Here is some detailed information on the construction of the demo songs.
Blank template
This is a template that can be used as a starting point to create your own SSSwing songs. Each pendulum sequence is 2 beats long (that’s 1 swing forwards and backwards). All the sequences are empty, and we have 1.6 minutes of silence during each pendulum wave cycle.
Fundamental Harp 4
This song is based on a progression of 4 chords. The notes of each chord are split across 3 pendulums, eg P1, P5 and P9. The increment of 4 leads to the notes of a chord resynchronising 4 times in every cycle of the pendulum wave.
Consider the chord on P1, P5 and P9 (shown in red). In the time taken for P1 to complete 50 oscillations (50 swings forwards and backwards), P5 completes 50 + 4 = 54 oscillations (108 beats). So during each pendulum wave cycle there are 4 times when P5 is exactly in sync with P1 (same angle, same direction) – on beat 1 of P1 and beat 1 of P5, on beat 26 of P1 and beat 28 of P5, on beat 51 of P1 and beat 55 of P5, and on beat 76 of P1 and beat 82 of P5.
Note that the even beats 26, 28 and 76, 82 do not sound in this song, but the odd beats just before and just after do sound and are broadly synchronised.
Similar arguments apply to P5 and P9.
Marimba Wave
This song is based on a progression of 4 chords. The notes of each chord are split across 3 pendulums, eg P1, P5 and P9. The increment of 4 leads to the notes of a chord resynchronising 4 times in every cycle of the pendulum wave.
Fundamental Harp 7
This song is based on a progression of 4 chords. The notes of each chord are split across 3 pendulums, eg P1, P8 and P15. The increment of 7 leads to the notes of a chord resynchronising 7 times in every cycle of the pendulum wave.
Fundamental Harp 4 Variation
This song is based on a progression of 4 chords. The notes of each chord are split across 3 pendulums, eg P1, P5 and P9. The increment of 4 leads to the notes of a chord resynchronising 4 times in every cycle of the pendulum wave. Additionally, some notes are shifted by 1/2 a beat.
Timpani Rollover
This simple song for timpani is based on 2 octaves of the C major scale. The notes are spread across 15 pendulums, on both odd and even beats (forwards and backwards swings of the pendulums).
David of the White Rock Variations
This song is based on ‘Dafydd y Garreg Wen’ (traditional). Each pendulum sequence is 7 x 2 beats long (that’s 7 swings forwards and backwards), and all the pendulum sequences resynchronise after 7 cycles of the pendulum wave.
Circle of Fifths
This song is based on a progression of 8 chords, split across 4 groups of 3 pendulums. Each pendulum sequence is 4 x 2 beats long (that’s 4 swings forwards and backwards), and all the pendulum sequences resynchronise after 4 cycles of the pendulum wave.
Frere Jacques Phase
This song is based on ‘Frere Jacques’ (traditional). It uses 2 pendulums with identical sequences 8 x 2 beats long (that’s 8 swings forwards and backwards), and the pendulum sequences resynchronise after 8 cycles of the pendulum wave.
Guitar Primes
This song for the guitar in the Key of C major has a number of pendulum sequences which overrun the pendulum wave cycle (100 beats on P1). This makes the song longer than a single pendulum wave cycle – in this case 165 times longer!
If the length of a sequence on a pendulum is more than 2 beats long (that’s 1 swing forwards and backwards) and the length is not a factor of the number of beats per pendulum wave cycle on that pendulum, then the sequence will overrun at the end of the first cycle – look for the orange beat numbers.
If, say, all the pendulum sequences are 10 (5 x 2) beats long, then in general the song will repeat after 5 pendulum wave cycles.
In the ‘Guitar Primes’ song the overrunning sequences are (3 x 2), (5 x 2), (5 x 2), (3 x 2), (11 x 2), (3 x 2) and (5 x 2) beats long. As 165 is the lowest common multiple of 3, 5, 5, 3, 11, 3 and 5, the song repeats after 165 cycles of the pendulum wave.
Permutations
This song is designed to explore different permutations of 5 notes from the C major scale. The 5 notes are placed on pendulums P1, P2 (P1 + 1), P4 (P2 + 2), P8 (P4 + 4), and P16 (P8 + 8).
Permutations Variation
This song is designed to explore different permutations of 5 notes from the C major scale. The 5 notes are placed on pendulums P1, P2 (P1 + 1), P4 (P2 + 2), P8 (P4 + 4), and P16 (P8 + 8). Additionally, alternate notes on each pendulum are placed on forwards and backwards swings of the pendulum.
Eb Major Scale
This simple song for the harp is based on 18 notes of the Eb major scale. The notes are spread across 18 pendulums, on both odd and even beats (forwards and backwards} swings of the pendulums). The 18th note is played just before the 1st note is played for a second time. Each pendulum sequence is 10 x 2 beats long (that’s 10 swings forwards and backwards), and all the pendulum sequences resynchronise after 10 cycles of the pendulum wave.
The Marshall – 12 bars
There are 48 beats in the 12-bar Boogie-woogie bassline, corresponding to 24 cycles on pendulum 1 (P1), and 24 + 6 = 30 cycles on P7. So for every 48 beats on P1 we have 60 beats on P7, and every 4th beat on P1 is in sync with every 5th beat on P7. This means that the chords on P7 play at the start of each bar on P1.
The Marshall – 34 bars
There are 136 beats in the 34-bar Boogie-woogie bassline, corresponding to 68 cycles on pendulum 1 (P1), and 68 + 17 = 85 cycles on P18. So for every 136 beats on P1 we have 170 beats on P18, and every 4th beat on P1 is in sync with every 5th beat on P18. This means that the chords on P18 play at the start of each bar on P1. Some regions are repeated (x2 or x4) to make things easier.
Rock Beat Sync
There are 32 beats in this rock beat, corresponding to 16 cycles on pendulum 1 (P1), and 16 + 16 = 32 cycles on P17. So for every 32 beats on P1 we have 64 beats on P17, or 2 eighth notes of the hi-hat on P17 for every count on P1. Best synchronisation is ON. This is just a demonstration of possible synchronisation – you could of course place the hi-hat along with the bass drum and snare drum on P1!