Atoms

In a DAWless setup one device acts as MIDI clock master to synchronise start, stop, and tempo across all machines

In a sampler, MIDI velocity can drive filter, length and volume together, not just volume

In a Tidal # combination, the left-hand pattern determines the rhythmic structure

In ambient music reverb is the defining instrument, not an effect

In ambient, generative mutation replaces arrangement: parameters drift over minutes, not bars

In an open-architecture patch, objects are wired with cords carrying the video signal, and any break stops the output

In an RC oscillator, frequency is inversely proportional to resistance × capacitance: smaller R or C raises pitch

In audio-rate FM the carrier and modulator are both audible, so the side frequencies are the spectrum itself

In Detroit techno the rimshot works as counterpoint and never lands on a kick beat

In DnB the backbeat snare on 2 and 4 anchors the half-time feel against busy hats and ghost notes

In drum 'n' bass, rhythmic drum patterns can function as the primary mnemonic hook rather than melody or vocal

In dub techno, groove comes from delay on a quantized grid rather than from swung timing

In FM, c/m controls spectral position (harmonic vs. inharmonic) while I controls spectral density

In footwork you master codified basics before earning the right to break the rules into personal style

In glitch/post-digital music the tool becomes the instrument — its unintended uses constitute the compositional method

In grime, the silence between beats is a structural ingredient that creates dynamic and punch

In imperative engines, clock-quantized launch must be explicitly coded; Strudel/Tidal get it implicitly from the global cycle clock

In jungle, the MC rolls with the DJ's vibe rather than performing a fixed script, adapting style to match energy

In live coding the arrangement is enacted as a real-time sequence of code edits, not planned on a timeline

In live visual composition, the element with greatest activity, novelty, or visual weight automatically claims the foreground of attention

In LMMS, anything you want to reuse across projects must be saved with the instrument preset, not the project

In Logic, Option-clicking with the Scissor tool slices a MIDI region into equal grid divisions instantly

In loop-based rigs the tension arc is a staircase of discrete section states, not a continuous automation curve

In mastering, the compressor and limiter are two separate units with distinct roles

In Max the [route] object both separates OSC messages by address pattern and strips that pattern off, dispatching each to its handler

In Max/MSP, the leftmost inlet is 'hot' (triggers output) and other inlets are 'cold' (store values only)

In minimal compositions, value contrast (not hue) carries the image — any saturation becomes the accent

In minimal visuals, placement and timing are the content — there is nothing else to hide behind

In p5.js WEBGL mode the coordinate origin is at the canvas center, not the top-left

In Pure Data, tilde-suffixed objects (osc~, *~, dac~) are the ones that generate and process audio signals

In roots reggae, a four-on-the-floor kick pattern is called 'steppers'

In Strudel the tempo is set as cps (cycles per second), where bpm = cps × 60 × beats per cycle

In SuperCollider, always plot an unfamiliar UGen before playing it to avoid dangerous amplitude spikes

In SuperCollider's audio server, Synths are processed head-to-tail, so effects must appear after sources

In synchronous granular synthesis, grain density determines the rhythm-to-pitch transition

In the 252e, pulses and CVs are completely independent — a cell can trigger without a pitch, or carry a pitch without triggering

In the 4-bin rig, audio bands can drive color brightness, saturation, or palette phase but not onset-triggered color events

In the glitch style, digital degradation is the material — corruption, pixel-sorting, and RGB split are the primary tools, not side effects to avoid

In the imperative sequencing paradigm time only advances when you explicitly move it forward — nothing sounds until you advance time

In this rig frequency-budgeting and masking-avoidance are predictive — no framework surfaces a wired metering or perception bridge

In this rig, audio-reactive visual motion is envelope-following only — beat-locking and onset-triggering are not available

In Tidal mini-notation, [] stacks subsequences into one cycle (polyrhythm) while {} aligns them step-for-step (polymetre)

In Tidal, $ is a low-priority function application operator that avoids wrapping the final argument in parentheses

In TouchDesigner any CHOP channel can drive any operator parameter, so audio, MIDI and beat inputs are interchangeable

In trance, the bass is sidechained to the kick so both stay punchy without low-end mud

In trigger mode, the attack phase functions as a pre-delay before the sound starts

In VCV Rack you stack multiple cables on one output by Ctrl-dragging from that output

In visual composition, a line's length is a concept of time, and a curved line represents more time than a straight line of equal length

in_thread do ... end launches a concurrent execution path while the main thread continues

Incorrect compressor attack and release settings cause pumping, where the level audibly rises and falls with the music

Increasing FM modulation index transfers energy from the carrier into a growing number of sidebands

Industrial techno's earliest projects grew from a Detroit-techno/industrial crossover, exemplified by Final Cut (1989)

Inner City's 'Big Fun' was built on a vocal written and phone-sung by Paris Grey before she was flown to Detroit to record

Integer.do inside a SynthDef creates that many UGen instances and accumulates them into a sum

Integral serialism extends ordered-set control from pitch to duration, dynamics, and timbre

Intelligent DnB ('artcore') emphasizes musicality and jazz-influenced atmosphere over dancefloor aggression

Interactive computer graphics still depends on rasterization hardware; ray tracing cannot yet replace it

Introduce the lead vocal early in the build order so other instruments leave frequency space for it

Inverting an interval by an octave produces its complement: numbers sum to 9, semitones to 12, and quality flips

IQ's first SDF-raymarched image, Slisesix (2008), won a 4KB demoscene procedural-graphics competition