Time

All methods which take time as an argument accept a String or Number. Time encoded as a Number is assumed to be seconds and returned. Time encoded as a String can take various forms in order to synchronize it to the Tone.Transport.

Examples:

Numbers

A number will be evaluated as the time (in seconds).

• 1.2 = 1.2 seconds
• "3" = 3 seconds

Notation

Describes time in BPM and time signature relative values.

• "4n" = quarter note
• "8t" = eighth note triplet
• "2m" = two measures
• "8n." = dotted-eighth note

Transport Time

Tempo and time signature relative time in the form BARS:QUARTERS:SIXTEENTHS.

• "32:0:0" = start of the 32nd measure.
• "4:3:2" = 4 bars + 3 quarter notes + 2 sixteenth notes.
• "1:2" = 1 bar + 2 quarter notes (sixteenth notes can be omitted)

Frequency

Seconds can also be described in Hz.

• "1hz" = 1 second
• "5hz" = 0.2 seconds

Ticks

A time relative to the Transport's PPQ (Pulse Per Quarter). The number before the 'i' needs to be an integer.

• "1i" = 1 tick
• "192i" = 1 quarter note at 192 PPQ

Now-Relative

Prefix any of the above with "+" and it will be interpreted as "the current time plus whatever expression follows"

• "+1m" = 1 measure from now
• "+0.5" = half a second from now

No Argument

Methods which accept time, no argument (undefined) will be interpreted as "now" (i.e. the audioContext.currentTime).

For example, Tone.MonoSynth's triggerAttack method will accept a time as the second argument, or if a value is ommitted, the it will default to "now".

synth.triggerAttack();//context.currentTime
synth.triggerRelease("+4n"); //a quarter-note from now

Quantization

Using the @ symbol, a Time can be quantized relative to the the Transport's grid.

• "@1m" = If the Transport is started, this will return the time of the next measure

Conversion

To convert between seconds and BPM relative values, use Tone.Time

Tone.Time("4n").toSeconds();