Polynode
A free, browser-based polyrhythmic drum machine built with Tone.js. Six independent lanes with per-step probability and 40 presets. No install required.
Polyrhythm is what happens when you stop forcing everything to share the same pulse. A 5-step kick against a 7-step snare against a 3-step hi-hat, each cycling at its own rate, locking back into phase only at longer intervals. The result is rhythm that feels alive rather than metronomic.
Polynode is a drum machine built around that idea. It runs entirely in the browser. No install, no account.
Six instrument lanes run independently: kick, snare, closed and open hi-hat, clap, and percussion. Each lane has its own step count, clock division, offset, volume, pitch, mute, and solo. Change any of these and that lane shifts its relationship to everything else without disrupting the others.
There’s also a Truly Random Mode with a Chaos slider. At low values it adds subtle probability jitter and pitch drift. Push it up and it turns into something closer to generative percussion. Randomize and Reset buttons make it fast to explore.
The 40 built-in presets span 8 categories drawn from ethnomusicological research and music theory: West Africa, Afro-Cuban, Brazil, India, Math and Ratios, Jazz, Funk and Soul, and Techno. From Ewe bell patterns to TR-808 four-on-the-floor to Brubeck’s 5/4.
Built with React, TypeScript, and Tone.js for precise browser-based audio scheduling.