Stromian Tuplet Notation
Stromian tuplet notation is a system for expressing nested tuplets. 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
The notation system used on the Metr tool on chambercode.com is very similar to STN, the main difference being that it doesn’t have STN’s redundant numerators.
| Notation | |
|---|---|
| Stromian Tuplet Notation | 11[8:6+5]:8 |
| Metr | [8:6+5]:8 |
Limitations
A triplet inside of a nested triplet is pretty easy to conceptualize when reading it on sheet music, as opposed to STN, where it would be written like “3[3[3:2+1]:2+1]:2”. STN has its limitations, but it allows those familiar with it to glance at “11[6+9:5]:8” and think “ah yes, a 11:8 tuplet with a nested 9:5 at the end”.