I built a tool where music becomes geometry… is this useful or just cool?

Dorico
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Bossa-Nova
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I’ve developed a free web app -Erhythm.org (disclosure: I’m the developer), it’s a visual, interactive rhythm composer inspired by Godfried Toussaint’s “The Geometry of Musical Rhythm”. The core idea is simple: rhythm is represented as geometry. You place beats on a circle, the active beats connect to form a polygon, and you can immediately hear the pattern. Euclidean rhythms, polyrhythms, and world rhythms all become visually intuitive this way. As music educators or experienced musicians, do you think a geometry-based visual approach like this has real pedagogical value for beginners who haven’t yet learned to read notation? Specifically I’m wondering:

Can seeing rhythm as a polygon on a circle help a pre-notation learner feel and internalize rhythm more naturally? Would you consider integrating something like this into early lessons? Are there risks or limitations to this approach compared to starting with traditional notation?

As a live example, here is a Bembé Afro-Cuban rhythm you can play and interact with directly:
:backhand_index_pointing_right: Try it here: Link in comment

I’d appreciate honest, critical feedback from anyone with teaching or learning experience.

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-erhythm.org/composer/r/bembe-afro-cuban?utm_source=forums.steinberg.net

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Nice!

Jesper

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Thank you @jesele, enjoy the app.

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Cool! Not really useful for what I do but I am sure that others would find it useful. I really like the uniqueness of the product.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

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Thank you @kasky1! I really appreciate the warm welcome and your feedback.

I completely understand that it may not fit your particular workflow, but I’m glad you find the concept interesting. My goal with Erhythm is to explore a different approach to music composition and learning, so it’s encouraging to hear that the uniqueness comes across.

Thanks again for taking the time to check it out and share your thoughts!

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This is cool! I’ve always liked circular representations of rhythm. They’re occasionally useful in teaching students how to count trickier tuplets and how to feel polyrhythms in relation to other subdivisions of a beat. The iOS app “Metronome” has this as a pro feature which also includes a circular visual representation. If it’s not already there, maybe you can add something similar.

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It reminds me of Smart Drums in GarageBand (if you do not know of it).

I like being able to relate to the speed of the circle for timing.

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Thanks @AConstantino ! Polyrhythms and tuplets are definitely areas I’m interested in expanding. I’ll take a look at that circular metronome approach, sounds like a great addition to Erhythm.

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Thanks @arco ! I’m familiar with Smart Drums, and that’s a great comparison. The visual connection between the circle’s motion and timing is exactly what makes circular rhythm representations so intuitive. I’ll definitely explore that idea further in Erhythm.