Automatonnetz
The Automatonnetz, coded up by Patrick Dowling, combines the neo-Riemannian triad chord transformations of [[Harrington 1200]], also running in the Ornament & Crime module, inspired by Noise Engineering Tonnetz Sequent module, combined with the Exfilnator vector sequencer idea expressed by fcd72 (Frank) of d:Machinery.
Neo-Riemannian transformations are applied to sequences determined by the “navigation” of a 5x5 grid of cells.
Controls
| Left Encoder | Right Encoder | |
|---|---|---|
| TURN | Select cell in the grid; the 25 cells are accessed sequentially, row-wise. | Navigation mode: move up and down through the menu items. Edit mode: increase or decrease the value being edited. |
| PRESS | Toggle between editing overall grid settings or current cell settings. | Toggle between menu navigation (selection) mode and value editing mode |
| LONG | Clear/reset grid (the results of this action depends on Clr setting) | App Selection Menu |
| Up Button | Down Button | |
|---|---|---|
| PRESS | Reset current cell position to grid origin (top left-hand corner of grid) | Increment grid position by one clock step |
| LONG PRESS |
I/O
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TR | TRIG IN to advance the sequencer | aux clock input #1 / Arpeggiator clock (if mode is “arp” or “stem”)reset/mute #1 | GATE IN inhibits the arpeggiator’s clock | |
| CV | The voltage on this input is quantised to the root note of triad (before transform) - that is, it provides external voltage control of the root note (same as Harrington 1200) | Modulate triad inversion (same as Harrington 1200) | ||
| OUT | Depending on the OutA setting: pitch CVs for quantised root note, arppegio/strum, or trigger out | Pitch CVs for the triad after transformation | Pitch CVs for the triad after transformation | Pitch CVs for the triad after transformation |
Description
On each clock input the dx (delta x) and dy (delta y) values are added to the current position on the grid to determine the next cell. The position simply wraps around when it reaches the edge of the grid, and “backwards” motion is also possible. The position and movement can also be fractional, allowing for clock divisions and all kinds of patterns.
Each cell of the grid can contain a neo-Riemannian transformation, or a reset, as well as other parameters. In this app, there are three additional transforms available, which can be represented as a combination of the basic three neo-Riemannian transforms:
- S (Slide): LPR
- example S(Cmaj) = C#min
- H (Hexatonic): LPL
- example H(Cmaj) = A-min
- N (Nebenverwandt): RLP
- example N(Cmaj) = Fmin
The implementation computes these in a single transform step however, not sequentially.
Grid settings
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
dx | Amount of movement along x-axis (horizontal) per clock input |
dy | Amount of movement along y-axis (vertical) per clock input |
Mode | Musicological mode of root triad, either “maj” or “min” |
Oct | Move outputs up/down in octave steps |
OutA | Switch output mode of channel A: “root” outputs root note, “trig” outputs a trigger whenever the triad output on B, C and D is transformed, “arp” arpeggiates the current triad, “strm” (strum) arpeggiates the triad once only as soon as the triad transformation has taken place (tip: very useful with the Mutable Instruments Elements or Rings modules, or Mutable Instruments Braids in “PLUK” mode) |
Clr | Sets how the grid is cleared on a long-press of the left encoder. “zero” clears the grid, “rT” fills with random transforms, “rTev” sets each cell’s event to “randT” |
Per-cell settings
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
Trfm | Determines the transform which is applied when this cell is active; special values are “@” (reset) and “*” (no transform) |
Offs | Offset in semitones applied while this cell is active |
Inv | Inversion of the transformed triad |
Muta | Mutation event that is applied when the cell is left (i.e. on the next clock after the cell’s transform is applied). Valid values are shown in the table below. Note that this setting makes the grid self-modifying as the current cell traverses it! |
Muta setting | Action |
|---|---|
none | nothing happens |
rT__ | The transformation for this cell is set to a random value. |
r_O_ | The transposition for this cell is set to a random value. |
rTO_ | The transformation and the transposition for this cell is set to a random value. |
r__I | The inversion for this cell is set to a random value. |
r_OI | The transposition and the inversion for this cell is set to a random value. |
rTOI | The transformation, the transposition and the inversion for this cell is set to a random value. |
Screensaver display
Similar to [[Harrington 1200]] app, the current triad (output as pitch CVs on the B, C and D sockets) is shown graphically on a pitch circle on the left. On the right, the last few vector moves are shown as a “snake”. The current output triad is also displayed.
Tips
If you wish to use the vector sequencer to play melodies, then set the TRFM (transform) value for every cell in the grid to * (null transform), and set the Offs value for each cell to a specific note offset from the root note that you want to appear in your sequence. Then, as the current cell is moved around the grid by clock/trigger inputs on TR1, the note defined for that cell will be output on output B (with transpositions of the same note sequence on outputs C and D).
Example tracks
- Oh Tomato Nets! - a track composed in real-time, live, on-the-fly, entirely by the Automatonnetz app.
This documentation has been reformatted and republished from the original Ornament and Crime manual, with permission from the copyright holders