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Multi-Voice Patterns with Lanes

Intermediate Composer

Use DrumSequencer and Euclidean to run multiple voices through a single operator chain.

What are lanes?

A lane is one parallel element in a multi-valued signal. A scalar is a one-lane value. A chord is a four-lane value. A drum sequencer output is a six-lane trigger stream — one lane per drum voice.

Operators that understand lanes process each lane independently in a single pass. A single FmSynth node with a six-lane note input spawns six voices simultaneously. A single Shape2D with a six-lane position input renders six shapes.

This is Vivid's vectorized execution model: fewer nodes, more parallel instances.

What you'll build

A six-voice drum machine using DrumSequencer driving individual drum voices, with each voice feeding its own effects chain through lane-aware routing.

Operators used

Operator Domain Role
ClockFr Control Tempo clock
DrumSequencer Control Six-track step sequencer outputting trigger lanes
DrumKit Control Routes notes to per-slot outputs (demuxer)
DrumKick Audio Synthesized kick
DrumSnare Audio Synthesized snare
DrumHiHat Audio Synthesized hi-hat
Mixer Audio Combines multiple audio streams
audio_out — Audio output

Step 1: Clock and DrumSequencer

  1. Add ClockFr. Set bpm to 120.
  2. Add DrumSequencer. Connect clock1/beat_phase → drumseq1/beat_phase.

DrumSequencer has six track outputs. Each track is an independent step pattern. Open the inspector and program a pattern — click steps to enable/disable hits on each track.

Default mapping (tracks 1–6): kick, snare, hi-hat, clap, tom, cymbal.

Step 2: Wire individual drum voices

Each DrumSequencer track output is a single-lane trigger. Connect each to its corresponding drum operator:

drumseq1/track_1 → drumkick1/trigger
drumseq1/track_2 → drumsnare1/trigger
drumseq1/track_3 → drumhihat1/trigger

Connect all drum outputs to a Mixer:

drumkick1/output  → mixer1/input_1
drumsnare1/output → mixer1/input_2
drumhihat1/output → mixer1/input_3

Connect mixer1/output → audio_out/input.

You should hear the drum pattern.

Step 3: Add an Euclidean pattern

Euclidean rhythms distribute N hits as evenly as possible across M steps. They produce musical patterns found in traditional music worldwide.

  1. Add Euclidean. Set hits to 3 and steps to 8 (the classic tresillo pattern).
  2. Connect clock1/beat_phase → euclidean1/beat_phase.
  3. Connect euclidean1/trigger → drumtom1/trigger.
  4. Add DrumTom → mixer1/input_4.

Now the tom plays a 3-against-8 euclidean pattern over the sequencer.

Step 4: Lanes in the GPU domain

The same lane concept applies to visuals. With a lane-bearing Control signal you can drive multiple instances of a GPU operator simultaneously.

  1. Add Shape2D and Render2D → video_out.
  2. Add SpreadNoise (Control). Set count to 6.
  3. Connect spreadnoise1/value → shape1/pos_x.

Shape2D detects the six-lane input and renders six shapes, each at a different horizontal position from the SpreadNoise output.

What's happening

ClockFr → DrumSequencer → track_1 (1-lane trigger) → DrumKick
                        → track_2 (1-lane trigger) → DrumSnare
                        → track_3 (1-lane trigger) → DrumHiHat

SpreadNoise (6-lane scalar) → Shape2D/pos_x → renders 6 shapes

The graph compiler inspects the lane count at each connection. When a lane-bearing signal enters an operator, the compiler creates N logical execution instances of that operator. The shapes rendered, the voices spawned, and the drum hits triggered all correspond to the lane count of their input.

Tip: Probability

DrumSequencer supports per-step probability. Set a step's probability below 1.0 to make it sometimes skip — good for adding subtle variation to a pattern without changing the base grid.

Next steps