We present the Rhythm Circle, an interactive open-source web environment that allows users to generate and manipulate rhythms using the circular representation. In this environment, three rhythms can be looped simultaneously, starting and ending at the same time via three concentric circles, each corresponding to a drum element: a snare drum, a kick drum and a hi-hat. The rotation speed, corresponding to the tempo, is adjustable, and there is an option to export the generated rhythms in midi format. The platform includes preset rhythms, offering binary and ternary patterns that correspond, in this case, to circle subdivisions into 16 and 12 equal parts. One of the advantages of this web environment is the possibility of transforming the different rhythms, not only by activating or deactivating the onsets on the three respective circles, but also by applying musical transformations. The first musical transformation is the change of the subdivision of a circle, for example, from 16 to 17. The second musical transformation is the rotation of a circle, which corresponds to a time shifting of the musical rhythm. A usage counter was implemented, and in just a few months, the platform recorded over 30,000 visits from users worldwide
https://hal.science/hal-05054439/file/2025_ICMC.pdf
I recently developed the Rhythm Circle web application, an open-source environment designed to generate and manipulate rhythms using the circular representation.
This provides an original visualization of rhythm and might enable musicians, both professional and amateur, to explore new musical concepts based on the circular representation.