THE BACKBEAT TOY by S. Alexander Reed

an interactive catalogue of 1,458 rhythms

audio will take several seconds to load at first; thanks for your patience.

Based on the following (terribly unmusical) assumptions, 1458 backbeats are possible:

• Two pulses, each divided into four 16th-note events

• Possible events are Kick, Snare, and Hat (which takes the place of a Rest)

• Beat 1 cannot begin with a Snare, and Beat 2 must begin with a Snare

Playing all patterns in order takes about 25 minutes. Tempo is fixed at 120bpm.

If you wanted to use four-pulse durations (i.e. a 4/4 time signature), the number of possibilities is squared: 2,125,764 possible beats.