Clock Sync & Sequencing
A free-running function generator drifts against the beat. Lock it to a tempo grid and every modulation cycle aligns with the music. Add a step sequencer, and you have a self-playing patch, a rhythmic engine built from the same tools we've been exploring.
From Free to Locked
A free-running LFO drifts against the beat, sometimes landing on the downbeat (the first beat of a measure, the strongest pulse you tap your foot to), sometimes between. Lock it to the tempo and every modulation cycle aligns with the music. The difference between "atmospheric texture" and "rhythmic groove" is often just tempo sync.
Clock Divisions
A clock is just a steady pulse: tick, tick, tick. At 120 BPM, the quarter-note clock ticks twice per second. Divide that clock and you get eighth notes (4 ticks/sec), sixteenth notes (8 ticks/sec). Multiply it for half notes (1 tick/sec). Each function generator can run at its own division, creating polyrhythmic modulation, where two or more conflicting rhythmic patterns play at the same time, like tapping three beats with one hand while tapping four with the other.
Step Sequencers
A step sequencer is a row of steps that the clock walks through one at a time, left to right. Each step is either on or off. When the clock lands on an "on" step, it fires a trigger; when it lands on an "off" step, silence. After the last step, the pattern loops back to the beginning. 16 steps, some on, some off. That's a rhythm pattern. The sequencer triggers the function generator, which pings the lowpass gate. The gaps between pings are as important as the pings themselves. Rhythm lives in the silence.
The presets below demonstrate common rhythm patterns. Four on Floor fires on every quarter note, the steady kick-drum pulse of dance music. Offbeat fires between the beats, creating a syncopated, bouncing feel. Breakbeat uses an irregular pattern with gaps and clusters, the kind of broken rhythm heard in drum & bass and hip hop.