Lessons · Modifiers

Duration marks

The whole mark algebra, padding runs

% Duration marks attach to the PREVIOUS item and COMPOSE:
% dur = (1 + Σ+) × ∏_ ÷ ∏/. Extensions add whole units first, then the
% factors scale. This ground is the descending minor tetrachord, and
% its four lengths (a quarter, a dotted quarter, an eighth, a quarter)
% are each spelled a different way; the asserts say what each one is.
 
bpm 72
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key g4 harm
 
Ground<bass> ::= .1 _2 _2 ..7+2 _2 ..6 _4/2 ..5+3
 
assert .1 _2 _2 == .1 _4
assert ..7+2 _2 == ..7 _6
assert ..6 _4/2 == ..6 _2
assert ..5+3 == ..5 _4
 
Ground*2
 
 
% '*n' makes n SEPARATE copies, and the copies form ONE group, so a
% mark after the star covers all of them: Fall*2/2 is the whole descent
% twice over in the time it took once. Each arpeggio takes the ground
% note under it (i, vii°, VI, V), so the doubled pass is a variation
% on the same harmony, not a repeat of the same notes.
 
Arp  ::= 1 3 5 '1
Fall ::= Arp Arp@~-1 Arp@~-2 Arp@~-3
 
assert Arp*2 == Arp Arp
assert Fall*2/2 == Fall/2 Fall/2
 
{Fall, Ground}
{Fall*2/2, Ground}
 
 
% A mark takes whatever comes before it, not only a note: a CHORD, a
% REST ('- +1' is two units of silence, which canonically spells -*2),
% or a whole barred MEASURE: the mark after the closing bar repeats
% the measure it closes, so the answer states four chords and says them
% again without being written twice. These four are exactly the
% harmonies the descent just arpeggiated.
 
Gm  ::= {1, 3, 5}
Dim ::= {7, 2, 4}
Eb  ::= {6, '1, 3}
D   ::= {5, 7, 2}
 
Chords ::= Gm _4 Dim+2 _2 Eb _4/2 D+3
 
Answer ::= | Gm _2 -*2 Dim _2 -*2 Eb _2 -*2 D _4 |*2
 
assert - +1 1 == -*2 1
 
{Chords, Ground}
Answer
 
 
% Padding is VISUAL ONLY, and it is what lets a line become a score. A
% dash run is ONE rest, trailing dashes on a sound strip at resolution,
% an underscore run is fill on the span of the sound that leads it, and
% a padded mark cell ('___2') is just '_2'. So the tight toll and the
% gridded toll are the same sixteen units (the assert proves it), and
% only the second shows on which unit the bell lands.
 
Toll ::= 1 - - - .5 - 5 - '1 _2 - - 5 - .5 -
Grid ::= | 1___ ---- ---- ---- : .5__ ---- 5___ ---- : '1__ ___2 ---- ---- : 5___ ---- .5__ ---- |
 
assert 5--- == 5
assert Toll == Grid
 
{Grid, Ground}
 
 
% The passacaglia in order: the ground twice alone, the descent over
% it, the descent again at double speed, the chords, the answer, the
% bell, and then the tonic triad held a full measure, which is one
% chord and one mark.
 
Ground*2
{Fall, Ground}
{Fall*2/2, Ground}
{Chords, Ground}
Answer
{Grid, Ground}
 
Gm _16

% Duration marks attach to the PREVIOUS item and COMPOSE:
% dur = (1 + Σ+) × ∏_ ÷ ∏/. Extensions add whole units first, then the
% factors scale. This ground is the descending minor tetrachord, and
% its four lengths (a quarter, a dotted quarter, an eighth, a quarter)
% are each spelled a different way; the asserts say what each one is.

bpm 72
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key g4 harm

Ground<bass> ::= .1 _2 _2 ..7+2 _2 ..6 _4/2 ..5+3

assert .1 _2 _2 == .1 _4
assert ..7+2 _2 == ..7 _6
assert ..6 _4/2 == ..6 _2
assert ..5+3 == ..5 _4

Ground*2

% '*n' makes n SEPARATE copies, and the copies form ONE group, so a
% mark after the star covers all of them: Fall*2/2 is the whole descent
% twice over in the time it took once. Each arpeggio takes the ground
% note under it (i, vii°, VI, V), so the doubled pass is a variation
% on the same harmony, not a repeat of the same notes.

Arp  ::= 1 3 5 '1
Fall ::= Arp Arp@~-1 Arp@~-2 Arp@~-3

assert Arp*2 == Arp Arp
assert Fall*2/2 == Fall/2 Fall/2

{Fall, Ground}
{Fall*2/2, Ground}

% A mark takes whatever comes before it, not only a note: a CHORD, a
% REST ('- +1' is two units of silence, which canonically spells -*2),
% or a whole barred MEASURE: the mark after the closing bar repeats
% the measure it closes, so the answer states four chords and says them
% again without being written twice. These four are exactly the
% harmonies the descent just arpeggiated.

Gm  ::= {1, 3, 5}
Dim ::= {7, 2, 4}
Eb  ::= {6, '1, 3}
D   ::= {5, 7, 2}

Chords ::= Gm _4 Dim+2 _2 Eb _4/2 D+3

Answer ::= | Gm _2 -*2 Dim _2 -*2 Eb _2 -*2 D _4 |*2

assert - +1 1 == -*2 1

{Chords, Ground}
Answer

% Padding is VISUAL ONLY, and it is what lets a line become a score. A
% dash run is ONE rest, trailing dashes on a sound strip at resolution,
% an underscore run is fill on the span of the sound that leads it, and
% a padded mark cell ('___2') is just '_2'. So the tight toll and the
% gridded toll are the same sixteen units (the assert proves it), and
% only the second shows on which unit the bell lands.

Toll ::= 1 - - - .5 - 5 - '1 _2 - - 5 - .5 -
Grid ::= | 1___ ---- ---- ---- : .5__ ---- 5___ ---- : '1__ ___2 ---- ---- : 5___ ---- .5__ ---- |

assert 5--- == 5
assert Toll == Grid

{Grid, Ground}

% The passacaglia in order: the ground twice alone, the descent over
% it, the descent again at double speed, the chords, the answer, the
% bell, and then the tonic triad held a full measure, which is one
% chord and one mark.

Ground*2
{Fall, Ground}
{Fall*2/2, Ground}
{Chords, Ground}
Answer
{Grid, Ground}

Gm _16

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

Duration marks · Modifiers