[sdiy] Polymeter (was Re:Ring Mod (was Re: Hadamard Transform Network))

[Mattias Rickardsson]

On 17 May 2017 at 13:17, Tom Wiltshire <tom at electricdruid.net> wrote:
> On 17 May 2017, at 11:59, Mattias Rickardsson <mr at analogue.org> wrote:
>> On 17 May 2017 at 08:08, Donald Tillman <don at till.com> wrote:
>>> Next topic, Fender swapping "tremolo" and "vibrato".
>>
>> And the topic after that,
>> Arturia Drumbrute labeling "polymeter" as "polyrhythm".
>
> Nope, sorry, I don't understand enough music theory to get worked up about that one! Fender though….grrrr!!!

Tricky terms, but it's not as advanced as it sounds - which is
probably why they are confused so often these days among sequencer
aficionados. It seems like every sequencer product maker gets the same
question from potential users: "Can it play polyrhythms?" And if they
are lucky, they get the answer: "Yes, you can shorten the pattern
length like this."

What they really mean in 9 cases out of 10, however, is: "Can it play
in polymeter?"

This visualisation is pretty good for getting grip of the concepts:
https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/10488/polymeter-vs-polyrhythm
Roughly it could be described like this:

Polymeter =
having different loop lengths on different channels (each channel
stepping along at the same speed).
Example: programming a 3-step pattern on your TB-303 and play it
together with 16-step music.

Polyrhythm =
having different numbers of steps on different channels (all channels
looping simultaneously).
Example: triplets vs ordinary notes.

On 17 May 2017 at 13:27, Adam Inglis <21pointy at tpg.com.au> wrote:
> It basically gets down to whether your “bars” take up the same time, or
> whether your "beats" do...

Ah! That's a great way of simplifying it. Thanks! :-)

/mr