Polyrhythmic Siteswaps & Music-Juggling Notation System
Hybrid Music-Juggling Notation System
The hybrid siteswap–music notation system brings the throw sequences of siteswap together with the rhythmic detail of musical notation. Notes in the C major scale represent siteswap values (C = 1, D = 2, etc.), while rhythmic notation specifies when each throw occurs. Familiar musical markings add details such as longer or shorter holds, groups of throws and adjustments to throw height. This allows polyrhythms, pauses, and longer juggling sequences to be recorded in a single score, whether you’re developing a pattern, planning a routine synced with music, or sharing an idea with another juggler!
741 with asymmetric heights
7135714 7147135 in a 7/8 pattern, split (4, 3), (3, 4)
(1 count) 7 ball passing between two jugglers
The Siteswap 97531 visualised with the proposed hybrid siteswap-music notation system
Polyrhythmic Siteswaps
This project introduces and explores polyrhythmic equivalents of siteswaps, visualised using a custom animator designed in python! This is achieved by assigning each hand one of the polyrhythmic divisions and each catch to one of the polyrhythmic beats. The resulting beat lengths are thus irregular, resulting in variable heights regardless of the siteswap value.
Likewise, given the synchronicity of the hand throw rates, some odd valued siteswaps actually return to the same hand, and vice versa. Furthermore, if the sum of the polyrhythmic integers is odd, then an odd period siteswap actually becomes one-sided! (like in the 3:2 case here).
What’s really interesting as well is, given the asymmetry of the throws, any Siteswap period which is not equal to the sum of the polyrhythm integers (which is the case for several examples here), then the pattern has to cycle through every possible permutation until it reaches the lowest common multiple of the siteswap period and the sum of the polyrhythm integer.
Examples
The siteswap 97531 performed in a 3:2 polyrhythm, visualised with the proposed hybrid siteswap-music notation system