Lessons · Usage guide

House style

Which of two spellings to write, as a four-on-the-floor track

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% Two spellings can play the very same notes. When they do, the engine
% will say so ('assert a == b' fails loudly the moment they drift), so
% style here has a checkable half, which spellings agree, and a taste
% half, which of the agreeing ones to write. This lesson is the second
% half, every preference in it pinned by the first, and it is also a
% house track: each rule below is one more part, and the last block
% plays the lot.
%
% Start where house starts. Four on the floor is a REPEAT, not four
% copies: the mark says 'every beat' and the copies say nothing.
 
bpm 124
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key a3 min
 
Four ::= {kick -*3}*4
 
assert Four == kick -*3 kick -*3 kick -*3 kick -*3
 
Four*4
 
 
% Rests collapse. A run of them is '-*n' and never a column of dashes,
% which is what makes a drum part readable at a glance: the open hats
% land off the beat and the clap answers on 2 and 4, and you can see
% both without counting.
 
Off  ::= -*2 ohat -*3 ohat -*3 ohat -*3 ohat -
Clap ::= -*4 clap -*7 clap -*3
 
assert Clap == - - - - clap - - - - - - - clap - - -
 
{Four, Off}*2
{Four, Off, Clap}*4
 
 
% One musical object, one name. The bass is an ALBERTI figure: root,
% fifth, third, fifth, the oldest broken-chord accompaniment there is
% and a bassline the moment you run it in sixteenths under a kick. It
% is also a name a musician would say, which is the other half of the
% rule: a name has to be earned AND true.
%
% Where it goes is a MARK on it, never four more rules. '@~3' lifts the
% whole shape three scale steps, and because the step is diatonic the
% figure spells the chord it lands on without being told.
 
Alberti ::= .1 .5 .3 .5
Deep    ::= {Four, Off, Clap}
Bass    ::= Alberti*4 Alberti@~3*4 Alberti@~-1*4 Alberti@~2*4
 
assert Alberti@~3 == .4 1 .6 1
 
{Deep, Alberti*4}
{Deep*4, Bass}
 
 
% A retrograde is '~'. The slice '[::-1]' reaches the same notes on a
% plain line, and the assertion says so, but they are different
% operations wearing one coat, and the mark is the one that means it.
 
Riff ::= .1 _2 .3 _2 .5 _2 .7 _2 '.1 _2 .7 _2 .5 _2 .3 _2
 
assert Riff~ == Riff[::-1]
 
{Deep, Riff}
{Deep, Riff~}
 
 
% Where the two part company. Climb is three steps up from wherever it
% starts, so reversing its three identical tokens leaves the same three
% tokens: the slice is a no-op that reads as a turn, and only the mark
% actually falls. In a break that difference is the whole gesture.
 
Climb ::= s2 s2 s2
 
assert .1 Climb[::-1] == .1 Climb
 
{Four, .1 _4 Climb _4}
{Four, '.1 _4 Climb~ _4}
 
 
% A shape restated from several pitches is one statement, not four
% copies: ANCHOR APPLICATION sounds the rule once from each pitch given.
% One copy of the figure to write, one to correct, and the degrees it
% rides read straight off the line.
 
Arp ::= s2 s2 s2
 
assert Arp(1 4) == {1 Arp 4 Arp}
 
{Deep*4, Bass, Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2 Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2}
 
 
% Repetition and RHYTHM are different ideas with different constructs.
% An even run is a mark ('{…}_2' stretches what is already written), so
% a cell that only spaced things evenly would be a second way to say
% what '_2' says.
 
