Longer Sequences & < >

Now let's stretch notes over more cycles and alternate between them.

Divide a sequence with / to slow it down

strudel
note("[36 34 41 39]/4").sound("gm_acoustic_bass")

The /4 plays the bracket over 4 cycles (= 8 seconds), so each note is 2s long.

Try adding more notes inside the brackets and notice how it gets faster.

Play one per cycle with < ... >

strudel
note("<36 34 41 39>").sound("gm_acoustic_bass")

Angle brackets play one thing per cycle, which is great for long melodies. Add more notes and the tempo stays the same!

Angle brackets are a shortcut

<a b c> is really [a b c]/3. <a b c d> is really [a b c d]/4.

Play one sequence per cycle

Combine both bracket types for a repetitive bassline:

strudel
note("<[36 48]*4 [34 46]*4 [41 53]*4 [39 51]*4>")
.sound("gm_acoustic_bass")

Alternate between things

strudel
note("60 <63 62 65 63>")
.sound("gm_xylophone")

This also works for unpitched sounds:

strudel
sound("bd*4, [~ <sd cp>]*2, [~ hh]*4")
.bank("RolandTR909")

TL;DR

• /4 divides a bracket over 4 cycles (slower).
• <a b c> plays one per cycle, keeping tempo.
• <a b c> = [a b c]/3.
• Combine [ ] and < > to build repetitive lines.