Lessons · Showcase

Developed

A four-bar bass machine under a theme that falls three octaves: 100 bars of e harmonic minor, six beats to the bar

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% THE MACHINE: e harmonic minor, six beats to the bar, 2495 notes in a
% hundred bars, and almost every one of them an eighth. Eight different
% note values appear in the whole piece and 2434 of the 2495 notes are the
% shortest of them, so the pulse never once breaks.
%
% The piece is a machine, and the machine is four bars long. One note
% hammered twelve times for a whole bar, then the next: E, B, G, C. It
% runs under two thirds of the piece unchanged, and it is the first thing
% to learn. Everything is written a note to the unit and stated at that
% eighth-note pulse.
 
bpm 240
instrument chiptune
meter 6
unit 1/4
key e4 harm
 
Pound ::= ..1*12
Floor<bass> ::= Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5
 
assert Pound@~4 == ..5*12
 
 
% Before the machine starts, the bass falls. It falls in thirds, two of
% each, and the chain is one long descent: G-E, G-E, F#-D#, F#-D#, then
% the third turns over and points up (B-D#), and then two more falling
% pairs. One interval, five heights.
 
Drop  ::= 3 1
Spill ::= Drop*2 Drop@~-1*2 Drop~@~-3*2 Drop@~-4*2 Drop@~-5*2
 
assert Drop@~-1 == 2 .7
 
% Then it runs out of energy: F#-E twice, six D#s, two Cs; and the next
% bar slower still, pairs down to an F# that will not move.
 
Ebb    ::= .2 .1 .2 .1 ..7*6 ..6*2
Trudge ::= ..5*2 ..4*2 ..3*2 ..2*6
Ground<bass> ::= ..1 _4 Spill Ebb Trudge
 
 
% Over that, the tune. Three G's, three A's, three F#'s, then E-F#-E:
% four groups of three to the bar, which is how every melody in this
% piece is cut. It is the most-stated figure here: ten bars of it.
 
Theme ::= 3*3 4*3 2*3 1 2 1
 
% And the first answer to it, falling to B.
 
Sink ::= 3 2 3 2 .7 .6 .7 .6 .5 _4
 
% Bars 1-4: the low E and the high E together, the bass spilling down
% while the tune waits, and then theme and answer.
 
Head ::= {Ground, 1 _4 -*20 Theme Sink}
 
Head _2
 
 
% The theme gets two more answers. One hovers and settles on E; the other
% climbs from C right up to a high D#, the sharpest note in the key.
 
Turn ::= 3 4 3 4 3 2 3 2 1 _4
Lift ::= .6 .7 .6 .7 3 2 5 4 7 _4
 
% And then it falls apart. G-G-G-F#, E-E-E-D#, C-C-C-B: the same three-and-
% one shape as the theme, but walking down the scale, and the whole bar
% then again an octave lower, and again below that. Three octaves in three
% bars.
 
Tumble  ::= '3*3 '2 '1*3 7 6*3 5
Cascade ::= Tumble Tumble@~-7 Tumble@~-14
 
assert Tumble@~-7 == 3*3 2 1*3 .7 .6*3 .5
 
% Bars 5-11. The machine starts underneath, E B G C E B G, and the tune
% says theme-answer-theme-answer and falls three octaves.
 
Rise ::= {Floor Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2,
          Theme Turn Theme Lift Cascade}
 
Rise _2
 
 
% Bars 12-16 are the wreckage. The bass gives up: three notes, then
% nothing for a bar and a half. The theme comes back two octaves down,
% and between its two statements a pair of notes rocks back and forth,
% dropping a step at a time: down first, then up.
 
