Re: Rhythm Question

[Mark Hamburg <mhamburg.pub@gmail.com>]

I think one of the key issues is repetitive v the same. Loopers and drum 
machines make it easy to be "the same". The same is necessarily 
repetitive, but repetitive need only be mostly the same. Depending on the 
context, the same gets boring faster than a simple repetitive pattern does.

There is probably a related but different axis around mechanical v organic 
that also affects perception but I would assert that Tangerine Dream's 
sequencer work (e.g. Ricochet) shows that mechanical need not result in 
boredom — probably because the melody evolves.

For those of us using drum machines as backing, it would be nice if it 
were easy to program a main pattern, make copies with small changes, and 
then have it occasionally use the altered patterns on playback. I suspect 
that one could construct a reasonably sparse pattern that even if 
mechanical in playback would still groove and by having it change up just 
a little bit at random points avoid the "this is a machine" feeling from 
sinking in.

I'm not sure what the equivalent would be for an audio looper. The 
occasional random stutter?

Mark