Stromian Tuplet Notation

Nested nested triplet

Nested tuplet from polyriddim by phonon

Nested tuplet used frequently in The Black Page by Frank Zappa

Stromian tuplet notation is a system for expressing nested tuplets in text. STN’s main purpose is to convey complicated tuplet ideas over text. The system strikes a balance between legibility and efficiency.

When written with STN, the exact length of the tuplet can be ambiguous. If there’s a 4 in the denominator, that could mean 4 quarter notes long, but it could also be 4 eighth notes, 4 sixteenth notes, etc. This ambiguity can be solved by writing the denominator as a time signature instead of a plain number.

11[8:6+5]:8 —> 11[8:6+5]:8/8