06Lock the floor, offset the bass

Bass & drums

This compatibility page collects bass shapes, low-end interaction and a techno recipe pack. Universal pulse, meter and subdivision mechanics now live in Time & meter; the patterns below are applications, not laws.

Read foundations first: derive the number and duration of positions from meter and subdivision. A sixteen-position bar is specific to 4/4 ×4.

Bass pitch shapes

Root pulse0 → 0 → 0 → 0
0
0
0
0
Root + octave0 → 12 → 0 → 12
0
12
0
12
Rolling minor0 → 7 → 10 → 7
0
7
10
7
Acid0 → 0 → 3 → 0 → 7 → 0 → 10 → 3
0
0
3
0
7
0
10
3
Phrygian0 → 1 → 0 → 7
0
1
0
7
Dorian0 → 3 → 7 → 9
0
3
7
9

Kick and offbeat bass

track12345678910111213141516
Kfour on floorXXXX
Banswers kickXXXX
mechanickick → gap → bassThe low-frequency events alternate instead of masking each other.
Recipe pack

Techno interlock

soft prior, not a rule

This pack assumes a 4/4 ×4 grid: sixteen positions per bar. Learn how that grid is derived in Time & meter. The patterns are useful defaults, not a definition of techno and not a restriction on what may follow.

meter4/4
subdivision×4
mechanismlow-end interlock
tempocontextual
16 positions1 e & a · 2 e & a · 3 e & a · 4 e & aX accent · x lighter hit · empty = no onset

Basic frame

track12345678910111213141516
Kquarter-note anchorXXXX
Cbeats 2 + 4XX
CHoffbeat eighthsxxxx
OHalternating airXX

Driving variation

track12345678910111213141516
Kstable anchorXXXX
CbackbeatXX
CHcontinuous eighthsxxxxxxxx
OHsparser airXX
Pasymmetric layerxxxx
Transform, do not truncate

For 3/4 ×4, rebuild a twelve-position bar and preserve the roles—anchor, answer, air and asymmetry. Cutting the last four cells off a 4/4 pattern changes phrasing accidentally.

articulationvelocity hierarchy + deliberate gateVarying velocity changes accents; shortening gate changes note length. Keep those mechanisms separate, as described in Time & meter.