"n" function vs "up" function

Communities TidalCycles
1

Hi all,
I’ve been learning more about Tidal, and I can see that in certain performances and code examples people will use the “n” function to create patterns of notes/melodies. However, the tutorial states that this is what “up” is used for. The documentation indicates that “n” is for choosing the sample in the folder one would like to use. However, as I learn to create custom synthdefs for tidal, it seems that “n” is used for note names in that context. Could someone clear this up for me please?

2

Hey, you have found some slightly out of date documentation. There is now just n and note for this.

For superdirt synths, they both do the same - pick a note. These are the same:

  • d1 $ note "c e f g" # s "gtr"
  • `d1 $ n “c e f g” # s “gtr”

Or specify with numbers, still the same:

  • d1 $ note "0 4 5 7" # s "gtr"
  • d1 $ n "0 4 5 7" # s "gtr"

For samples, n picks a sample from a folder, and note ‘pitches it up’ - simply by playing it faster. So these sound different:

  • d1 $ note "0 4 5 7" # s "arpy"
  • d1 $ n "0 4 5 7" # s "arpy"

Note names will still work, but assumes your sample is tuned to ‘c’

d1 $ note "c e f g" # s "arpy"

up is now simply an alias for note, so it still works, but might disappear someday.

1 Like
3

Thanks for your reply!