{a b c, x y}"
polymeterSteps(2, x, y, z)"{x y z}%2"
silence"~"

cat

Synonyms: slowcat

The given items are concatenated, where each one takes one cycle.

  • items (any): The items to concatenate
cat(e5, b4, [d5, c5]).note() // "<e5 b4 [d5 c5]>".note()

You can also use cat as a chained function like this:

    s("hh*2").cat(
  note("c2(3,8)")
)

    seq

    Synonyms: fastcat, sequence

    Like cat, but the items are crammed into one cycle.

      seq(e5, b4, [d5, c5]).note() // "e5 b4 [d5 c5]".note()

      Or as a chained function:

        s("hh*2").seq(
  note("c2(3,8)")
)

        stack

        Synonyms: polyrhythm, pr

        The given items are played at the same time at the same length.

          stack(g3, b3, [e4, d4]).note() // "g3,b3,[e4,d4]".note()

          As a chained function:

            s("hh*2").stack(
  note("c2(3,8)")
)

            timeCat

            Like Pattern.seq, but each step has a length, relative to the whole.

              timeCat([3,e3],[1, g3]).note() // "e3@3 g3".note()

              arrange

              Allows to arrange multiple patterns together over multiple cycles. Takes a variable number of arrays with two elements specifying the number of cycles and the pattern to use.

                arrange([4, "<c a f e>(3,8)"],[2, "<g a>(5,8)"]).note()

                polymeter

                Synonyms: pm

                Combines the given lists of patterns with the same pulse. This will create so called polymeters when different sized sequences are used.

                  polymeter(["c", "eb", "g"], ["c2", "g2"]).note()
// "{c eb g, c2 g2}".note()

                  polymeterSteps

                  Aligns one or more given sequences to the given number of steps per cycle.

                  • steps (number): how many items are placed in one cycle
                  • sequences (Array.<any>): one or more arrays of Patterns / values
                  polymeterSteps(2, ["c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "f", "e", "d"])
.note().stack(s("bd")) // 1 cycle = 1 bd = 2 notes
// note("{c d e f g f e d}%2").stack(s("bd"))

                  silence

                  Does absolutely nothing..

                    silence // "~"

                    run

                    A discrete pattern of numbers from 0 to n-1

                      run(4).scale('C4 major').note()
// "0 1 2 3".scale('C4 major').note()

                      After Pattern Constructors, let’s see what Time Modifiers are available.