Even ::= $1 _2 $2 _2 $3 _2 $4 _2
 
assert Even(1 3 5 3) == {1 3 5 3}_2
 
{Deep, {1 3 5 3}_2}*2
 
 
% A chord the language NAMES is never spelled as a stack. '1Dia7' is
% the seventh built on degree 1 out of the scale in force, so it is a
% minor seventh here and whatever the key says anywhere else, while
% '{1, 3, 5, 7}' has to be re-read every time and a rule called 'Am7'
% would be telling a lie the moment the key moved.
%
% Four sevenths falling by fifths, which is where house lives: i, iv,
% VII and III, or Am7 Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 while we are in A minor.
 
assert 1Dia7 == {a3, c4, e4, g4}
assert .7Dia7 == {g3, b3, d4, f4}
 
{Deep*4, Bass, 1Dia7 _16 4Dia7 _16 .7Dia7 _16 3Dia7 _16}
 
 
% ...and here the rhythm cell earns its place. The STAB is one rhythm,
% off the beat, four times a bar. A slot may be REUSED, so '$1'
% four times over says 'this chord, on all four offbeats'. One argument
% is then one BAR, and the four-bar loop is a single line.
 
Stab ::= -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2
Loop ::= Stab(1Dia7 4Dia7 .7Dia7 3Dia7)
 
assert Stab(1Dia7) == -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2
 
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
 
 
% Marks that glue stay glued: '@n', '~' and '/n' ride their element
% with no space, while the duration mark '_n' keeps its own. One body
% never spells the same mark two ways; a body that did would still
% play, which is exactly why the rule has to be a habit.
 
Break ::= {Riff~ _2 Riff _2, Loop}
 
Break
{Break, Four*4}
 
 
% Pitch is written as DEGREES of the key in force. Absolute names reach
% the same sounds and say nothing: read '1 3 5 7' and you know it is the
% tonic seventh in any key; read '{a3, c4, e4, g4}' and you know it only
% here. Degrees also travel, so a key line lifts the whole track at once
% without a note being rewritten.
 
assert 3Dia7 == {c4, e4, g4, b4}
 
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
key c4 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
key a3 min
 
 
% THE TRACK. Every part above, in order, and not one of them written
% twice: the floor, the hats and the clap, the Alberti bass, the loop
% of sevenths, the riff and its retrograde, the arpeggio anchored on
% four degrees, a break where the drums drop out, and the lift into
% C minor before it comes home.
 
Four*4
{Four, Off}*4
Deep*4
{Deep*4, Bass}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff*4}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2 Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2}
Break
key c4 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff*4}
key a3 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff~*4}
{Deep*4, Bass}
{Four, Off}*4
Four*2

% Two spellings can play the very same notes. When they do, the engine
% will say so ('assert a == b' fails loudly the moment they drift), so
% style here has a checkable half, which spellings agree, and a taste
% half, which of the agreeing ones to write. This lesson is the second
% half, every preference in it pinned by the first, and it is also a
% house track: each rule below is one more part, and the last block
% plays the lot.
%
% Start where house starts. Four on the floor is a REPEAT, not four
% copies: the mark says 'every beat' and the copies say nothing.

bpm 124
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key a3 min

Four ::= {kick -*3}*4

assert Four == kick -*3 kick -*3 kick -*3 kick -*3

Four*4

% Rests collapse. A run of them is '-*n' and never a column of dashes,
% which is what makes a drum part readable at a glance: the open hats
% land off the beat and the clap answers on 2 and 4, and you can see
% both without counting.

Off  ::= -*2 ohat -*3 ohat -*3 ohat -*3 ohat -
Clap ::= -*4 clap -*7 clap -*3

assert Clap == - - - - clap - - - - - - - clap - - -

{Four, Off}*2
{Four, Off, Clap}*4

% One musical object, one name. The bass is an ALBERTI figure: root,
% fifth, third, fifth, the oldest broken-chord accompaniment there is
% and a bassline the moment you run it in sixteenths under a kick. It
% is also a name a musician would say, which is the other half of the
% rule: a name has to be earned AND true.
%
% Where it goes is a MARK on it, never four more rules. '@~3' lifts the
% whole shape three scale steps, and because the step is diatonic the
% figure spells the chord it lands on without being told.

Alberti ::= .1 .5 .3 .5
Deep    ::= {Four, Off, Clap}
Bass    ::= Alberti*4 Alberti@~3*4 Alberti@~-1*4 Alberti@~2*4

assert Alberti@~3 == .4 1 .6 1

{Deep, Alberti*4}
{Deep*4, Bass}

% A retrograde is '~'. The slice '[::-1]' reaches the same notes on a
% plain line, and the assertion says so, but they are different
% operations wearing one coat, and the mark is the one that means it.

