Tuesday Track — manual

A generative algorithm sequencer. Run one of 16 named algorithms from a deterministic seed, then reshape its output with loop, skew, glide, trills, masking, and scale.

Introduction

The Tuesday track stores no fixed step data — instead it runs one of 16 named algorithms (a port of the "Tuesday" generator) that produce notes, gates, and timing on every tick from a deterministic seed. Three knobs — Flow, Ornament, Power — drive that seed and shape the character; everything else (loop length, rotation, skew, glide, trills, masking, scale) reshapes the algorithm's output without touching what it generates.

The same Flow + Ornament always produce the same sequence until you reseed. So a Tuesday track is reproducible: dial in a phrase you like and it comes back. Reseed when you want a fresh draw of the same algorithm without changing your parameter settings.

Everything here is grounded in the firmware as built — defaults, ranges, enum members, key bindings, and step-grid maps come from the model, engine, and UI code.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with the xformer track/sequence/edit page model (Page+S2 / Page+S1 / Page+S0).
• Understanding of CV/gate concepts in modular synthesis.
• A basic grasp of scales and quantization, since Tuesday's output is scale-quantized.

Part 1 · Overview

A Tuesday track has no per-step note data in the usual sense. Instead it:

1. Seeds two random generators from Flow and Ornament. Generation is deterministic from those seeds.
2. Generates a note, octave, gate, and timing every step by running the selected algorithm against its internal state.
3. Shapes that output through density (Power), loop/rotate/skew, glide, trills, masking, and scale quantization on the way to CV/gate out.

It is an algorithmic note source, not a step or sample sequencer. The sequence you hear is computed live, not stored.

Seed, reset, reseed

• Flow (1-16) seeds the main RNG; Ornament (1-16) seeds an auxiliary RNG (with a salt so Flow == Ornament still differs).
• reset wipes all engine state and re-seeds both RNGs from the current Flow/Ornament. It runs on track init, loop restart, and the Reset jam button.
• reseed (Shift+F5, or the RESEED context action) advances both RNGs to a fresh draw and re-initializes the algorithm, keeping Flow/Ornament unchanged — a new random variation of the same setup.

Part 2 · Algorithms

The Algorithm param selects one of 16 generators (id 0-15). Each has its own note selection, rhythm, and character. Flow and Ornament seed the draw and bias structural decisions; Power gates density.

How Flow / Ornament / Power read

• Flow (0-16) seeds the main RNG and drives big structural choices: mode select, phrase, walk direction, burst/breath lengths, pattern init.
• Ornament (0-16) seeds the auxiliary RNG and drives detail: pitch variation, velocity, micro-timing, phase-selection probability, register range.
• Power (0-16) is the density / cooldown control. The cooldown between notes is 17 - Power, so Power 0 means no notes (max cooldown), Power 16 means notes nearly every step. Skew bends Power across the loop (Part 4).

Part 3 · Output Shaping

Gate length and offset

The algorithm emits a base gate ratio (nominally 75%, up to 200%). Two knobs scale it:

• Gate Length (gateLength, 0-100%, default 50%) scales the algorithm's gate ratio into actual gate-on ticks. Accented notes extend the gate by 50%.
• Gate Offset (gateOffset, 0-100%, default 0%) scales the algorithm's intended onset offset. At 50% it applies the algorithm's offset 1×; at 100% it doubles it, pushing the gate later within the step.

Glide, Trill, StepTrill

CV update mode

CvUpdateMode (List View, CV Mode) sets when CV moves:

• Free (default) — CV updates every step the algorithm produces a note, even when density gates the gate off. Continuous modulation.
• Gated — CV only updates when a gate actually fires. Traditional note-and-rest behavior (the original Tuesday behavior).

Scale quantization

Output is always quantized. The generated scale degree + octave runs through the selected scale, then Transpose (in scale degrees), Root Note offset, and the Octave offset are applied to reach the final CV.

• Scale (Default = project scale, Semitones = chromatic, or a named scale).
• Root Note (Default = project root, or C..B).
• Scale Rotate (Default = project rotate, or 0-31).
• Octave (-10..+10) and Transpose (-11..+11).

