Everything Together

This article is part of the Aerodynamic guide.

Now that we have all the parts of the track, we’ll see how to put everything together. We already have a glimpse of what live loops are, as a reminder:

live_loop :hej do
    play :C3
    sleep 4
end

This defines a live loop called hej, which every 4 beats plays the note C3. If we modify this loop in live, for instance by changing the note, and evaluate everything (via the Run button), at the next iteration, the note changes. In this way, we can control each live loop independently, and little by little build a track.

Synchronisation

We can have as many live loops as we want, provided they have a different name:

live_loop :hej do
    play :C3
    sleep 4
end

live_loop :san do
    play :E5
    sleep 1
end

Here we have two loops:

hej plays the note C3 every 4 beats
san plays the note E5 on every beat

When we evaluate this code, both loops are created at the same time and so, they are automatically synchronized. But if we create the second loop a little after the first one, they won’t be synchronized and will be off the beat.

live_loop :hej do
    play :C3
    sleep 4
end

sleep 0.3

live_loop :san do
    play :E5
    sleep 1
end

This kind of shift can also happen if by mistake, we miscalculate the value of the sleep (which often happens when live coding) : for instance, if instead of waiting 1 beat, we wait 1/3 of a beat, we’ll be desynchronized for the rest of the performance.

To avoid these shifts, we can ask Sonic Pi to synchronize live loops, that is, to tell a loop to start when another one starts:

live_loop :main do
    sleep 1
end

sleep 0.4

live_loop :hej do
    sync :main

    play :C3
    sleep 4
end

sleep 0.3

live_loop :san do
    sync :main

    play :E5
    sleep 1
end

We have introduced a third loop called main which fires every beat but does nothing, we only use it so as to synchronize other loops.

The sync keyword synchronizes one loop on another, here, we force the loops hej and san to start whenever the loop main starts: no matter the shifts, they’ll always start on the main beat.

Another useful keyword is stop, which stops a loop: by adding it inside the hej loop and by evaluating everything, it stops to play the C3 note every 4 beats ; then, if we add it back, and evaluate, the C3 will be heard again, and because the loop is synced on every beat, we keep synchronization. In this way, we can temporarily enable / disable parts of the track.

Aerodynamic

We finally have all elements to play Aerodynamic, here’s the complete code with the necessary loops, in bonus, I’ve added an extra live loop called extra_beat which may be helpful. Have fun!

use_bpm 123

maquillage = "~/il-macquillage-lady.wav"
aerodynamic = "~/funk.wav"

load_sample maquillage
load_sample aerodynamic

define :sample_chunk do |what, beat, dur, delay|
    beat = beat / 16.0
    dur = dur / 16.0
    sample what, beat_stretch: 16, start: beat, finish: beat + dur
    sleep delay
end

define :funk do
    # sample_chunk(aerodynamic, 0.0, 4.0, 4.0)

    sample_chunk(maquillage, 0.0, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 0.25)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.75)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 0.0, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 1.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 7.5, 0.5, 0.5)

    # sample_chunk(aerodynamic, 4.0, 4.0, 4.0)

    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 1.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 7.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 1.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 7.5, 0.5, 0.5)

    # sample_chunk(aerodynamic, 8.0, 4.0, 4.0)

    sample_chunk(maquillage, 0.0, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 0.25)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.75)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 0.0, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 1.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 7.5, 0.5, 0.5)

    # sample_chunk(aerodynamic, 12.0, 4.0, 4.0)

    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.25, 0.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 0.25)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.25, 0.25)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 3.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 8.5, 0.5, 0.5)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 2.5, 1.0, 1.0)
    sample_chunk(maquillage, 7.5, 0.5, 0.5)
end

# Live loops

live_loop :main do
    sleep 4
end

live_loop :funk do
    sync :main

    with_fx :ixi_techno, mix: 0.1, phase: 8, cutoff_min: 90, cutoff_max: 120, res: 0.9, amp: 1 do
        with_fx :bpf, mix: 0, res: 0.00001, centre: :B8, amp: 2 do
            funk
        end
    end
end

live_loop :solo do
    sync :main

    use_synth :zawa
    use_synth_defaults attack: 0.05, sustain: 0.15, release: 0.125

    phases = [
        [:D4, :Fs3, :B3, :Fs3],
        [:D4, :Gs3, :B3, :Gs3],
        [:G4, :B3, :E4, :B3],
        [:E4, :A3, :Cs4, :A3],

        [:D4, :Fs4, :B3, :Fs4],
        [:D4, :Gs4, :B3, :Gs4],
        [:G4, :B3, :E4, :B3],
        [:E4, :A3, :Cs4, :A3],
    ]

    phases.each do |notes|
    	4.times do
            notes.each do |n|
                play n
                sleep 0.25
    	    end
        end
    end
end

live_loop :extra_beat do
    sync :main

    32.times do
        tick
        sample :bd_fat, amp: 2 if spread(1, 16).look
        sample :bd_fat, amp: 1.5 if spread(1, 32).rotate(4).look
        synth :cnoise, release: 0.6, cutoff: 130, env_curve: 7, amp: 1 if spread(1, 16).rotate(8).look
        synth :cnoise, release: 0.1, cutoff: 130, env_curve: 7, amp: 0.25 if spread(1, 2).look
        sleep 0.125
    end
end

live_loop :intro do
    stop # remove me if you want bells

    sync :main

    use_synth :pretty_bell
    use_synth_defaults release: 9

    with_fx :level, amp: 0.5 do
        4.times do
            with_fx :gverb, room: 20 do
                play :A1, amp: 0.25
                play :A2, amp: 0.5
                play :A3, amp: 1.5
                play :A4, amp: 0.75
                play :A5, amp: 0.5
                sleep 8
            end
        end
    end
end

This article is part of the Aerodynamic guide.