Re: loop structure idea

["Dennis Leas" <dennis@mdbs.com>]

Interesting that you should mention this.

I have Kyma loop structure that I call a "Fragmenter" that does pretty much
what you describe.  It works a little bit differently due to the internals
of Kyma.  For example, the subdivided loop implicitly multiplies to length
of the master loop due to the way slave loops are synced to master loops.
Also, you can adjust the Fragmenter structure however you like.  The most
fun seems to be with a random select of the particular fragement to play.
So after n repeats, a different fragment is looped.

With one Fragmenter, it's fun to experiment with rhythms.  Say that my
original pattern of <Do Re Me Fa> consists of four variations of a groove,
then the Fragmenter with randomizing selections plays a constantly shifting
pattern.  For real fun, I tried two Fragmenters, one is a "master"
Fragmenter and the other is slaved to it.  The master is in the left and 
the
slave Fragmenter is in the right channel.  I played a different drum into
the master and slave, each with a pattern of variations.  Then sit back and
listen!  It sounds like two drummers playing variations back and forth.
Less is definitely more.  Simpler patterns produce a more cohesive sound.

With one Fragmenter, I tried looping spoken word.  A good phrase is
something like, "This is a test,  Is it not? ----".  I spoke the words
equally spaced with a rest at the end.  On playback, you hear new 
sentences,
some of which is nonsense of course.  But you do hear things like, "Is it a
test.  This is not? ---- A test. ---  This is not? a test.  Test. Test.
This is a test. --- A test this is not?" etc.

I saw the Fragmenter as a step to something I call a Fugue-ifier,  which 
you
can imagine what it would do.

> Could this subdivision be done behind the scenes?

The computation of the loop points is determined by the length of the
original loop.  It takes one sample clock period to compute.  I use a 44.1
Khz sample rate so the subdivision takes about (1 / 44100) or about
0.0000227 seconds to setup.

>How long would it take before you could access it?

Nearly instantantly.

> Could you subdivide and multiply all 4 subdivision elements?

Do you mean fragment the fragments?  Interesting idea.

> Then, could you switch between those subdivided loops in real time
> while the original loop is playing?

No problem.  The loops switching occurs at the end of each loop.  With some
effort it could occur immediately but I don't think that would sounds as
good.

Dennis Leas
-------------------
dennis@mdbs.com