Part 4 · Loop, Rotate, Skew, Start

Loop length

LoopLength indexes a fixed table of lengths. Index 0 is Inf (infinite/evolving, the default). Indices 1-29 map to: 1-16, then 19, 21, 24, 32, 35, 42, 48, 56, 64, 95, 96, 127, 128 steps.

• Inf — the algorithm runs free, never resetting its RNG. Patterns evolve.
• Finite — at the loop boundary the engine re-seeds from the initial seed, so the same N-step phrase repeats exactly.

Rotate

Rotate (default 0) cyclically shifts the playback position within a finite loop. Its range is clamped to ±(loop length − 1), so it only applies when Loop is finite — the Edit page shows N/A for infinite loops, and rotation is forced to 0.

Skew

Skew (-8..+8, default 0) bends Power across the loop:

• Negative — lower density at the start, higher at the end (ramp up).
• Positive — higher density at the start, lower at the end (ramp down).

Start

Start (0-16, default 0) delays note generation by that many steps from track start. The mask system can extend this further with prime-number delays (Part 5).

Part 5 · The Mask System

Masking filters the algorithm's output on and off in time, carving polyrhythms and rests out of the generated stream. While a tick is masked, the gate stays off.

Mask Parameter

MaskParameter (0-15):

• 0 = ALL (default) — no masking, every tick allowed.
• 1-14 — prime-number masks. The values, in order, are 2, 3, 5, 11, 19, 31, 43, 61, 89, 131, 197, 277, 409, 599.
• 15 = NONE — mask everything (silence).

In FREE mode the mask alternates allow/mask in blocks of maskValue ticks. In the grid-synced modes the masked block is maskValue ticks and the allowed block is derived from a quarter-note grid.

Time Mode

Mask Progression

Part 6 · Timing

The effective step length combines Divisor and Clock Mult: a higher multiplier shortens the divisor and speeds up stepping.

Part 7 · The Edit Page

The Edit page (Page+S0) shows 3 parameter pages of 4 slots each, plus a status box and a jam step grid. F1-F4 select a slot for the encoder; F5 (NEXT) advances to the next parameter page; Shift+F5 reseeds.

The three parameter pages

The footer shows the four short names plus NEXT; a [page/3] indicator sits to the right and [algo#] above F1. The status box (top right) shows the current note name + gate indicator, the CV voltage, and the step/loop position.

Encoder

The encoder edits the selected slot's parameter. Shift accelerates the percentage params (Glide, Trill, StepTrill, Gate Length, Gate Offset, Clock Mult) by ×10.

The jam step grid (S1-S16)

The step keypad performs hands-on edits without leaving the page. Top row increases / speeds up, bottom row decreases / slows down:

Shift modifiers:

• Shift+S8 — Run momentary: while held, the track stops; release restores its prior run state.
• Shift+S16 — Reset the sequence (shows "RESET").

LEDs: top row lights green when the value is above its default (octave/transpose/root up, divisor faster, mask up); bottom row lights red when below.

Context menu

Long-press the menu button:

• INIT — clear the sequence to defaults.
• RESEED — fresh seed draw, same Flow/Ornament.
• RAND — randomize all sequence parameters.
• COPY — copy sequence params to clipboard slot 1.
• PASTE — paste from clipboard slot 1.

Quick-edit (Page + S9-S16)

Holding Page plus a bottom-row step performs clipboard/randomize actions:

LEDs: copy and randomize steps light; paste steps light only when their clipboard slot holds valid data.

Part 8 · List View & Routing

Sequence list (Page+S1)

The List View hosts every sequence parameter in order: Algorithm, Flow, Ornament, Power, Loop Length, Rotate, Glide, Skew, Gate Length, CV Mode, Old Trill, Start, Octave, Transpose, Divisor, Clock Mult, Reset Measure, Scale, Root Note, Scale Rotate, Mask Param, Time Mode, Mask Prog. The only context action here is INIT (clear the sequence).

Defaults and ranges

What is routable

These Tuesday params are routing targets (all per-sequence):

• Algorithm (0-15)
• Flow (0-16)
• Ornament (0-16)
• Power (0-16)
• Glide (0-100%)
• Trill (Old Trill, 0-100%)
• StepTrill (0-100%)
• GateLength (0-100%)
• GateOffset (0-100%)
• Rotate
• Octave
• Transpose
• Divisor
• ClockMult
• Scale, RootNote (via the shared scale targets)