Tidal mini-notation uses *, /, !, and <> to speed up, slow down, repeat, and rotate steps within a cycle

Tidal provides four step-level modifiers in mini-notation: *n speeds up a step (repeats it n times within its slot); /n slows it down (only one of n cycles it actually plays); !n repeats a step at the same metric level (equivalent to writing it n times); <...> picks one element per cycle rotating through them. Decimal multipliers work (e.g. *1.5 makes 3 events over 2 cycles). These compose with subsequences: [hi lo]*2 fits 4 events in the subsequence’s slot.

Examples

d1 $ sound "hi lo*3" — lo plays 3 times. d1 $ sound "hi lo/2" — lo plays every other cycle. d1 $ sound "hi lo!3" = "hi lo lo lo". d1 $ sound "hi <a b c>" cycles through a/b/c.

Assessment

Write patterns demonstrating *, /, !, and <>. Explain what "bd [sd hc]*1.5" produces over two cycles.