Rock ::= ..4 ..5 ..4 ..5
 
assert Theme@~-9 == .1*3 .2*3 ..7*3 ..6 ..7 ..6
 
Under ::= {..1*3 -*21 ..1*3 -*33,
           Theme@~-9 Rock~ Rock~@~-2 Rock@~-3
           Theme@~-9 Rock Rock@~-1 Rock@~-2 Ebb}
 
Under _2
 
 
% Bars 17-20: nothing but a bell. C held for half the bar, then six B's;
% then C and D# alternating, then the six B's again. Under it, five short
% B's and a rest, a tolling that has lost its tune.
 
Bell  ::= .6 _6 .5*6
Knell ::= .6 .7 .6 .7 .6 .7 .5*6
Chime<bell> ::= Bell Knell
Tap   ::= ..5*5 -*5 .1 _2
 
Chant ::= {Chime*2, Tap*4}
 
Chant _2
 
% And bars 21-24 are bars 1-4 again, note for note. The piece starts over.
 
Head _2
 
 
% This time a third voice comes in above, in the same three-and-a-rest
% groups: a call, an echo of it bending down, a flat pair of G's and F#'s,
% and a turn that runs on through the bar without stopping.
 
Cry  ::= 1*3 -*3 .6*3 -*3
Coo  ::= .5 .6 .5 -*3 .5 .4 .3 -*3
Hush ::= .3*3 -*3 .2*3 -*3
Ring ::= .1 .2 .1 -*3 .5 .4 .6 .5 .4 .5
Call ::= Cry Coo Hush Ring
 
% Machine, theme with its answers, and the call: this is the piece's
% refrain, and it comes back three times unchanged (bars 25-28, 37-40,
% 49-52).
 
Verse ::= {Floor, Theme Turn Theme Lift, Call}
 
Verse _2
 
 
% Bars 29-34: the cascade twice over, and above it the only note in the
% piece outside the key: a D natural where the key wants D#, nine times
% here and once more in bar 44, sinking through D-C-B-G-A-F#.
 
Mist ::= .7b*3 .6 .5*3 .3 .4*3 .2
 
% Against that, a zig-zag climbing a tenth: up a step, back, up a third,
% back. The piece states it from two starting points a step apart, and the
% second is just the first with an F# walked on in front of it.
 
Zig ::= .1 .2 .1 .3 .2 .3 .4 .5 .4 .6 .5 .6
Zag ::= .2 Zig[:11]
 
Swarm ::= {Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2,
           Cascade Cascade,
           Mist*3 Zag .2 Zig[:9] -*2 Zag}
 
Swarm _2
 
% Two bars to turn the corner, and the tune plays the cascade BACKWARDS,
% two octaves down, so the three-octave fall becomes a three-octave climb.
 
assert Tumble~@~-14 == ..5 ..6*3 ..7 .1*3 .2 .3*3
 
Pivot ::= {Pound Pound@~5, Tumble~@~-14 Lift, Zag Ring}
 
Pivot _2
 
Verse _2
 
 
% Bars 41-44, and the piece finds its riff. Four hammered notes, five
% beats of silence, then a two-note answer. And the hammer climbs G, D#,
% A before dropping to the bottom E. This is the figure the last quarter
% of the piece is built out of: seven statements of it from here on.
 
Knock ::= ..3*4 -*5
Grind ::= Knock ..6 _2 ..6  Knock@~4 .3 _2 ..7  Knock@~8 .2 _2 ..5
Snap  ::= Knock@~-2 ..4 _2 ..4
Drive ::= Grind Snap
 
% Over the riff, a reel: the zig-zag, then the same climb from D# up to B,
% then a spinning descent.
 
Climb ::= .7 .6 1 .7 1 2 3 2 4 3 4 5
Swirl ::= 4 5 6 5 3 4 5 4 2 4 3 1
Dive  ::= 3 2 .7b 2 1 .5 .6 .7 .4 .5 .6 .4
Reel  ::= Zig Climb Swirl
 
Groove ::= {Floor, Drive, Reel Dive}
 
Groove _2
 
 
% Bars 45-48: the riff loses a knock, the call comes back in mid-phrase,
% and the top voice wanders: three bars of it, then a coil that will
% return whole later with the note it is missing here.
 
