Raising degradeBy over successive cycles thins a voice while preserving its timing grid

The degrade thin-out punches holes in a voice by incrementally raising the .degradeBy amount over a stepped pattern across cycles (e.g. <0 0.3 0.6 0.8>). Unlike muting the voice, degradation preserves the timing grid of the pattern while reducing its density — the audience still hears the voice’s rhythm but with increasing gaps. To ramp the voice back in, reverse the list. This technique is musically useful because it keeps the groove skeleton audible during a breakdown instead of leaving a sudden silence.

Examples

s(“hh*16”).gain(.7).degradeBy(“<0 0.3 0.6 0.8>”) thins the hi-hats over four cycles. Reversing to “<0.8 0.6 0.3 0>” ramps them back in for a build-back.

Assessment

Distinguish degradeBy from commenting or muting a voice. In what type of section change is degradeBy preferred, and why?