Swing (Gimmick)

A row with swing applied to it.

A swing beat in the editor.

Swing (also Swing beats or Heart block) is a gimmick that causes even pulses to occur a set amount of beats earlier or later than a Classic Beat, giving the row an uneven feel. Despite their differing appearance, rows affected by swing have the same hit timing as a Classic Beat of the same tick speed. While swing is not exclusive to any character, the gimmick is associated with Mr. Stevenson and Mrs. Stevenson. It is introduced in Distant Duet, but it is first seen, unplayed, in Lo-fi Hip-Hop Beats To Treat Patients To.

Double swing is a variation of swing where the classic beat pattern is divided into a repeating pair of 4s. It is also introduced in Distant Duet.

Levels

• Distant Duet (Tutorialized)
• Distant Duet (Night)
• Chinese New Year
• One Shift More
• One Shift More (Rhythm Dogtor)
• Steinway
• Steinway Reprise
• Helping Hands
• Worn Out Tapes
• tape/stop/night

Cueing

Swing has no unique audio cue, but can be identified by listening to the spacing of pulse sounds. Rows affected by swing will also appear to have curved pulses (colloquially referred to as "banana beats") that curve left before a longer pause, and shake into place on the beat after.

To apply swing in the editor, select a Classic Beat, then adjust the "Swing" slider to the appropriate amount of beats or type a value in the text box beside it.

History

• In the flash prototype of Rhythm Doctor, there was no visual cue for swing.

Trivia

• "Banana beats" can also appear in Syncopation and Free Time Beats.