An ear for Strudel · listening 02
Hear the bracket change.
Listen to both cycles. Does the middle place split, or change its note?
Sound starts only when you press Listen.
No headphones? Follow the difference without sound.
Follow the difference without guessing
The second cycle tells you.
Square brackets divide a place. Angle brackets choose a different item on successive cycles.
Fractions of a cycle
e4 [g4 b4] a4e4 <g4 b4> a4EOne common starting pointOpen the listening note0E4 · cycle 1slot 1/30E4 · cycle 1slot 1/3
E begins at zero and receives one third in either version. Each outside sequence still contains three places: E, a middle group and A. Changing the bracket type has not doubled the length of the outer cycle.
Both opening notes have the same onset and allocated duration.
GCycle 1: one place or half?Open the listening note1/3G4 · cycle 1slot 1/61/3G4 · cycle 1slot 1/3
Both versions choose G at 1/3 in cycle 1. Square brackets give it half of the middle place; angle brackets give it the whole place. A second B follows G only in the square-bracket version.
After G, listen for a separate higher B halfway through the first cycle.
BCycle 2: a new middle noteOpen the listening note1/2B4 · cycle 2slot 1/61/3B4 · cycle 2slot 1/3
The square version still plays G then B. The angle version advances to B, at 1/3 of cycle 2, with no G before it. This is why listening to only the first event is not enough to identify the bracket.
Count from the second E. B begins at 3.000 seconds in A and 2.667 seconds in B at 30 cycles/min.
ACome home at the same timeOpen the listening note2/3A4 · cycle 2slot 1/32/3A4 · cycle 2slot 1/3
A starts at 2/3 in both versions, including cycle 2. The two-cycle listening window contains eight square-bracket events and six angle-bracket events. More events does not automatically mean a faster global cycle.
On cycle 3 the angle group returns to G. The two-cycle phrase repeats, but each individual cycle is still two seconds long.
Each coloured line is one full cycle; the filled segment is this note’s allocation. Compare A and B on the same row. Seconds in the listening notes assume 30 cycles/min; half speed doubles them.
Timing, sound & using these phrases
At 30 cycles per minute, one cycle is 60 ÷ 30 = 2 seconds. An onset of 1/3 is two thirds of a second into that cycle. For cycle 2, add another two seconds. These examples stop after two cycles; the real Strudel patterns continue.
CycleEar synthesizes original sine tones after your click. They fade before their allocated slot ends. Allocations are not waveform measurements: instruments and envelopes can sustain or fade differently. The snippets use Strudel’s own sine instrument, so their envelope can sound different.
Open Strudel, paste one complete downloaded phrase and press Ctrl+Enter. Use Ctrl+. to stop. The file sets 30 cycles/min and plays a single original note pattern; it has no samples to download.
Rule reference: Strudel’s original documentation. Sources, privacy and sharing your own listening page.