Nudge ::= ..3*3 -*5 ..2 _2 ..3 ..2
Roam  ::= .3 .2 .1 .3 .2 .1 .3 ..7 .1 ..7 .1 .2
          .1 ..7 ..6 ..7 .1 .2 .1 .2 .1 ..3 ..2 ..3
          1 .7 .6 1 .7 .6 1 .5 .6 .5 .6 .7
Coil  ::= .6 .5 .4 .2 .3 .4 .3 .4 .3 .1 ..7 .1
 
Stray ::= {Floor, Nudge Coo Hush Ring, Roam Coil \7 -}
 
Stray _2
 
% The refrain a third time, then the riff and the reel again. And now
% the coil is whole, while a fourth voice takes up the turn with a hole
% punched in it.
 
Verse _2
 
Churn ::= {Floor, Drive, Reel Coil, -*36 Ring \7 -}
 
Churn _2
 
 
% Bars 57-61 are a staircase. Two voices, three notes at a time, each
% pair of bars a rung higher: G-E-D# under C-B-A, then C-B-A under E-F#-E,
% then a lilt, and then the zig-zag and the climb in both voices at once,
% a third apart.
 
Dip   ::= .3 .1 ..7
Toll  ::= 6 5 4
Lilt  ::= .1 .2 .1 .2 .3 .4
Pair  ::= .1 .2 .1
Weave ::= .5 .4 .6 .5 .4 .5 .5 .4 .6 .5 .6 .7
 
Stair ::= {Floor Pound,
           Dip*4 Toll@~-7*4 Lilt*2 Zig Climb,
           Toll@~-7*4 Pair*4 Weave Zig@~2 Climb@~2}
 
Stair _2
 
 
% The top of the staircase, bars 62-68. C-B-A falls through three octaves
% and climbs back one: twelve notes, the same three all the way down. It
% is played seven times running and five of the seven are damaged: a
% single note knocked out, or the first two missing. Above it a siren: B
% and C, and between them they hold from bar 64 to the end of bar 72.
 
Peal  ::= Toll Toll@~-7 Toll@~-14 Toll@~-7
Siren ::= '5 _4 '6 _4 '5 _40 '6 _12
 
assert Toll@~-14 == ..6 ..5 ..4
 
Crest ::= {Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5 Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5,
           Climb Climb@~6 Siren,
           Peal \7 -  -*2 Peal[2:]  Peal \6 -  Peal
           Peal \7 -  Peal  Peal \6 -}
 
Crest _2
 
% Bars 69-72: the peal again, four times, over one held B six seconds
% long and a low E-F#-E ticking away underneath.
 
Fall ::= {Floor, Peal Peal \7 - Peal Peal \6 -, '5 _48, Pair*16}
 
Fall _2
 
 
% Bars 73-80, and the piece plays its own opening two octaves up: the
% held E, the chain of falling thirds, the ebb and the trudge, the whole
% four bars, transposed into the top of the keyboard. Under it the bell
% from bars 17-20 tolls four times, and the machine runs on.
 
Roof ::= {Floor Floor, Chime*4, Ground@~14 Pound@~14 Toll*12}
 
Roof _2
 
 
% And then it winds down. The riff six times more while C-B-A shrinks:
% twice a bar, then once a bar, then gone. Under it the bass hammer is cut
% from twelve notes to six, and then to four.
 
Clip ::= ..1*6 -*6
Thin ::= Clip Clip@~4 Clip@~2 Clip@~5
Stub ::= ..1*4 -*8
Fray ::= Stub Stub@~4 Stub@~2 Stub@~5
Tick ::= Toll -*3
Tock ::= Toll -*9
 
Grid ::= {Floor, Drive, Tick*8}
Wane ::= {Thin, Drive, Tock*4}
Bare ::= {Thin*2, Drive*2}
 
Grid _2
Wane _2
Bare _2
 
% The last four bars hold the riff's answer out instead of repeating it,
% and the piece stops on the low E it started on.
 
