Mini-notation
Inspired by the Tidal Cycles pattern language, and guided by this excellent tutorial from the writers of Gibber, Zen includes a mini-notation for expressing patterns. Under the hood, Zen parses this mini-language into arrays of values, then uses the current time to get the right value.
Basic syntax
Create an array of length 16, fill with 1s, then use it to trigger a stream:
s0.e.set('1*16') // triggers on every division
Create an array of length 16 and randomly fill it with 1s and 0s:
s0.e.set('1?0*16') // trigger randomly, but repeat the pattern every bar
Create a sequence of values:
s0.x.set('0..15*16').div(16)
s0.e.set('1*16')
Randomly choose from a sequence:
s0.x.set('0..15?*16').div(16)
s0.e.set('1*16')
Alternate between values:
s0.x.set('0,0.5*2')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Alternate between values:
s0.x.set('0,0.25,0.5,0.75*4')
s0.y.set('0,0.25,0.5,0.75*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Notate bars:
s0.x.set('0..15*16 | 15..0*16 |').div(16)
s0.e.set('1*16')
Repeat bars:
s0.x.set('0..15*16 |*2 15..0*16 |*3').div(16)
s0.e.set('1*16')
Stretch bars:
s0.x.set('0..15*16 |^3')
s0.e.set('1*16')
You can repeat bars, then stretch them, but not the other way around:
s0.x.set('0..15?*16 |*2^3')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Euclidean rhythms
Euclidean rhythms are created by spreading beats over a given number of divisions, as equally as possible.
4 pulses over 16 divisions:
s0.x.set('0..15*16')
s0.e.set('4:16')
3 pulses over 8 division:
s0.x.set('0..15*16')
s0.e.set('3:8')
3 over 8, twice per bar:
s0.x.set('0..15*16')
s0.e.set('3:8*2')
Note values
Midi note values are notated as <root><octave>, where the root is a capital letter and the octave is an integer.
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,cutr:100})
s0.x.set('0..15?*16 |*4').div(16)
s0.p.n.set(s0.x).set('C4 E4 G4 B4') // use the x position to control the note number
s0.e.set('9:16')
Chords and scales
Chords and scales both return an array of note values. Scales were adapted from Tidal Cycle's scale library. Many thanks!
Chords are notated as <root><triad><extension?>, where the root is a capitalised letter, the triad is one of ma, mi, di, au, su (major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspended), and the (optional) extension is one of 6, 7, #7, b9, 9, 11, #11, 13, #13:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100})
s0.p.n.set('Cmi7')
s0.e.set('9:16')
Turn the chord into a sequence:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100})
s0.p.n.set('Cmi7..*8')
s0.e.set('9:16')
Randomly choose from the sequence:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100})
s0.p.n.set('Cmi7..?*16')
s0.e.set('9:16')
Specify the length of the chord:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100})
s0.p.n.set('Cmi7%8..*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')
A number of Pattern methods handle arrays and can be useful here:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Cmi7*16').inv('0..8?*16|*4')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Scales are notated
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Clyd*16')
s0.e.set('1 1 1 1')
Turn the scale into a sequence:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Clyd..*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Randomly choose from the sequence:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Clyd..?*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Specify the length of the scale:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:0.5,cut:0,dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Clyd%16..?*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')
Execute scales() in the editor to print a list of available scales in the console.
Mini-notation can be used anywhere!
Mini-notation can be used in place of any value in Zen, making it enormously powerful. For example:
s0.set({in:0,reverb:'0.5?0*16',cut:'0?1*16',dur:10,r:100,v:0.5})
s0.p.n.set('Clyd%16..?*16')
s0.e.set('1*16')