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PYTHAGORAS 2.0 What’s new in version 2:

POLYRHYTHMIC SEQUENCER Accent Feature – Note Quantizer – Parameter Mapping

Big thanks to Dominik Von Grüppe for his help on device debugging

This device is inspired from the sequencer section of the Moog

Subharmonicon, that borrows itself its concept from the infamous
Rhytmicon, co-designed in the early 1930’s by the avant-garde
American composer Henry Cowel and the Russian inventor Leon
Theremin. Their invention was capable of playing simultaneously
multiple periodic rhythm patterns in arithmetic relationship based
on pitch overtone series (x2, x3, … up to x16). Moog reuses the same
principle for the Subharmonicon sequencer except it replaces the
overtone series by a subharmonic succession (÷2, ÷3, … until ÷16). Rythmicon

Pythagoras is the Greek philosopher to whom is attributed the

discovery of the mathematical proportion between note intervals
that defines today the arithmetic principle behind harmonic series.
Since this harmonic relationship is at the root of the rhythmic
behavior of the sequencer, it would make sense to describe this kind
of rhythms as “Pythagorean Rythms”, compared to this other rhythm
family named “Euclidean Rhythms” (based on the Euclid’s greatest
common divisor algorithm). This is why I dubbed the device
Pythagoras
“Pythagoras”.

TEMPO SECTION
This section determines the main tempo that will serve as a reference and be
divided by the rhythm generators. You can choose if the main tempo runs
freely or is synced with Ableton Live tempo by using the FREE/SYNC switch.
In SYNC mode, the master tempo dial that determines the frequency is
replaced by a note subdivision dial. The START/STOP switch is here to
control if the sequencer tracks are playing or not.

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PYTHAGORAS 2.0 - POLYRHYTHMIC SEQUENCER

POLYRHYTHM SECTION
This section contains four independent pulse
generators labelled “Rhythm 1”, “Rhythm 2”,
“Rhythm 3”, “Rhythm 4”. Each generator creates a
new pulse that divides the main tempo by an
integer value from 1 to 16: the dials allow you to
choose the value from 1 (fully clockwise) to 16 (fully
counterclockwise). This pulse is then superimposed
onto the sequence 1, the sequence 2, or both via
the “SEQ 1” and “SEQ 2” assignation buttons. So, the
rhythmic result of a sequence will be a combination
of the pulses that are assigned to it, which can
result in very unusual rhythmic figures.
Accents can be assigned to each of the four pulses
too, so that if ever a note is trigged at the same time
in one of the sequences, the note will be played with
the velocity defined for accent on this track (see
further “Notes Section”).

SEQUENCER SECTION
This section of the device is composed of two
sequence tracks. Each track contains four steps
whose note value can be set by an individual dial.
Four steps may seem limited, but keep in mind that
tracks cadences are actually powered by the
polyrhythm section that is capable of producing far
longer sequences than 4 steps, repeating and
skipping notes in very interesting ways.
It is possible to individually offset each sequence
line forward or backward in real time by using the
dedicated arrow buttons. The “Reset” button allows
to force both tracks to start together again at the
first step.

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PYTHAGORAS 2.0 - POLYRHYTHMIC SEQUENCER

NOTE SECTION
For each sequence track, you can independently set
the velocity and length of the notes, as well as
how the accent will affect the velocity. By switching
off the Note button, you can also completely disable
note generation for each track if ever you want to
use this track for control of Live’s parameter only
(see further Mapping section).
The Note Quantizer alters incoming notes pitch
and make them fit to a defined scale mapping. This
mapping is set by disabling or enabling the small
piano keys of the quantizer.
NB. The Note Quantizer is adapted from
The Snake by Maxime Dangles.
The SEQ OCT specifies the octave range (above and
below) for each of the STEP value of both sequence
tracks.

MAPPING SECTION
The “Map” buttons give the opportunity to use Pythagoras for something else
than generating notes. These buttons allow to assign the values generated by
each sequencer to a specific parameter within Live. Click on one Map button.
As it starts blink, the next parameter you select within Live will become the
mapping target. To delete the mapping, click the circle with a cross on the right
side.
For each Mapping, you can define its own value range with the help of
theMinand Maxfields, plus the transition time between values with the
Glidefield.
If you want to use the sequencer values for modifying parameter only and not
for generating notes, you must disable the note section of the concerned
sequencer track by switching off the Note button.

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