Close ::= Knock@~-2 ..4 _3
Stop  ::= ..1 _4
 
Halt ::= {Fray, Grind Close}
 
Halt _2
Stop _2

% THE MACHINE: e harmonic minor, six beats to the bar, 2495 notes in a
% hundred bars, and almost every one of them an eighth. Eight different
% note values appear in the whole piece and 2434 of the 2495 notes are the
% shortest of them, so the pulse never once breaks.
%
% The piece is a machine, and the machine is four bars long. One note
% hammered twelve times for a whole bar, then the next: E, B, G, C. It
% runs under two thirds of the piece unchanged, and it is the first thing
% to learn. Everything is written a note to the unit and stated at that
% eighth-note pulse.

bpm 240
instrument chiptune
meter 6
unit 1/4
key e4 harm

Pound ::= ..1*12
Floor<bass> ::= Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5

assert Pound@~4 == ..5*12

% Before the machine starts, the bass falls. It falls in thirds, two of
% each, and the chain is one long descent: G-E, G-E, F#-D#, F#-D#, then
% the third turns over and points up (B-D#), and then two more falling
% pairs. One interval, five heights.

Drop  ::= 3 1
Spill ::= Drop*2 Drop@~-1*2 Drop~@~-3*2 Drop@~-4*2 Drop@~-5*2

assert Drop@~-1 == 2 .7

% Then it runs out of energy: F#-E twice, six D#s, two Cs; and the next
% bar slower still, pairs down to an F# that will not move.

Ebb    ::= .2 .1 .2 .1 ..7*6 ..6*2
Trudge ::= ..5*2 ..4*2 ..3*2 ..2*6
Ground<bass> ::= ..1 _4 Spill Ebb Trudge

% Over that, the tune. Three G's, three A's, three F#'s, then E-F#-E:
% four groups of three to the bar, which is how every melody in this
% piece is cut. It is the most-stated figure here: ten bars of it.

Theme ::= 3*3 4*3 2*3 1 2 1

% And the first answer to it, falling to B.

Sink ::= 3 2 3 2 .7 .6 .7 .6 .5 _4

% Bars 1-4: the low E and the high E together, the bass spilling down
% while the tune waits, and then theme and answer.

Head ::= {Ground, 1 _4 -*20 Theme Sink}

Head _2

% The theme gets two more answers. One hovers and settles on E; the other
% climbs from C right up to a high D#, the sharpest note in the key.

Turn ::= 3 4 3 4 3 2 3 2 1 _4
Lift ::= .6 .7 .6 .7 3 2 5 4 7 _4

% And then it falls apart. G-G-G-F#, E-E-E-D#, C-C-C-B: the same three-and-
% one shape as the theme, but walking down the scale, and the whole bar
% then again an octave lower, and again below that. Three octaves in three
% bars.

Tumble  ::= '3*3 '2 '1*3 7 6*3 5
Cascade ::= Tumble Tumble@~-7 Tumble@~-14

assert Tumble@~-7 == 3*3 2 1*3 .7 .6*3 .5

% Bars 5-11. The machine starts underneath, E B G C E B G, and the tune
% says theme-answer-theme-answer and falls three octaves.

Rise ::= {Floor Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2,
          Theme Turn Theme Lift Cascade}

Rise _2

% Bars 12-16 are the wreckage. The bass gives up: three notes, then
% nothing for a bar and a half. The theme comes back two octaves down,
% and between its two statements a pair of notes rocks back and forth,
% dropping a step at a time: down first, then up.

Rock ::= ..4 ..5 ..4 ..5

assert Theme@~-9 == .1*3 .2*3 ..7*3 ..6 ..7 ..6

Under ::= {..1*3 -*21 ..1*3 -*33,
           Theme@~-9 Rock~ Rock~@~-2 Rock@~-3
           Theme@~-9 Rock Rock@~-1 Rock@~-2 Ebb}

Under _2

% Bars 17-20: nothing but a bell. C held for half the bar, then six B's;
% then C and D# alternating, then the six B's again. Under it, five short
% B's and a rest, a tolling that has lost its tune.

