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Better Understanding of Rhythm Parameter

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Hello, I'm just starting to get my feet wet with the Rhythm parameter, its very nifty though I don't completley understand what I'm looking at on the vector in the event that I want to manually edit this thing.

 

In the manual on page 200 is a reference of the Rhythm paramter, however, it doesn't adequetly describe the horizontal and vertical axis of the vector. I would suppose that the H axis is time and V axis velocity except that changing the height of the beams doesn't seem to do anything. Additionally, I notice that some of the beams appear thicker than others when I play in a rhythm but the only thing that actually seems to affect the sound of the figure is the horizontal spacing of the beams. 

 

I just want to make sure if I'm correct that currently only the horizontal spacing of the beams affects the figure.


Di., 20.01.2015 - 09:52 Permalink

Rhythm actually is what is widely known as a "Groove" parameter. The only reason for naming it "Rhythm" is that "Groove" doesn't suit all styles of music Synfire can make.

This is how it is visualized:

Height & Thickness: Strength with which a note's velocity is affected.

Brightness: Strength with which a note's location is attracted to this position (dark is strongest).

The latter can not be edited graphically yet. It's computed internally when other parameters are converted to Ryhthm. Only the velocity impact can be edited.

Editing this parameter by hand is extremely difficult anyway, so best is to create it by conversion from other parameters.

Mi., 21.01.2015 - 10:37 Permalink

I had thought that a completely different rhythm from say vector B could be copied into vector A and that the symbols/ptich data of vector A would then sequence themself to the new rhythm however it doesn't seem to work like that.

 

With the Rhythm / Groove parameter I notice that a rhythm that is similar to the main figure will influence that main figure however if its a completely differnt rhythm then nothing happens. Can you tell me if it is possible to do what I was describing at the top of this message? I would love such a feature. I have tried copying the rhythm from figures having completley different rhythms and doesn't do anything. Once I was able to make a significant change to the rhythm of a figure using the Rhythm parameter but I can't duplicate this again. Something is not right here. Can anyone confirm if there are problems with this feature?

 

Additionally for the Rhythm / Groove parameter, it seems as though recording into that vector is a little buggy as sometimes the data tracks completley along the time-line of the vector and other times it just clumps all of the data into the first measure of that vector.

 

 

Mi., 21.01.2015 - 11:10 Permalink

I had thought that a completely different rhythm from say vector B could be copied into vector A and that the symbols/ptich data of vector A would then sequence themself to the new rhythm however it doesn't seem to work like that.

You can use Edit > Paste Rhythm in the Phrase Editor to do that.

Mi., 21.01.2015 - 12:26 Permalink

I have tried copying the rhythm from figures having completley different rhythms and doesn't do anything.

Rhythm does not re-sequence all notes. It just pulls them towards the closest positions in the Rhythm grid. In most cases the change is subtle.

You are probably looking for what the Step parameter does?

So., 06.08.2017 - 00:09 Permalink

How close does the note need to be to the position described by the rhythm line in order to get pulled towards it. I'm trying to use this like a groove function, but can't seem to get the hang of it. 

Mo., 07.08.2017 - 17:28 Permalink

Any distance will be close enough. The built-in rhythm templates use different strengths with which to pull notes to the desired position, however. That is, they do no hard quantization, but rather a soft correction (mostly on rhythmically light positions only).

There is no detailed editor for rhythm templates yet. If you edit the Rhythm vector with the gestalt tool, which modifies the velocity impact only, that softness should go away (actually it's a bug, but you might like the results).

Mo., 07.08.2017 - 19:47 Permalink

Thanks for this. Just to clarify:

soft correction = pulls it just a wee bit, not all the way?

rhythmically light positions only = only notes that are not already exactly on a beat, or a note that's not anchor?

Mo., 07.08.2017 - 21:08 Permalink

soft correction = pulls it just a wee bit, not all the way?

Correct

rhythmically light positions only = only notes that are not already exactly on a beat

Not quite. Weight is a static grid following the metric scheme (or rhythm pattern). Down beats are heavy, up beats are light. If a note is close to a down beat, it will be corrected more than at up beat positions.