Riff ::= .1 _2 .3 _2 .5 _2 .7 _2 '.1 _2 .7 _2 .5 _2 .3 _2

assert Riff~ == Riff[::-1]

{Deep, Riff}
{Deep, Riff~}

% Where the two part company. Climb is three steps up from wherever it
% starts, so reversing its three identical tokens leaves the same three
% tokens: the slice is a no-op that reads as a turn, and only the mark
% actually falls. In a break that difference is the whole gesture.

Climb ::= s2 s2 s2

assert .1 Climb[::-1] == .1 Climb

{Four, .1 _4 Climb _4}
{Four, '.1 _4 Climb~ _4}

% A shape restated from several pitches is one statement, not four
% copies: ANCHOR APPLICATION sounds the rule once from each pitch given.
% One copy of the figure to write, one to correct, and the degrees it
% rides read straight off the line.

Arp ::= s2 s2 s2

assert Arp(1 4) == {1 Arp 4 Arp}

{Deep*4, Bass, Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2 Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2}

% Repetition and RHYTHM are different ideas with different constructs.
% An even run is a mark ('{…}_2' stretches what is already written), so
% a cell that only spaced things evenly would be a second way to say
% what '_2' says.

Even ::= $1 _2 $2 _2 $3 _2 $4 _2

assert Even(1 3 5 3) == {1 3 5 3}_2

{Deep, {1 3 5 3}_2}*2

% A chord the language NAMES is never spelled as a stack. '1Dia7' is
% the seventh built on degree 1 out of the scale in force, so it is a
% minor seventh here and whatever the key says anywhere else, while
% '{1, 3, 5, 7}' has to be re-read every time and a rule called 'Am7'
% would be telling a lie the moment the key moved.
%
% Four sevenths falling by fifths, which is where house lives: i, iv,
% VII and III, or Am7 Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 while we are in A minor.

assert 1Dia7 == {a3, c4, e4, g4}
assert .7Dia7 == {g3, b3, d4, f4}

{Deep*4, Bass, 1Dia7 _16 4Dia7 _16 .7Dia7 _16 3Dia7 _16}

% ...and here the rhythm cell earns its place. The STAB is one rhythm,
% off the beat, four times a bar. A slot may be REUSED, so '$1'
% four times over says 'this chord, on all four offbeats'. One argument
% is then one BAR, and the four-bar loop is a single line.

Stab ::= -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2 -*2 $1 _2
Loop ::= Stab(1Dia7 4Dia7 .7Dia7 3Dia7)

assert Stab(1Dia7) == -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2 -*2 1Dia7 _2

{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}

% Marks that glue stay glued: '@n', '~' and '/n' ride their element
% with no space, while the duration mark '_n' keeps its own. One body
% never spells the same mark two ways; a body that did would still
% play, which is exactly why the rule has to be a habit.

Break ::= {Riff~ _2 Riff _2, Loop}

Break
{Break, Four*4}

% Pitch is written as DEGREES of the key in force. Absolute names reach
% the same sounds and say nothing: read '1 3 5 7' and you know it is the
% tonic seventh in any key; read '{a3, c4, e4, g4}' and you know it only
% here. Degrees also travel, so a key line lifts the whole track at once
% without a note being rewritten.

assert 3Dia7 == {c4, e4, g4, b4}

{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
key c4 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
key a3 min

% THE TRACK. Every part above, in order, and not one of them written
% twice: the floor, the hats and the clap, the Alberti bass, the loop
% of sevenths, the riff and its retrograde, the arpeggio anchored on
% four degrees, a break where the drums drop out, and the lift into
% C minor before it comes home.

Four*4
{Four, Off}*4
Deep*4
{Deep*4, Bass}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff*4}
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2 Arp(1 7b 6 5) _2 Arp(1 3 5 4) _2}
Break
key c4 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff*4}
key a3 min
{Deep*4, Bass, Loop, Riff~*4}
{Deep*4, Bass}
{Four, Off}*4
Four*2

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

House style · Usage guide