A great way of exploring relationships between rhythm, speed and various types of music is through the Tempo Habitat Atlas.
You can play with the atlas directly by clicking on the map below or by using your computer keyboard for more detailed control. Starting at the far left side of the map is where you’ll find each genre’s button. When clicked, the tempo range for that genre will be highlighted and its rhythmic feel loaded into the listening station. Clicking anywhere along any one of the lanes in a given genre set the exact number of beats per minute in that range. After that, change the speed by dragging on the Tempo marker slider. This will adjust the big BPM number and play a brief clip of what the beat sounds like.
How to Use the Tempo Habitat Atlas
If you prefer, you can tap on the number keys from 1-9 to immediately go to one of those genre, or hit 0 for the tenth category. You can see in detail what you have selected to listen to from the listening station on the right. Here it details which rhythmic feel you have (one drop, four on the floor etc) and also the meter. To hear the full rhythm loop at the speed of your choice, simply press the Hear this habitat button.
On your computer, click on the Apply half-time lens button. The backbeat will shift, altering the feel of the music without altering the BPM. The result is that the subdivisions continues but the weight of the snare falls onto every other pulse. This can help understand how rhythmic emphasis change the sense of tempo.
When you find a BPM where several genre overlap (which is what happens if buttons appear), then the genre names will display in the Other habitats box below. You can click one to keep the tempo but switch the feel and meter. This allows you to contrast the experience of feeling the same speed different.
The Center this genre button snaps the tempo slider to the center of the selected range. In other words, it provides a starting place from which you can then tweak up/down to suit your taste. Need some quiet? Just hit the Mute the atlas button and everything goes silent in an instant.
Want to adjust the overall preview volume? That’s done via the volume slider, which controls the main output level for the audio previews. Keep it at a comfortly level because the percussion sounds can get a little punchy. Finally, the Fullscreen button opens the widget to full-screen size so you have more workspace on your computer.
The keyboard offers some handy shortcut buttons. One button, G, plays what’s selected without needing to reach for the mouse. Another button, M, mutes out sound instantly. When you’re choosing different music genres, you can adjust the BPM up or down one beat at a time using the arrow keys.
To begin, it’s better to start with House or Techno and have an idea of what that driving four on the floor feels like. From there change to Hip hop or Reggae at the same BPM to listen out for a different subdivision. Place the half-time lens on DnB or Jungle to see how the backbeat moves the speed of the feel from fast into slow.
If you want a reminder on what the keyboard is doing, or just the controls in general, then there’s the help panel. By clicking the How to play button you can open and close it at will. Inside you’ll find some handy tips on how things work with keyboards and mice alike.
To find out what a different rhythmic relationship sounds like you tinker with the sliders and buttons. There’s no right or wrong path through the atlas as it’s intended for exploration. You click your way around listening to see how changing the tempo alters the character of a genre.