Examples · Cycletron

Songs

Full tracks, including the Agency OST album.

Ambient Drift atmospheric pads · 80 BPM
Cycletron Trailer dark acid techno · F minor · 140 BPM · 44 bars
FLESH / FIRMWARE 128 BPM
Live Set Opener house groove · C minor · 128 BPM
Small Drum And Bass 174 BPM Small drum & bass arrangement in F minor.
Techno Loop simple driving groove · 130 BPM

Agency

Legacy System 56 BPM
Ticket Queue 100 BPM
Red Tape 128 BPM
First Incident 110 BPM
Zero Day 135 BPM
Cascade Failure 174 BPM
The All-Nighter 120 BPM
Green Build 102 BPM
Night Drive 104 BPM
Black ICE 106 BPM
War Room 92 BPM
Rogue Process 122 BPM
Kill Switch 100 BPM

Genres

Last Train late-night 2-step garage · G minor · 130 BPM · 28-bar arrangement
After Midnight warehouse acid house · A minor · 125 BPM · 28-bar arrangement
Slow Constellations luminous ambient · C Lydian · 58 BPM · 28-bar arrangement
Tidal Memory deep dub techno · C minor · 120 BPM · 28-bar arrangement
Night Signal cinematic synthwave · A minor · 102 BPM · 28-bar arrangement

Shows

Show files: songs played as music videos, section by section.

Techniques

Short patterns, one musical idea each.

Form

aabb-pickrestart 100 BPM AABB form using `pickRestart`: a section timeline switches named phrases. Each token in `<a a b b>` lasts one cycle, so the form is A, A, B, B.
arrange-sections 120 BPM Song form via `arrange`: each [bars, pattern] pair plays at its native rate for that many cycles, then the whole thing loops. Intro -> groove -> break.
build-drop 128 BPM Four-cycle build and drop: layers add in, strip to kick, then full drop.
call-response 110 BPM Two-bar call-and-response: a phrase answered by its variation via `every(2, ...)` — the simplest way to make a 1-bar idea feel like 2 bars.
intro-then-loop 118 BPM Intro-then-loop using slowcat: the first cycle is sparse, then the pattern settles into a four-bar loop that repeats indefinitely.
layered-build 120 BPM Layered build using `mask`: each layer gates in over consecutive cycles. Cycle 0: kick only. Cycle 1: + snare. Cycle 2: + hats. Cycle 3: full.
palindrome-arch 96 BPM Palindromic motif: the phrase reads the same forwards and backwards. Base motif "c4 e4 g4 b4" reflected around its last note — a symmetric arch form. Mirroring is one of total-serialism's transforms.
verse-chorus-bridge Three-section song form (verse/chorus/bridge) using pickRestart with .slow(8). .slow(8) makes each label last 8 cycles (~16s at 120 BPM). Omit it and sections flash by in 1 cycle.

Harmony

bass-and-pad 84 BPM Two-voice texture: walking bass beneath a sustained pad. The pad uses a slow attack so it doesn't compete with the bass transient.
drone-with-melody 72 BPM Sustained low drone underneath a moving voice — common in modal music. `slow(4)` keeps the drone steady for four cycles before retriggering.
i-iv-v-i 90 BPM Classic I–IV–V–I in C major, one chord per cycle (slowcat). `chord(...)` expands each symbol into its constituent notes.
ii-v-i-jazz 110 BPM Jazz ii–V–I in F major: Gm7 → C7 → Fmaj7. `chord(...)` quality suffixes resolve to seventh-chord stacks.
jazz-voicing-epiano 112 BPM Jazz ii-V-I voiced chords on electric piano with walking bass.
numerals-ii-v-i-vi 90 BPM Diatonic triads from Roman numerals in C major: ii V I vi → Dm G C Am. One chord per cycle via slowcat <...>. Quality follows the major scale (I,IV,V major; ii,iii,vi minor; vii° diminished).
pad-chord-progression 90 BPM Dark supersaw pad chord progression with slow LFO filter sweep.
piano-trio-sketch 108 BPM Jazz piano trio: voiced chords on piano, walking bass, brush rimshots.

Melody

blues-scale 90 BPM A minor blues scale: 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7. The flat-five is the colour tone — held longer with `@2` weight.
c-major-scale 96 BPM Ascending C-major scale, one note per beat, sine timbre. A baseline check that pitch + envelope plumbing is sane.
call-and-response 104 BPM Call-and-response via `superimpose`: the response layer is the call transposed up an octave and shifted later in time.
developing-phrase 120 BPM 8-bar developing lead — a phrase that climbs and answers itself instead of looping one bar. Each [] group is one bar of scale degrees; the line arcs up the C-major scale in call-and-response pairs, then resolves to the tonic. Use this shape inside long sections (a `.slow(8)` pickRestart label) so the melody actually moves across the section rather than repeating a single bar.
dorian-modal 100 BPM D Dorian: minor scale with a raised 6th (B natural). `slowcat` alternates an ascending phrase with its descent — total 2 cycles.
infinity-series 96 BPM Per Nørgård's "infinity series" (uendelighedsrækken) — a self-similar melody. Recurrence: a(0)=0, a(2n) = -a(n), a(2n+1) = a(n)+1, read as semitone offsets from a root. The line is fractal: every other note reproduces the whole series transposed. Generated by cycletron-gen. Offsets: 0 1 -1 2 1 0 -2 3 -1 2 0 1 2 -1 -3 4
pentatonic-arpeggio 108 BPM Minor pentatonic arpeggio with `every` accent. Every 4th cycle we double-time the line — a simple contour variation.

