Oscillators and Meter

Single Oscillator with Activity 6-Type Patterns (McAuley)

• 35 patterns: 16 micropulses, 9 events, varying spacing; 4 repetitions

  

• Oscillator: resting period halfway between shortest and longest interval in pattern; no decay to resting period
• Performance: oscillator tended to stabilize on easier patterns

  

• With noise (random deviations from perfect intervals) added to patterns, performance improved

  

Multiple Oscillators for Meter Assignment

• Oscillators at a range of resting periods

  

• Oscillators couple with inputs, may also couple with each other

  

• Oscilllators get activated to the extent that they couple with inputs (or other oscillators)

  

• Each level in the meter hierarchy is captured by some period
• How some effects are achieved
  • The first and last events in a run tend to be accented.
    • Events at the beginning and end of runs can "capture" more oscillators than those in the middle because there is no competition from other events on one side.

      

      

  • Rests tend not to be strongly accented, but may represent beats.
    • For a pattern like (1 1 1 0), an oscillator with period equal to the micropulse (the interval between the events in the run of 3) could lock onto the events, but it would also "beat" where the rest is.
    • However, for (1 1 1 0), an oscillator with period equal to the period of the pattern (the interval between the beginnings of consecutive runs) would "beat" only once for each period and this would almost certainly not fall on the rest.

    

  • Each of three or more equally spaced events tends to be accented.
    • Each time an oscillator finds its zero phase aligned with an event, it gets strengthened. If there are three equally spaced events, an oscillator with period close to the interval separating them and phase zero close to the first event will be quite strong.
    • For the pattern (1 1 0), oscillators that beat at the period of the pattern will be stronger than those which beat at a period equal to the distance between the first beat and the rest because they will be aligned with the input more often.
  • There will tend not to be 2 strong beats close together.
    • If oscillators couple with each other and two oscillators are aligned with two beats close together, the stronger of the two may attract the other toward it.

    

  • Periods at a given level will tend to be 2 or 3 times the period at the next lowest level.
    • On average for a pattern that repeats only every 5 primitive events or rests, a smaller number of oscillators will be activated than for one that repeats every 2, 3, or 6 because oscillators for multiples or fractions of the period will also be activated.

    

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Last updated: 30 November 1995
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~gasser/osc_meter.html
Comments: gasser@salsa.indiana.edu
Copyright 1995, The Trustees of Indiana University