Global Settings

BPM, time and space

Global settings can be set using the z object, an instance of the Zen class.

• z.bpm sets the tempo of the piece in beats per minute. It is an instance of the Pattern class.
• z.t sets the global time of the piece. It is an instance of the Pattern class.
• z.q sets the the amount of divisions per cycle. In other words, how many times your code evaluates per bar.

Run the code below whilst watching the pattern visualiser to see how these parameters affect the canvas.

z.bpm.set(120)
z.t.sine(0,16,10.25)
z.q = 16

Global parameters

You can set instrument and fx parameters in the same way that you set them on a stream, using z.set() and z.p. Parameters set on the global z object will be passed down to all streams.

z.set({reverb: 1, cut:[0,1]}) // set reverb to 0.5 on all streams
z.p.n.set('Clyd%16..*16') // use a lydian scale on all streams

s0.set({inst: 0})
s0.e.set(1)

s1.set({inst: 0, reverb: 0}) // override global reverb setting
s1.p.n.add(12) // you can chain further methods to the pattern set on the z object
s1.e.set(1)

Seeding randomness

You can seed the random number generator using z.seed, allowing you to use randomness with repeatable results. Seed is an instance of a pattern, so you can use any pattern method to set it, for example z.seed.set(256).

Swing

Swing can be set globally using the z.swing property. Swing is a value between 0 and 1, with 0 being no swing and 1 being full swing. Swing is applied to all streams. Swing is an instance of the Pattern class.

Additionally, set the subdivision to swing using the z.swingn property. This is an instance of the Pattern class.

z.swing.set(0.25)
z.swingn.set(16) // swing 16th notes