Rhythm Necklace is a new ‘geometric sequencer’ for iOS, designed to let you explore the geometry of rhythm.

The concept of ‘Rhythm necklaces’ – circular representations of repeating patterns – comes from author Godfried T. Toussaint’s book, The Geometry of Musical Rhythm.

According to Toussaint, circular representations of rhythms show the underlying geometric properties that make them enjoyable, such as the degrees of evenness and symmetry.

And Toussaint has found that analyzing rhythms geometrically reveals relationships between rhythms the world over. For example, a core group of geometric algorithms are shared in rhythms iused in African, Cuban, Balkan, and Spanish folk music.

The Rhythm Necklace iOS app is a musical sequencer for exploring the geometry of rhythm necklaces, and for experimenting with generating rhythms algorithmically.

Here’s a video demo of Rhythm Necklace in action:

Features:

• Build rhythms on up to four necklaces.
• Adjust the length of each individual cycle to quickly create complex rhythmic ratios
• Use a collection of rhythm building algorithms and geometric transformations to create and morph your rhythm
• Tap your tempo, use a slider for transitions, or manually type the global speed of your song
• Choose from a variety of pitched sounds and percussive sample sets.
• Quickly modulate between notes in four musical modes (pentatonic, major, minor, chromatic) and five octaves.
• Customize the attack and panning of sounds to suit your composition
• Save your sessions and export them as midi.
• E-mail copies of midi sessions to yourself. These can be opened and edited on most DAWs.
• Midi in/out allows you to fully customize your sounds and record your compositions in real time within an external DAW environment.

Rhythm Necklace is available for US $2.99 in the App Store.

If you’ve used Rhythm Necklace, leave a comment and share your thoughts on it!