Motion

cellular-rule90 120 BPM Elementary cellular automaton (Wolfram rule 90) drives an evolving hat line. A single seed cell evolves over 4 generations; each row becomes one cycle, so the rhythm reorganises itself every bar.
euclid-rotating 120 BPM Rotating Euclidean rhythm: each cycle uses a different rotation of the same 5-in-8 distribution, so the clap walks around the bar.
every-reverse-hats 128 BPM Self-varying rhythm: every 4th cycle the hats reverse, so the groove reorganises itself without changing a single note. `every(n, fn)` motion.
filter-breathing 110 BPM A slowly "breathing" low-pass: the cutoff rides a sine over 8 cycles, opening and closing the pad like a tide. Continuous automation, no notes move.
lfo-filter-sweep 110 BPM Slow LFO sweeping the lowpass: classic synth wash. `slow(2)` stretches the sine over two cycles for a 2-bar phrase.
octave-echo 125 BPM Melodic motion from `.off`: a delayed copy shifted up an octave trails the lead, turning a plain line into a cascading arpeggio.
sine-pan-sweep 120 BPM Continuous stereo motion: a sine LFO sweeps the pan across 0.2..0.8 (never negative — negative pan is silent). The lead drifts side to side.

Rhythm

ambient-pulse 75 BPM Slow Euclidean pulse with long decay tones and gentle degradation.
bossa-nova-perc 108 BPM Bossa nova percussion with syncopated kick, rimshot (rs), and brushed hats.
breakbeat-with-variation 170 BPM Breakbeat with `every` variation: reverse the snare line every 4 cycles. The pattern stays recognisable but gains forward motion from the flip.
drum-and-bass-break 174 BPM Drum and bass halfstep break with rolling hats and sub bass.
euclid-3-8 110 BPM Bjorklund 3-in-8: classic Cuban tresillo distribution. Three pulses spread as evenly as possible across eight steps.
four-on-the-floor 124 BPM Four-on-the-floor: house/techno foundation. Kick on every beat, closed hat doubled up, snare on 2 and 4.
halftime 140 BPM Halftime feel: snare moved from 2/4 to beat 3 only. Common in trap, drum-and-bass breakdowns, and lo-fi hip hop.
hexbeat-a4f2 120 BPM Hex beat "a4f2": each hex digit is four binary steps, 1 = kick onset. a4f2 → 1010010011110010 (16 steps). A compact way to notate a whole bar of rhythm as a short string. Steady hats sit underneath for pulse.
minimal-house-tr808 124 BPM TR-808 minimal house groove with sparse syncopation and saw bass.
polyrhythm-3-against-4 100 BPM 3-against-4 polyrhythm: hat triplets over a straight four-on-the-floor kick. Each pattern locks to its own subdivision of the same cycle.
swing-shuffle 96 BPM Swing feel via `late`: push the off-beat hats slightly back. The kick stays straight so the swing only colours the higher voices.
techno-tr909 138 BPM TR-909 four-on-the-floor techno with Euclidean hats and sub bass sweep.

Timbre

acid-bassline 130 BPM Acid bassline with high resonance filter sweep and TB-303 style phrasing.
bitcrush-stab 130 BPM Bitcrushed stab: aggressive lo-fi colour via `crush` + `coarse`. Use sparingly — the harmonics are unforgiving above 0.5 amplitude.
fm-bass 112 BPM FM bass: 2-op synthesis with a moving modulation index. `range(0.5, 6)` maps a sine LFO into a useful fmindex range.
gm-bass-walking 110 BPM Walking bass using GM acoustic bass: two-note phrases per cycle.
gm-piano-melody 88 BPM GM piano melodic phrase with gentle reverb tail.
pluck-delay 96 BPM Karplus-flavoured pluck: short envelope + heavy delay + light room. The delay feedback carries the note tail and turns single hits into arpeggios.
supersaw-lead 126 BPM Supersaw lead: detuned saw stack with a resonant lowpass. `detune(30)` widens the stereo image; lower it for tighter sounds.
tr808-full-kit 120 BPM TR-808 full kit groove demonstrating all ten drum voices.
wt-lead-phrase 96 BPM Wavetable lead melody using scale degrees in C minor with rhythmic delay.
wt-pad-sweep 90 BPM Wavetable pad with slow LFO filter sweep and long sustain envelope.

Genres

A generated sketch for each genre recipe, and a few curated examples.