Bell  ::= .6 _6 .5*6
Knell ::= .6 .7 .6 .7 .6 .7 .5*6
Chime<bell> ::= Bell Knell
Tap   ::= ..5*5 -*5 .1 _2

Chant ::= {Chime*2, Tap*4}

Chant _2

% And bars 21-24 are bars 1-4 again, note for note. The piece starts over.

Head _2

% This time a third voice comes in above, in the same three-and-a-rest
% groups: a call, an echo of it bending down, a flat pair of G's and F#'s,
% and a turn that runs on through the bar without stopping.

Cry  ::= 1*3 -*3 .6*3 -*3
Coo  ::= .5 .6 .5 -*3 .5 .4 .3 -*3
Hush ::= .3*3 -*3 .2*3 -*3
Ring ::= .1 .2 .1 -*3 .5 .4 .6 .5 .4 .5
Call ::= Cry Coo Hush Ring

% Machine, theme with its answers, and the call: this is the piece's
% refrain, and it comes back three times unchanged (bars 25-28, 37-40,
% 49-52).

Verse ::= {Floor, Theme Turn Theme Lift, Call}

Verse _2

% Bars 29-34: the cascade twice over, and above it the only note in the
% piece outside the key: a D natural where the key wants D#, nine times
% here and once more in bar 44, sinking through D-C-B-G-A-F#.

Mist ::= .7b*3 .6 .5*3 .3 .4*3 .2

% Against that, a zig-zag climbing a tenth: up a step, back, up a third,
% back. The piece states it from two starting points a step apart, and the
% second is just the first with an F# walked on in front of it.

Zig ::= .1 .2 .1 .3 .2 .3 .4 .5 .4 .6 .5 .6
Zag ::= .2 Zig[:11]

Swarm ::= {Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2,
           Cascade Cascade,
           Mist*3 Zag .2 Zig[:9] -*2 Zag}

Swarm _2

% Two bars to turn the corner, and the tune plays the cascade BACKWARDS,
% two octaves down, so the three-octave fall becomes a three-octave climb.

assert Tumble~@~-14 == ..5 ..6*3 ..7 .1*3 .2 .3*3

Pivot ::= {Pound Pound@~5, Tumble~@~-14 Lift, Zag Ring}

Pivot _2

Verse _2

% Bars 41-44, and the piece finds its riff. Four hammered notes, five
% beats of silence, then a two-note answer. And the hammer climbs G, D#,
% A before dropping to the bottom E. This is the figure the last quarter
% of the piece is built out of: seven statements of it from here on.

Knock ::= ..3*4 -*5
Grind ::= Knock ..6 _2 ..6  Knock@~4 .3 _2 ..7  Knock@~8 .2 _2 ..5
Snap  ::= Knock@~-2 ..4 _2 ..4
Drive ::= Grind Snap

% Over the riff, a reel: the zig-zag, then the same climb from D# up to B,
% then a spinning descent.

Climb ::= .7 .6 1 .7 1 2 3 2 4 3 4 5
Swirl ::= 4 5 6 5 3 4 5 4 2 4 3 1
Dive  ::= 3 2 .7b 2 1 .5 .6 .7 .4 .5 .6 .4
Reel  ::= Zig Climb Swirl

Groove ::= {Floor, Drive, Reel Dive}

Groove _2

% Bars 45-48: the riff loses a knock, the call comes back in mid-phrase,
% and the top voice wanders: three bars of it, then a coil that will
% return whole later with the note it is missing here.

