It’s neat how the pattern keeps changing and generating new melodies and syncopations. But it’s perhaps a little too random. What might be nice is a periodic coalescence: a coming together of the separate threads to form a familiar motif or “hook”.
I’ve introduced a new element, <repeat-blam>, to repeat the same bass and snare patterns 3 times over.
<track-blam id="bassTrack" to="notes-blam" chance="0.7">
<repeat-blam x="3">
<bar-blam s="A1 0 0 ? 0 ? ? 0"></bar-blam>
<bar-blam s="C2 0 ? 0 0 ? ? 0"></bar-blam>
</repeat-blam>
<bar-blam s="0 G1 0 ? ? ? ? A2" chance="1"></bar-blam>
</track-blam>
...
<track-blam to="#snare" override="kickTrack snareSoftTrack" chance="0.9">
<repeat-blam x="3">
<bar-blam s="0 0 0 0 ? 0 0 0"></bar-blam>
<bar-blam s="0 0 ? 0 0 0 0 0"></bar-blam>
</repeat-blam>
<bar-blam s="0 ? 0 ? ? ? ? ?" chance="1"></bar-blam>
</track-blam>
But the final bar stands alone. Its overriding chance value of 1 means it plays out more predictably. In the snare’s case it performs a kind of roll. The base syncs with this roll, performing an argeggio that always lands on the octave up from the root: a resolution.
Important things to bear in mind:
- Because the snare is already set to override the kick and soft/ghost snare tracks, no compositional changes for those tracks are needed. Their patterns don’t even need to share the same number of beats or bars.
- Because the bass uses the
? cipher up until the final A2 note, the motif is not the same each time. It just has a similar feel.