Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

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spm_gl
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Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by spm_gl »

I think I've tried every midi sequencer I could find, but none of them allow me to do polyrhythmic patterns. Sure, I can make uneven measures, but I need to do things like playing 5ths over a 4/4 beat. Any pointers?
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StudioDave
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by StudioDave »

Greetings,

I have no idea whether any native Linux sequencer lets you do this via a nice simple menu item ("Fill x beats with n tuplets"). Sequencer Plus Gold has a "fine" duration value control, so I can calculate required note-lengths for any tuplet, then add them manually as needed. It's not the easiest way, but it is precise. Perhaps a similar method can be attempted with QTractor/Rosegarden/seq24/Ardour3 ?

Or you can notate the passage in LilyPond and export it to a MIDI file.

Best,

dp
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spm_gl
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by spm_gl »

Currently I'm trying to run instances of sequencers in parallel. But now I realize, hardly any sequencer is usable on my tiny netbook screen.
Looks like I need to do some puredata magic. Oh well.
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spm_gl
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by spm_gl »

Sometimes, the solution is simpler than anticipated. Rosegarden has an n-tuplet feature in the notation editor. That doesn't help for drums (I can't write drum notation), but will do fine for the basslines.
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by raboof »

spm_gl wrote:Sometimes, the solution is simpler than anticipated. Rosegarden has an n-tuplet feature in the notation editor. That doesn't help for drums (I can't write drum notation), but will do fine for the basslines.
Cool. I guess here the fact that RG is kind of a notation/sequencer hybrid comes in handy :)
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by slim_chiply »

I think trackers are the best for polyrhythmic sequencing. I've been using Renoise to do gamelan music which is highly polyrhythmic. It's not free (it is inexpensive though), but it does run well on Linux. I did an ep almost entirely using it and never had a problem.
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by spm_gl »

The latest development version of harmonySEQ does polyrhythms. And control sequences. It's still missing some important features (like Jack integration) but they're in the pipeline, and I'm very excited about it.
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by Louigi Verona »

I don't know what do you mean by JACK integration, but just to make clear, HarmonySEQ works under JACK. It is a very powerful application and can do all sorts of rhythms, no matter how weird, and play them together.
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by spm_gl »

Louigi Verona wrote:I don't know what do you mean by JACK integration,
Jack transport support, to be precise. It's in the blueprint already.
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Re: Polyrhythmic Sequencer?

Post by emarsk »

As a workaround, you can set the measure length as 5 4ths: now your "4ths" are 5 16ths long and the 5plet notes are 4 16ths long.
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