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bowlneudel edited this page Jun 24, 2024 · 12 revisions

Stolen Ornaments: Pigeons

Screenshot 2024-06-13 15-17-14

I/O

1/3 2/4
TRIG Poke Pigeon 1 (top) Poke Pigeon 2 (bottom)
CV INs Modulo of Pigeon 1 Modulo of Pigeon 2
OUTs Pitch CV from Pigeon 1 Pitch CV from Pigeon 2

("Poke" == Clock == Trigger)

UI Parameters

  • Seed value 1 (Pigeon 1)
  • Seed value 2 (Pigeon 1)
  • Modulus (Pigeon 1)
  • Quantizer selection/edit (Pigeon 1)
  • Seed value 1 (Pigeon 2)
  • Seed value 2 (Pigeon 2)
  • Modulus (Pigeon 2)
  • Quantizer selection/edit (Pigeon 2)

What is the Pigeonhole Principle?

The core concept is related to the Fibonacci Sequence, based on this most excellent video by Marc Evanstein. Something about the way numbers behave in modular arithmetic being akin to a limited number of pigeonholes for an infinite number of pigeons...

How does the applet work?

This applet generates two Pitch CV values at the Outputs, each quantized using given Scale and Root Note settings.

There are two Pigeons (channels), independently triggered. They are each continuously singing a note (a number representing scale degree) and have a modulus that limits their range. When triggered, the current and previous notes are added together, divided by the modulus value, and the remainder used for the next note value.

Each Pigeon has a certain number of holes they can visit (the modulus). The pair of notes represents the coordinates of the current hole; your Pigeon is guaranteed to revisit the same holes eventually.

Pigeons are easily triggered - by the physical trigger inputs, internal clock pulses, or neighboring trigger sequencer applets (like ProbDiv, or DivSeq).

The CV inputs change the modulus value for each channel, affecting the range of the generated melodic sequence. It is possible to cause both note values to drop to 0 (the root note), and your Pigeon will take a nap there. If that happens, you'll have to nudge it with the encoder, or maybe load a Preset with a MIDI PC message...

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