Tuplet Clock Divider on Teletype?

#1

so the goal with this is to create a tuplet clock divider. 7 over 2, 5 over 3 and eventually more complex rhythms, 7 over three with a triplet on the third tuplet. a la. zappa, ferneyhough etc. but i am stuck. i can find the right numbers (i think as they are untested) but can’t figure out a way to turn these numbers into a trigger (TR.P). For example, A in the script below is 142 milliseconds. if i were able to set a trigger every 142 milliseconds against M at 500 this should translate to a 7/2 tuplet, i think… and in this example Y is 7/1 & B is 5/2 etc.

anyway, i’m stuck. any help or insight would be awesome.

M:

TR.P 1
M BPM 120
Y / M 7
X * M 2
A / X 7
B / X 5

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#2

Switch M to the highest resolution tick involved. So,

M / * BPM 120 2 7

Would get you 7/2 on 120. (edit: If 7/2 means “7 notes over 2 beats”)

If you want the polyrhythm, use temporal recursion with 2 scripts. Vis:

1: TR.P 1
   DEL / * BPM 120 2 7: SCRIPT 1
2: TR.P 2
   DEL / * BPM 120 2 5: SCRIPT 2

Note that these will probably skew in time due to rounding errors stacking up. You might want to find a common multiple and sync things up at that point.

M: DEL.CLR; SCRIPT 1; SCRIPT 2
I: M * BPM 120 35

Uh oh, 500 * 35 > 16384. So uh this might not be possible at 120 BPM. 130 and up will work, though.

Also, because the rounding error is going to result in ticks that are slightly too fast, the sync action is going to produce 2 trigger pulses unless TR.TIME is sufficiently large to mask the second trigger.

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#3

this is great, thank you! lots to explore here.

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#4

If/when you have an output expander, you can use some of the extended functionality to do this easily. Here is a sample setup script that outputs the aforementioned subdivisions (2,3,5,7) on the four trigger outputs of the expander:

TO.M.BPM 1 120
TO.TR.M.MUL 1 2
TO.TR.M.MUL 2 3
TO.TR.M.MUL 3 5
TO.TR.M.MUL 4 7
TO.M.ACT 1 1

The TO.M commands act on all independent metronomes for the device. The TO.TR.M commands act on the individual metronomes (one for each TR output).

Inside, the metronomes are locked to the master clock and don’t drift when subdividing. Any changes to DIV are implemented on the next outer beat, which also helps keep things locked together.

Now, things don’t have to be synced together between the four outputs. Acting on the individual metronomes directly allow you to slip and slide all over the place doing some really intricate phasing stuff.

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#5

this is awesome! if i understand this correctly this script would be for tuplets over 1, meaning 16th notes or 7 over 1 etc. with that in mind could you divide M to get other tuplets? maybe something like:

Would this result in 7 triggers in the space of two “ticks” of M i.e. the base tempo? or better said 7 in the space of 2.

#6

I think I understand your question; apologies if I get it wrong below, I’m a little jet-lagged today from a week of hellish travel.

The DIV operator works within M. To get things working over multiple M tics, you would need to play with the tempo.

This example should (not yet tested - see “jet lag” above) create a 120 BPM M on TR 1 and divisions against that M on TR 2-4. It sets TR 2-4 to a metronome speed of 1/2 of 1 and then sets the appropriate divisions. The global ACT starts them in sync - though you can also do that with TO.M.SYNC d if the metronomes are already tic-ing away. :slight_smile:

TO.TR.M.BPM 1 120
L 2 4: TO.TR.M.BPM I 60
TO.TR.M.DIV 2 7
TO.TR.M.DIV 3 5
TO.TR.M.DIV 4 3
TO.M.ACT 1 1
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#7

this makes perfect sense, thank you. so then if you wanted to have the base of the tuplet as 3 you would set the M of that channel to 40 for 120 BPM. So for example TR 1 would be quarter notes at 120 BPM and TR 2 would be 7/3 at 120 BPM:

TO.TR.M.BPM 1 120
TO.TR.M.BPM 2 40
TO.TR.M.DIV 2 7
TO.M.ACT 1 1

#8

Jeez, I must have been working too long to notice: the maximum value of an integer on Teletype is 32767, not 16384.

So this will actually work from somewhere around 60 BPM and up.

#9

just trying this now… as silly as it may sound this functionality is something i have been wanting for years. i have always done these types of rhythms via a computer sequencing or way back, on an MMT-8, but to be able to do tuplets on the fly in a modular synth sequencing environment is really something I have been wanting to do forever. so, thank you, so cool!

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#10

I was also wondering about this. Thanks.

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#11

Great to hear! You also sent me into a reverie about my MMT8. I loved that thing… :slight_smile:

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#12

i still use mine :slight_smile: granted i do not have the patience to hand type tuplets into it anymore but i still love my MMT-8!

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