Nudge ::= ..3*3 -*5 ..2 _2 ..3 ..2
Roam  ::= .3 .2 .1 .3 .2 .1 .3 ..7 .1 ..7 .1 .2
          .1 ..7 ..6 ..7 .1 .2 .1 .2 .1 ..3 ..2 ..3
          1 .7 .6 1 .7 .6 1 .5 .6 .5 .6 .7
Coil  ::= .6 .5 .4 .2 .3 .4 .3 .4 .3 .1 ..7 .1

Stray ::= {Floor, Nudge Coo Hush Ring, Roam Coil \7 -}

Stray _2

% The refrain a third time, then the riff and the reel again. And now
% the coil is whole, while a fourth voice takes up the turn with a hole
% punched in it.

Verse _2

Churn ::= {Floor, Drive, Reel Coil, -*36 Ring \7 -}

Churn _2

% Bars 57-61 are a staircase. Two voices, three notes at a time, each
% pair of bars a rung higher: G-E-D# under C-B-A, then C-B-A under E-F#-E,
% then a lilt, and then the zig-zag and the climb in both voices at once,
% a third apart.

Dip   ::= .3 .1 ..7
Toll  ::= 6 5 4
Lilt  ::= .1 .2 .1 .2 .3 .4
Pair  ::= .1 .2 .1
Weave ::= .5 .4 .6 .5 .4 .5 .5 .4 .6 .5 .6 .7

Stair ::= {Floor Pound,
           Dip*4 Toll@~-7*4 Lilt*2 Zig Climb,
           Toll@~-7*4 Pair*4 Weave Zig@~2 Climb@~2}

Stair _2

% The top of the staircase, bars 62-68. C-B-A falls through three octaves
% and climbs back one: twelve notes, the same three all the way down. It
% is played seven times running and five of the seven are damaged: a
% single note knocked out, or the first two missing. Above it a siren: B
% and C, and between them they hold from bar 64 to the end of bar 72.

Peal  ::= Toll Toll@~-7 Toll@~-14 Toll@~-7
Siren ::= '5 _4 '6 _4 '5 _40 '6 _12

assert Toll@~-14 == ..6 ..5 ..4

Crest ::= {Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5 Pound Pound@~4 Pound@~2 Pound@~5,
           Climb Climb@~6 Siren,
           Peal \7 -  -*2 Peal[2:]  Peal \6 -  Peal
           Peal \7 -  Peal  Peal \6 -}

Crest _2

% Bars 69-72: the peal again, four times, over one held B six seconds
% long and a low E-F#-E ticking away underneath.

Fall ::= {Floor, Peal Peal \7 - Peal Peal \6 -, '5 _48, Pair*16}

Fall _2

% Bars 73-80, and the piece plays its own opening two octaves up: the
% held E, the chain of falling thirds, the ebb and the trudge, the whole
% four bars, transposed into the top of the keyboard. Under it the bell
% from bars 17-20 tolls four times, and the machine runs on.

Roof ::= {Floor Floor, Chime*4, Ground@~14 Pound@~14 Toll*12}

Roof _2

% And then it winds down. The riff six times more while C-B-A shrinks:
% twice a bar, then once a bar, then gone. Under it the bass hammer is cut
% from twelve notes to six, and then to four.

Clip ::= ..1*6 -*6
Thin ::= Clip Clip@~4 Clip@~2 Clip@~5
Stub ::= ..1*4 -*8
Fray ::= Stub Stub@~4 Stub@~2 Stub@~5
Tick ::= Toll -*3
Tock ::= Toll -*9

Grid ::= {Floor, Drive, Tick*8}
Wane ::= {Thin, Drive, Tock*4}
Bare ::= {Thin*2, Drive*2}

Grid _2
Wane _2
Bare _2

% The last four bars hold the riff's answer out instead of repeating it,
% and the piece stops on the low E it started on.

Close ::= Knock@~-2 ..4 _3
Stop  ::= ..1 _4

Halt ::= {Fray, Grind Close}

Halt _2
Stop _2

running…edit it and it re-runs as you type

Developed · Showcase