Activity 3 - Add beats to your song with makeBeat

Let’s try to add some interesting beats to the song! We will be using the makeBeat function.

Before we use the makeBeat function, let’s understand how strings work.

Strings

Anything you see in quotation marks is called a string. A string is just a sequence of characters (whether they are letters, numbers, or symbols). For example, "hello world" is a string.

For makeBeat, we will be mix and matching the following three types of beats to create an interesting beat for our song:

• "0" plays the sound for one note.
• "+" ties (i.e. holds) the sound for an additional note.
• "-" rests (i.e. creates silence) for one note.

When creating a beat, to simpilfy the process, we will create strings that are exactly 16-characters in length. You can also use strings of any length, but they should be multiples of 16 (i.e., 16, 32, 48, etc.)

Here is an example of valid beats:

• "0+------0+------": plays 2 sounds per measure, and each sound lasts for 2 notes.
• "0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-": plays 8 sounds per measure, and each sound lasts for 1 note.
• "0++0++0++0++0-0-": plays 6 sounds in a swinging pattern.

Now, it’s time to add beats to your song!

Activity 3

1. Make sure the cursor in your program is below the fitMedia() functions

2. Scroll through the API list on the left side of the code editor and find the makeBeat() function.

3. Click on the Paste icon on the right corner of makeBeat() to insert the function below the fitMedia function.

4. Once again, when you paste the function, Earsketch produces some parameters that we will need to replace later.

You can specify your own values for the following:

• sound - Navigate to the 'Sounds' pane and find a sound you like. You should use a short sound such as a clap or a banjo drum.
• track - Select any positive integer as the track number.
• start - Specify which measure to start the beat.
• steps - Specify the beat you wish to add, as a string. Ensure the string is 16 characters long (or any multiple of 16).
• stepsPerMeasure - Specify the length of time for a single character in your beat string. The best value will be 16 for now.

If you are not sure what values to choose, try this:

• makeBeat(OS_CLAP01, 6, 1, "--0+--0+--0+0+0+", 16)

Afterwards, add some more makeBeat functions to your song. Try to add at least two makeBeat functions.

Your code should now look something like this:

from earsketch import *

setTempo(120)

fitMedia(HOUSE_DEEP_CRYSTALCHORD_001, 3, 1, 5)
fitMedia(HOUSE_DEEP_CRYSTALCHORD_002, 3, 5, 9)

fitMedia(RD_UK_HOUSE__AIRYPAD_1, 1, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_MAIN_BEAT_002, 4, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_ROADS_BASS_001, 5, startMeasure, endMeasure)  

fitMedia(Y37_ORGAN_1, 2, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_ROADS_BASS_001, 5, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(RD_UK_HOUSE__ARPLEAD_1, 6, startMeasure, endMeasure)

makeBeat(OS_CLAP01, 6, 1, "--0+--0+--0+0+0+", 16)
makeBeat(OS_CLAP01, 6, 2, "--0+--0+--000000", 16)
makeBeat(OS_CLAP01, 6, 3, "0+-0+-0+-0+-0-0-", 16)
makeBeat(OS_CLAP01, 6, 4, "0+-0+-0+-0+-0000", 16)