Strudel spaces every element of a pattern evenly within one fixed-length cycle

Strudel runs a continuous cycle in the background. Every element listed in a pattern string is spaced evenly within that cycle, regardless of how many elements there are. Adding more sounds makes the pattern faster and denser because Strudel divides the same cycle among all elements equally. This is fundamental: the cycle is the unit of musical time in Strudel, not beats-per-minute. Understanding that more elements = faster playback is the first cognitive model learners need before attempting any live-coding.

Examples

sound(“bd hh sd oh”) — four sounds, each gets 1/4 cycle. sound(“bd hh sd oh hh bd oh sd”) — eight sounds, each gets 1/8 cycle. Both patterns last the same wall-clock time.

Assessment

Given two patterns with different numbers of elements, predict which plays faster. Then experimentally confirm using ._spiral() visualization.